Topmusicanswers
When the Etruscans borrowed the alphabet from the Greeks, however, they borrowed three different signs for the /k/ sound, since they only had voiceless stops. C (originally from the Greek capital letter 'gamma') was used before front vowels, /e/ and /i/, K was used before /a/, and Q was used before their back vowel.
Why does the letter c exist?
The Romans got their writing system from the Etruscans. The Latin language, did, however, include both a “K” and “G” sound. The K sound could be represented by the < symbol, which the Romans ended up writing in its C shape. That left them with no symbol for their G sound, so a new letter had to be invented.
Is the letter C necessary?
Some people teach that this apparently useless letter has a hard sound and a soft sound. That method is an unnecessarily difficult and complicated way to present the letter sounds. ... So the C is indeed a very important letter and has no reason to feel ashamed because it makes no sound on it own.
Did K or C come first?
Here is an easy way to remember whether to try c first or k first: c comes first in the alphabet and k comes second. That is the same order in which we try the letters when building a word. C and k are by far the most common ways to spell the sound of /k/ at the beginning of a word.
