Do You Say "keltic" Or "seltic"?, Just curious...

If I remember rightly The Celt and or Kelt was the name given to a small stone
hammer used in metal beating and This Designation The Keltoi was Given as a Descriptive Term to Craftsmen using this Tool which thereafter became a portmanteau name which was later shortened as a race indicator Kelt or Celt
both pronounced with a K the only use of the soft S pronunciation I know of
occurs in Sports Organisations
Such as Oban Celtic Shinty Team Glasgow Celtic Football Team and Boston
Celtics interestingly the two Scottish Teams both find their Origins in Memberships
of The Roman Catholic Community
I do not know enough about The Boston Celtics to comment upon them
but I do find it interesting that Unlike Oban Celtic Glagow Celtic which appear as a singularity or Definite Article Boston Celtics go in for The Use of The Plurality
or Multiple

Hey...my name wouldn't be "Sale the Selt" now would it?

I think not.

Use the hard 'k' sound, please. Besides, the basketball wreaks. yeck!

Oh and sorbus...

a) what planet are you from?
are you trying to be impossibly intellectual?
c) do you steal all your lines from Old English parchments dated 6 A.D.?
d) all of the above?

sorry, but um...the whole Beowulf thing ended long ago.

The term "Celtic" or "Keltic" actually came from the Greek word, 'keltoi' which translates to which translates as The Hidden People, The Secret People, or alternatively, The Unseen Ones. I have also seen this word reported to mean 'barbarian' but I can't remember where I had found this meaning. The Greeks lumped a number of tribes that they felt held similar customs and shared features but spoke different languages, as the Celts. There are numerous inclusions of these people in classical Greek writings which show a fascination of these people, whereas, the Romans actually demonized the Celtic people.

As for the pronunciation, hard 'C' (k) gets my vote. We even named our business using the 'k' in the spelling so nobody would mispronounce the name. Numerous times, people have looked at our 8' X 4' banner at our booth and still read 'seltic'...you know, the soft 'k' sound!! Now we have to explain why we spell the name with the 'k' and we even hear snickers from time to time, followed by "They spelled it wrong".

So does Hibernian, the football team in Edinburgh.

They all were founded by Irish settlers.

I think I read somewhere that Liverpool of the EPL was too.

This is exactly what I have been told also, I agree.

celtic with a k sound just sound sooooo much better anyway. I like it that way...seltic sound dumb.haha!

Wow, Celtic FC is pronounced with a "s"? That really surprises and somewhat saddens me (i prefer the hard "k" sound as well). I'm trying to get more into international football and am looking to select a club to root for. I guess Rangers will be my new team.

Wow, Celtic FC is pronounced with a "s"? That really surprises and somewhat saddens me (i prefer the hard "k" sound as well). I'm trying to get more into international football and am looking to select a club to root for. I guess Rangers will be my new team.

Shouldn't you base that on players and team play rather than wether the name is pronounced with an 's' or 'k'.

In french celtic is pronounce with the S but when we say it in english it's with the K.I think it mostly depend of the language but both of them are correct , for some people the S or K will sound weird.For me , I rarely heard celtic with the K but it is find too.

Probably, and i was being a bit facetious, but when you've never had much of any exposure to any of the teams or players before, you've got to start somewhere.

I'm a keltic pronunciation but the difference has always confused me as well since I have a few songs sung by natives that use a seltic pronunciation, mostly though in relation to the Glasgow Celtics FC (love Hampden in the Sun).

I always pronounced Celtic with a k sound. A friend of mine from the Middle East informed me that was the wrong and that I should say it the way the basketball team in Boston says it. I told her I had never said Celtic with an s sound. She told me the k sound was a southern pronunciation. So the Southern Girl in me won and I didn't change from a k to an s.

Definately Keltic! Although both are correct - Seltic being influenced by French "Celtique" pronounced Seltik, and Keltic being the old English way!

Oh, stupid me Nancy-Raven had already said what I just said! Anyway since Celtic in Swedish is Keltisk I always pronounce it Ketic, and more importantly - There is no C pronounced S in ANY Celtic language. C is always ALWAYS K

Hey, I just looked at your blog - you are quite the linguist! That is quite a talent, one I wish I possessed.