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| '''[[C (letter)|C, c]]''' is a letter of the Latin alphabet. It is the third letter of most variants, being placed after B and before D, as is the case for instance in the English alphabet. Its English name is pronounced [ˈsiː], like ''see'' and ''sea'', and is occasionally spelt out as ''cee''.
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| C is also the Roman numeral representing the number 100.
| | ==Footnotes== |
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| ==Use in English==
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| Though very common in English, '''c''' has (as in French, Portuguese, Catalan and many varieties of Spanish) no sound of its own. It is either in the back of the throat, exactly like '''k''' ('''kíng''') and '''q''' ('''quêen''') or it is a hiss, like the most common sound of '''s''' ('''sô''', '''híss'''). (The accents show stress and pronunciation: see English spellings.)
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| '''c''' is actually more common than '''k''' - and much more than '''q''' - for the throaty sound. It occurs before back vowels '''a''', '''o''' and '''u''': '''cát, còme, còunt, cûre, côast''', and liquid consonants '''l''' and '''r''': '''clíck, crúst, clàss'''. In '''crícket, thícket, rácket, wícker, bícker, lócker, dócker, crácker, brácken, bráckish, lácking''', the '''k''' is needed to show the throaty sound of the second '''c''': without the '''k''', the '''c''' would sound like an 's' because of the following '''e''' or '''i'''. Also, -'''ck''' is more common at the end of words as in '''déck''' and '''clóck'''. But after '''í''', '''c''' is quite common finally: '''plástic, pánic, eléctric, frenétic, mûsic'''. Compare '''síc''' ''thus'' with '''síck''' ''ill''. Also: '''mâniác, lîlac, ålmanác, blóc'''. By contrast, words do not end -ec or -uc.
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| The hissing '''s''' sound occurs before front vowel letters '''i, e''' and '''y''': '''cïrcle, céntre, cŷcle, cínema, nîce, Lâcy, Trâcy, pâcy'''. For the hissing sound to remain before a back vowel, a cedilla is used in '''Bàrça''' (cf. '''Barcelôna''', where no cedilla is needed), '''curaçào, soûpçon, façàde''' and '''Provençàl''' (*Próvón-sàl).
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| The famous rule "'''i''' before '''e''' except after '''c'''" applies only to the '''ê''' sound (and not to '''èi''' as in '''vèin'''): '''cêiling, decêit, recêive, recêipt''' (-êet). And then, not only after '''c''', as it happens: '''sêize, wêir, wêird, Nêil, Kêith''' and '''Shêila'''. Compare '''vèil, vèin, fèint''' ''pretend'' (= '''fâint''' ''swoon''), '''dèign''' ''condescend'' (= '''Dâne''' ''Denmark''), '''rèign''' ''queen'' (= '''râin''' ''wet''), and also '''théir''' ''they'' (= '''thére''' ''here'').
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| Quite often, especially at the beginning of a word, '''sc''' is used for the hissing sound before front vowels: '''scêne, scéptic, scîence, scént, scíssors, scîon, scintílla, scímitar, scŷthe, sciática''' (*sŷáttica).
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| In the suffix -'''ésce''': '''acquiésce, effervésce''', and pronounced '''z''' in '''créscent''' (*crézzənt).
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| An exceptional '''c''' is found in '''encephalîtis''', pronounced '''k''' before '''e''' (enkéf-); otherwise '''c''' is always a hiss before '''e''', '''i''' and '''y'''.
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| There are silent '''c'''s in '''indî'''c'''t, Tû'''c'''son''' and '''Conné'''c'''ticut'''.
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| '''ch''' most typically sounds like '''t''' plus '''sh''' – not usually like '''sh''' alone. French, German and Portuguese do not have this sound, although the Germans write it in foreign words as ‘tsch’. Spanish does have it, whence '''mácho''' (*mátcho: it is sometimes mispronounced ‘macko’, as if Italian). '''ch''' is common in English, which has taken French words like '''chàrm''' ('charme' in French) and modified the sound of the French '''ch''', which has the English '''sh''' sound: '''chéck, choôse, chânge, Ríchard''' and also '''côach, bêach, chêek, chéss, chêer, cheŵ, escheŵ''' (which has a rare, separately sounded, '''s''' before it). Inside a word, there is often a superfluous '''t''' before '''ch''': '''ítch, dítch, cátch, mátch, bùtcher''' - but never after '''r''': '''tŏrch, lürch, àrch''', except in names: '''Pàrtch''' ''person'' = '''pàrch''' ''tongue''. And '''Tchaîkovsky''' has the '''T''' initially.
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| Uniquely, this sound is spelt '''Cz''', however, in '''Czéch''' ''Republic'' (= '''chéck''' ''determine'' = BrE '''chéque''' ''cash'').
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| In some words more recently taken from French, '''ch''' sounds exactly like '''sh''' in '''shê''': '''machìne, nìche, pastìche, '''BrE''' moustàche, '''AmE''' moústáche, párachute, créche, Chicàgo''' and '''nónchalant''', in which AmE French-style silences the '''t''': *nonshalàn.
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| In other words, mostly from Greek, '''ch''' is pronounced '''k''': '''chord, chémist, psŷchê, dichótomy, schême, àrchive, synécdochê, schoôner'''.
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| In various Celtic words '''ch''' can sound like the Arabic '''kh''', e.g. '''lóch, Dócherty''' - but many non-Celts simply make the '''k''' sound here. And in the variant spelling '''Dóherty''', the '''h''' sounds like itself alone - or like '''kh''' or '''k'''.
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| In yacht, '''ch''' is silent: *yót.
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| '''ci''' before a vowel can have the '''sh''' sound: '''atrôcious''' (*atrôshəss), '''précious''' (*préshəss), '''magícian''' (*məjíshən), '''Confûcius''' (*Kənfyoôshəss) - but never the '''zh''' sound, which is restricted to '''si''': '''confûsion''' (*cənfyûzhən).
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| In the musical term '''acciacatûra''', from Italian, '''cci''' is pronounced with the 'ch' sound.
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| Double '''c''' has the '''k''' sound before back vowels (but for this, '''ck''' is far more common medially and finally): '''accŏrd, tobácco, accommodâtion, áccolâde, sóccer'''.
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| '''c''' has the '''x''' sound before '''i''' and '''e''': '''áccent, accépt, áccident, fláccid, áccess, succêed, succéss, váccine, Óccitan'''.
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| '''c''' begins consonant clusters: '''accépt''' (x sound, while '''accŏrd''' has no cluster, only the k sound), '''acknówledge, táckle, clûe, ácmê, acquîre, cróss, áct'''.
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| ==='''Mc'''- and '''Mac'''-, etc.===
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| In names beginning '''Mc'''- and '''Mac'''- before another '''c''', '''k''' or '''g''', the '''c''' is silent, while the sometimes invisible '''a''' is in most cases pronounced with the schwa sound. It is as if the '''c''' itself were being pronounced schwa: '''McGóugh''' (*MəGóff), '''McCúrry, McCŏrmack, McKénzie''' = '''Mackénzie'''.
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| Either '''Mác''' or '''Mc''' can be stressed in a smaller number of names: '''MácIlvoy, McEnroe'''. In the latter the stressed syllable is an invisible '''a'''.
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| ''[[C (letter)|.... (read more)]]''
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Categories of smart home devices shown on Amazon's website in April 2023.
The phrase smart home refers to home automation devices that have internet access. Home automation, a broader category, includes any device that can be monitored or controlled via wireless radio signals, not just those having internet access. Whether the device is powered by the electrical grid or by battery, if it uses the home Wi-Fi network and if an internet logon needs to be created to use it, then it is smart home technology.
Collectively, all the smart home devices on every home's Wi-Fi network helps to make up what is called the Internet of Things (IoT), a huge sea of sensors and control devices across the world that are capable of being accessed from afar via the internet. One of the key reasons such devices need internet access is so that the manufacturer can periodically download updated firmware to the device to keep it up-to-date. However, being available via the internet also means that such devices are, potentially, available for spying or hacking. Today, homes may contain dozens or even hundreds of such devices, and consumers may enjoy their benefits while knowing little about how they work, or even realizing that they are present.
Not all home automation is "smart"
Many remotely controllable devices do not require internet access. They may instead have physical control devices that use either RF (“Radio Frequency”) or IR (“Infrared”) beams, two different kinds of energy used in remote controls to communicate commands. Non-"smart" home automation may also present security risks, because the control signals can be hijacked by bad actors with the right signaling equipment. Garage door openers are of particular note in this regard. Modern automobiles, in fact, are full of automation similar to home automation, and cars are hackable by bad actors in a number of ways. See Wikipedia's Automotive hacking article for more information.
Incompatibility hassles
At present, consumers must make sure that the smart device they wish to use is specified to be compatible whichever phone/tablet operating system they use (Apple vs. Android). Since smart home products emerged in the absence of any standard, a morass of competing methods for networking, control and monitoring now exist. For some products, consumers may need to buy an expensive hub, or bridge, a device that is specific to one vendor. Products made by different manufacturers but performing the same function are typically not interoperable. Consumers often need to open a different app on their smartphone or tablet in order to control devices by each manufacturer. This may make it too expensive and awkward to try out competing devices, leaving consumers stuck with the product they bought originally or else having to add yet more apps to their phones.
Security concerns
Security for smart home products has been uneven and sometimes seriously inadequate. Smart thermostats which can monitor whether a home's occupants are present or not, entry-way locks, robotic vacuums that work with a map of the house, and other smart home devices can present very real dangers if hackers can access their data.
Matter, an emerging standard
Matter is emerging standard in 2023 intended to increase security, reliability and inter-operability of smart-home devices. About ten years ago, industry consortiums formed to work on standards for smart home device communications, and their underlying wireless communications, which would make it possible for products from all vendors to work together seamlessly and provide fast performance, privacy, and security and would work even if there is not connection to the outside internet (i.e., no connection to "the cloud" or to servers).
