IPA phoneme \k\

In English, both in Received Pronunciation and in General American, the IPA phonetic symbol **/k/** corresponds to the initial consonant sound in words like "kiss", "cold" and "question" and the final one in "book" and "black". Just to keep students on their toes, there are also a few words where it corresponds to "**ch**".

/k/ is an unvoiced consonant; its voiced counterpart is IPA phoneme \g\.

## Common words

Some common words which practice the pronunciation of **/k/** include the following:

* with "**c**"

at the beginning of the word: call, clock, coat, come, cross, cut
in the middle of the word: economy, education, fact, include, secret, security
at the end of the word: basic, economic, music, public, specific
* with "**cc**": accommodation, account, accuse, occasion, occupy, occur
* with "**k**"

as the last sound of the syllable: ankle, bake, book, break, dark, like, look, oak, shake, shark, sink, take , walk, week, weekly, work
before "e" or "i": donkey, keep, kill, kind, kiss, kitchen, skin, speaker, market, worker
exceptionally before "a", "o", "u", "l" or "r" in the same syllable: chakra /ˈtʃʌkrə/, haiku, kangaroo, Kansas, karate, koala, Korea, okay, Oklahoma, remarkable
* with "**ck**": attack, black, check, lock, luck, rock, sock, shock, sick, stick, thick, ticket
* with "**ch**": ache, archive, chaos, chemical, chemist, chemistry, psychology, stomach, technician, technology
* with "**q**": consequence, equipment, quality, quarter, queen, question, quick, request, require, technique /tekˈniːk/
* with "**cq**": acquaintance, acquire
* exceptionally with "**kk**": trekking

* initial and final **/k/**: cake, click, clock, cook, cork, crack, crook, kick, quick

## /ks/

The sequence /ks/ can be spelled in several forms.

Same syllable
* with "x": box, complex, fix, matrix, mix, next, relax, tax
* with "ks": books, breaks, cooks, looks, seeks, thanks, walks, weeks
* with "cks": attacks, checks, clocks, locks, packs, rocks, shocks
* with "cs": critics, mathematics, plastics, politics, statistics, topics
* with "chs": matriarchs, monarchs, patriarchs, stomachs

Different syllables
* with "x": exclude, experience, galaxy, maximum, taxi
* with "xc": excel, excellent, except, excess
* with "cc": accept, accident, eccentric, success
* with "ks": bookstore
* with "cks": backstage
* with "cs": facsimile /fækˈsɪməliː/
* with "chs": dachshund

## Variant pronunciations

* disgrace /dɪsˈgreɪs, dɪˈskreɪs/
* disgusting /dɪsˈgʌstɪŋ, dɪˈskʌstɪŋ*AmE*/

See also IPA phoneme /g/ § Assimilation.

## Spelling anomalies

/k/ as "g"
* length /lɛŋkθ, lɛŋθ/

## Anticipated pronunciation difficulties depending on L1

### Spanish

The main "problem" here is that Spanish speakers tend to forget that "**ch**" can, in just a few words, also be pronounced **/k/**, and will invariably pronounce "ache" with **/tʃ/**, as if it were a homophone of the letter **"h"**.

## References

1. ↑ *Dictionary.com Unabridged.* Random House, Inc., disgrace.
2. ↑ disgrace/, Merriam-Webster Learner's Dictionary
3. ↑ *Dictionary.com Unabridged.* Random House, Inc., disgusting.

## See also

* Decoding written words
* Decoding the letter C
* Decoding the letter K
* Decoding the letter Q
* Decoding the letter X
* IPA phoneme /g/
* Pronunciation exercises: /k/ vs /g/
* Pronunciation exercises: /ŋ/ vs /ŋk/

## External links

* British Library, Received Pronunciation consonant sounds