The pronunciation of the ancient Greek word does not determine how the modern English word is pronounced. The word was copied in English from either the Latin "celticus" or the French "celtique" which in its turn came from the Latin. The Latin word is believed to have been copied from the Greek.

Both the Greek and the Latin words were pronounced with the "k" sound, the French with the "s" sound. The regular English pronunciation of "ce-" words derived from French or Latin is with the "s" sound. This word, at least outside Scotland, was predominantly pronounced with the "s" sound as recently as the 1960s but there has been a movement towards the "k" sound except for the Scottish soccer team which is always pronounced with the "s". The Concise Oxford Dictionary has changed its first preference from the "s" sound to the "k" sound in recent editions.

If you want to know what the dominant pronunciation is where you are, the best you can do is listen to what people say. The "correct" pronunciation is the one that is used.

This word, at least outside Scotland, was predominantly pronounced with the "s" sound as recently as the 1960s but there has been a movement towards the "k" sound except for the Scottish soccer team which is always pronounced with the "s". The Concise Oxford Dictionary has changed its first preference from the "s" sound to the "k" sound in recent editions.

If you want to know what the dominant pronunciation is where you are, the best you can do is listen to what people say. The "correct" pronunciation is the one that is used.

Yay! I just MB and I just got back from the Loreena McKennitt concert, it was amazing, if you guys think the cds are amazing, she's even better in concert! And! MB and I both got to meet her after the show, I sort of made a fool of myself, but in a good way, instead of gushing, all I could say was "Hi!! How are you!?" It was silly. Anyways. I'm sure MB or I will post pictures!