c is the IPA symbol for the Voiceless Palato-Alveolar Stop, a voiceless palato-alveolar stop consonant. It appears in 62 of 500 languages (12% cross-linguistic frequency).
c

Voiceless Palato-Alveolar Stop

Consonant · voiceless

No audio available for this symbol
Languages using this sound 62 / 500
Cross-linguistic frequency 12%

Found in a minority of languages.

Type consonant

Articulation

Every speech sound is defined by three properties: its class (consonant, vowel, or tone), its place of articulation (where in the vocal tract it is formed — lips, teeth, palate, etc.), its manner (how airflow is controlled — stopped, funneled into a fricative, channeled through the nose), and its voicing (whether the vocal cords vibrate during production).

Class
Consonant
Voicing
Voiceless
Place
Palato-alveolar
Manner
Stop

Languages using this sound

This sound appears in 62 of the 500 languages in our database. Languages that use a sound only in loanwords or in rare, specialized contexts are marked as marginal (*) — the sound exists but is not a core part of the phonological system. Click any language to view its full sound inventory.

Related sounds