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Poor, lonesome, soundless letter "C"

Lately I've been reading William Tyndale's New Testament, it's excellent introduction by Priscilla Martin, and Tyndale's introduction and prologues to the NT books (1534, based on the 1938 ed). It's amazingly easy to read--large parts of the King James Version are based on this translation. Getting the Bible into the language of the English people was the dream he died for (he was strangled and his body burned). Anyway, one speech form that hasn't been modernized in this 1534 translation is the use of -eth and -th at the end of verbs. No one knows what 15th and 16th century English sounded like--we have no recordings. And there are those who think the -th and -eth were actually prounced not with a lisp, but a hiss, as an "S." And if you've ever tried it, it makes reading those older English Bibles much easier. Many more people heard the word than read the word in those days. The KJV was meant for the ear. "For God so loveth the world, that he hath given his only son, that none that believe in him should perish, but should have everlasting life."

That lead me to thinking about the letter "C" which has no sound of its own in English, but which is essential in so many words. It is either an "S" or a "K" or is combined with a consonant "H" to be hard or soft ch or sh. Sometimes a C with a T has an SH sound--but it might have the same sound combined with an I. Sometimes it is just completely ignored, as the first C in SCIENCE. I've blogged about this letter before, as in "concrete cellar chute."


Our sermon series right now is on "Faith Training," and today's sermon by Buff Delcamp was on the word "run." These are the "C" words I noted during the service:

race
face
grace
church -- Russian has one letter for the CH sound, Ч ч
come
cross
coast
command
confidence
accepted -- this word has both the k sound and the s sound
acclamation --this word has two k sounds, side by side
challenge
peace,
picture
resurrection
choir
sanctuary
precious
Nicene Creed

Tyndale's translation changed the politics of England (yes, I know why Henry VIII left the Catholic church) with just a few words. He used the Greek manuscripts instead of the Latin Vulgate (Wycliff used that 2 centuries earlier) in his translation. This means that PENANCE became REPENTANCE (Mark 1:1-3), and CHARITY became LOVE (1 Corinthians 13). Ecclesia was translated CONGREGATION instead of CHURCH. This undercut the power of the Catholic church even without the doctrine of justification which was the big issue among the German Lutherans.

Isn't language interesting. And if you depend on a translation that is either a paraphrase, or is burdening you with 16th century English, then Tyndale died for nothing! He was a stickler for accuracy, beauty and sound.