Spelling of revoke

Question

Why is revoke spelled with a k (and revoker and revoked/revoking), yet revocable is spelled with a c?

On this website, the Latin word revoc is the base for "revocable"and "revoke". So why is revoke spelled with a k? Is it to prevent it being pronounced "revose"? If this is so, why is this k not constant throughout the words?

Thanks!

I bet it has to do with phonetics. We also have "invoke" and "invocation". — Gustavson, Mar 02 '17 at 02:20

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 02 '17 at 02:31

2

It depends on the vowel(s) following the 'k' or the 'c'. If there is a weak vowel like 'e', you will use the consonant 'k'. Otherwise by using a 'c', it would no longer have the sound of a 'k'! So there is no 'revoce'!

On the other hand you have 'revocable' with a 'c' before a hard vowel 'a' which does not need a 'k' because 'c' is always spoken like a 'k' with following vowels like a, o or u: vocal, come, cucumber!

answered Mar 02 '17 at 02:31

Fritz von Steiner

31

What's a weak vowel? – tchrist Mar 02 '17 at 14:28
But then why not add a k in revocable? Why is it revo*c*able? – Emereal Mar 02 '17 at 19:20
@Emereal Why do you demand that English spelling make sense? – choster Mar 02 '17 at 22:54
@choster It's a question, not a demand. – Emereal Mar 03 '17 at 00:04

Spelling of revoke

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