(ix) _c_ : _k_ for the sounds in _kit_, _cot_, are often interchangeable; but _k_ is preferred before palatal vowels _e_, _i_ (_y_); and _c_ before _o_, _u_. See the alliterating words in V 52, 107, 128, 153, 272, 283. (x) _c_ : _s_ alternate for voiceless _s_, especially in French words: _sité_ 'city' VII 66, _resayue_ 'receive' V 8, _vyse_ 'vice' V 307, _falce_ V 314; but also in _race_ (ON. _rás_) V 8 beside _rase_ XVII 429. (xi) _s_ : _z_ (_ȝ_) are both used for voiced _s_, the former predominating: _kyssedes_ beside _raȝteȝ_ V 283; _þouzond_ III 30 beside _þousend_ III 34. But _ȝ_ occasionally appears for voiceless _s_: _(aȝ-)leȝ_ 'awe-less' V 267, _forȝ_ 'force' 'waterfall' V 105. (xii) _sh_ : _sch_ : _ss_ are all found for modern _sh_, OE. _sc_: _shuld_ I 50; _schert_ II 230; _sserte_ III 40; but _sal_ 'shall', _suld_ 'should' in Northern texts represent the actual Northern pronunciation in weakly stressed words. (xiii) _v_ : _w_: In late Northern MSS. _v_ is often found for initial _w_: _vithall_ X 9, _Valter_ X 36. The interchange is less common in medial positions: _in swndir_ X 106. (xiv) _wh-_ : _qu(h)-_ : _w-_ :—_wh-_ is a spelling for _hw-_. In the South the aspiration is weakened or lost, and _w_ is commonly written, e.g. VIII _b_. In the North the aspiration is strong, and the sound is spelt _qu(h)-_, e.g. _quhelis_ 'wheels' X 17. Both _qu-_ and _wh-_ are found in _Gawayne_. The development in later dialects is against the assumption that _hw-_ became _kw-_ in pronunciation. See also § 5. The whole system of ME. spelling was modelled on French, and some of the general features noted above (e.g. ii, iii, v, vi, x) are essentially French. But, particularly in early MSS., there are a number of exceptional imitations. Sometimes the spelling represents a French scribe's attempt at English pronunciation: _foret_ in XV _g_ 18 stands for _forþ_, where _-rþ_ with strongly trilled _r_ was difficult to a foreigner; and occasionally such distortions are found as _knith_, _knit_, and even _kint_ (_Layamon_, _Havelok_) for _kniȝt_, which had two awkward consonant groups. More commonly the copyist, accustomed to write both French and English, chose a French representation for an English sound. So _st_ for _ht_ appears regularly in XV _e_: _seuenist_ 'sennight', and XV _g_: _iboust_ 'bought', &c. The explanation is that in French words like _beste_ 'bête', _gist_ 'gît', _s_ became only a breathing before it disappeared; and _h_ in ME. _ht_ weakened to a similar sound, as is shown by the rimes with _Kryste_ 'Christ' in VI 98-107. Hence the French spelling _st_ is occasionally substituted for English _ht_. Again, in borrowings from French, _an_ + consonant alternates with _aun_: _dance_ or _daunce_; _change_ or _chaunge_ (p. 273); and by analogy we have _Irlande_ or _Irlaunde_ in XV _d_. Another exceptional French usage, _-tz_ for final voiceless _-s_, is explained at p. 219, top.