(superscript ⟨ᶜ̧⟩,IPA)[ç]-fricated release of a plosive (e.g. [cᶜ̧] or [kᶜ̧]), sometimes implying an affricate (e.g. ⟨cᶜ̧⟩ for [c͡ç]); [ç]-coloring; or a weak, fleeting or epenthetic [ç].
Usage notes
A superscript ⟨ᶜ̧⟩ needs to be composed with a cedilla diacritic: U+1D9C ⟨ᶜ⟩ + U+0327 ⟨◌̧⟩.
⟨ç⟩ is not considered a distinct letter, but a variant of ⟨c⟩. Accordingly it has the same value in alphabetical orders.
It is used when a ⟨c⟩ is pronounced /s/ before ⟨a⟩, ⟨o⟩ or ⟨u⟩. This happens mostly in derivatives and inflections. For example, français(“French”) derived from France, or commençons(“we begin”), inflected form of commencer. One of the fairly rare counterexamples would be façon(“way, fashion”).
Letter
ç
(dated) the voiceless palatal click consonant, and the base of multigraphs for the other palatal clicks; now replaced with ⟨ǂ⟩.
Ç is not considered a distinct letter, but a variant of C. It is used where a <c> pronounced /s/ occurs before <a>, <o> or <u> (due to etymology or inflection). Examples: (Inflection) merecer ("to deserve", infinitive), mereça (imperative). (Etymology) maça from Latin mattia, massa from Latin massa (both /ˈmasa/).
Never occurs word-initially.