Pronunciation
The letter C was created by the Romans to represent the sound of Greek gamma (and that's why it's the third letter in the alphabet) and also the sound of Greek kappa. Then, when they finally figured out that those sound weren't the same, they created letter G (which is a C with a line in it to make it different, after all). So the letter C was pronounced like a K.
So then they started pronouncing it differently. When C was followed by e or I, they changed the sound. Italians say it ch, as in ciao; French say it s, as in c'est a vie, but when it was followed by a or o or u, it kept the k sound.
So why do we pronounce Caesar to rhyme with seize her? The Germans kept the k sound in Kaisar.
Roughly the same thing happened with g, and we are used to pronouncing g like j when it is followed by an e, except for words which came from Anglo-Saxon, like gift or get.
Most of our pronunciation I blame on the French, who have a lot to answer for.
So then they started pronouncing it differently. When C was followed by e or I, they changed the sound. Italians say it ch, as in ciao; French say it s, as in c'est a vie, but when it was followed by a or o or u, it kept the k sound.
So why do we pronounce Caesar to rhyme with seize her? The Germans kept the k sound in Kaisar.
Roughly the same thing happened with g, and we are used to pronouncing g like j when it is followed by an e, except for words which came from Anglo-Saxon, like gift or get.
Most of our pronunciation I blame on the French, who have a lot to answer for.