* Origin: "Karate" comes from the Japanese words "kara" (empty or void) and "te" (hand), meaning "empty hand."
* Romanization: When Japanese words were first transcribed into the Roman alphabet, there was no standard system. Different people used different spellings based on their own interpretations of the sounds.
* "C" sound: In Japanese, the "k" sound is usually represented by the letter "k." However, the "c" was also sometimes used to represent the "k" sound, especially in older romanizations.
* "Karate" vs. "Crate": "Karate" was likely spelled with a "k" to distinguish it from the English word "crate," which has a different meaning.
* Standard: Over time, the spelling "karate" with a "k" became the most common and accepted way to write the word, even though it's not how the "k" sound is typically represented in Japanese.
So, it's a bit of a historical coincidence that "karate" is spelled with a "k." It's important to note that the "c" is still used to represent the "k" sound in other Japanese words, like "tsunami" and "kimono."