Why is "soccer" pronounced with a hard "c"?

Question

I have seen that in "soccer", the 'c' is pronounced as 'k', though it is followed by 'e'. The word "soccer" comes from "(As)soc(iation football) + -er". But even in "Association", the 'c' is followed by 'i' and is pronounced as 's'. Then what is the reason for the 'k' pronunciation in "soccer"?

user 66974 · Accepted Answer

The term soccer appears to derive from Assoc, short for Association, originally “scocca”, with a hard c:

1889, socca, later socker (1891), soccer (1895), originally university slang (with jocular formation -er (3)), from a shortened form of Assoc., abbreviation of association in Football Association (as opposed to Rugby football); compare rugger.

An unusual method of formation, but those who did it perhaps shied
away from making a name out of the first three letters of Assoc.

- er :

suffix used to make jocular or familiar formations from common or proper names (soccer being one), first attested 1860s, English schoolboy slang, "Introduced from Rugby School into Oxford University slang, orig. at University College, in Michaelmas Term, 1875" [OED, with unusual precision].

(Etymonline)

Why is "soccer" pronounced with a hard "c"?

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