# "Q" followed by "U" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 14, 2000, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-followed-by-u/41136 "2000-11-14T08:27:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-followed-by-u/41136/1 "2000-11-14T08:27:55Z")
Why is the letter “Q” always followed by a “U”? (With the exception of a few words taken directly from other languages.) Why aren’t words spelled like _qick_, _qeen_, or _qestion_? As far as I can tell, it’s the only mandatory letter combination in the English language. I believe it’s also a rule in French and Spanish. How common is the “qu” rule in other languages? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-followed-by-u/41136/2 "2000-11-14T08:46:24Z")
“Q” itself originated in early Athenian and Phoenician alphabets to represent a deeper and more gutteral sounding “k”. From there, “q” entered the Latin alphabet. The “qu” combination comes from the Latin “qv” combination, and was used for the “kw” sound (there being no letter “k” or “w” in the Latin alphabet). (Yes, I know that the Latins borrowed a few Greek words that used “k”, such as Kalends.) ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-followed-by-u/41136/3 "2000-11-14T09:45:19Z")
But in English, the Q was imported by the Normans. Before they so rudely invaded, _queen_ and _quick_ were spelled with a cw-. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-followed-by-u/41136/4 "2000-11-14T10:51:53Z")
I’ve always felt Q is an entirely useless letter. It doesn’t do anything you can’t do with a K and a W. For that matter, C is also useless; it doesn’t do anything that you can’t do with a K or S. And don’t get me started on X. X, the “I don’t need ‘ks’ because I’m special” letter. Feh. English, as a syntactical and structured language, really sucks balls. ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-followed-by-u/41136/5 "2000-11-14T11:33:06Z")
So, friedo…with no C, how do you propose we spell ‘which?’ I guess we could make a letter with the ‘ch’ sound. Jman ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-followed-by-u/41136/6 "2000-11-14T11:54:54Z")
In the original Phoenician and Hebrew alphabets from which our Roman alphabet is derived, q and k were different sounds. They still are in Hebrew and Arabic. Q comes from further back on the palate. Interestingly, all letters were originally consonants, as they still are in the Hebrew alphabet . For instance, A was originally the glottal stop (Arabic hamza). ---
**Author:** ![Eggs\_a\_la\_Ted](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c68b51/32.png) [@Eggs\_a\_la\_Ted](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eggs_a_la_Ted)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-followed-by-u/41136/7 "2000-11-14T12:02:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jman \* > **So, friedo…with no C, how do you propose we spell ‘which?’ I guess we could make a letter with the ‘ch’ sound.** How about ‘whitsh’ or better yet ‘witsh’? ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-followed-by-u/41136/8 "2000-11-14T12:24:53Z")
In several languages that recently adopted the Roman alphabet, they use the letter _c_ by itself to spell the sound we spell with “ch”. For example, Malay, Indonesian, Hausa simply use _c_ without needing an _h_ after it. Like in Italian _cello_ or _Pacino_. They don’t have any other use for _c_, since _k_ is used for the /k/ sound, and _s_ is used for the /s/ sound. Likewise, Indologists use _c_ by itself for the “ch” sound in Sanskrit, Tamil, Hindi, Bengali, and the other Indian languages. e.g. _cakra_ is the scholarly spelling for what other people write as “chakra”. Chinese Pinyin uses _q_ for the palatal “ch” sound, while they use _ch_ for the retroflex “ch” sound. There’s a phonemic difference between the two in Chinese. Pinyin uses _c_ for the palatal “ts” sound, and they use _ts_ for the retroflex “ts” sound. Here’s one out of left field: Fijian uses _c_ for the sound of “th” in “this”. As if they said, Here’s a leftover letter we’re not using for anything else, and we need something for this sound. What about _q_? In Fijian, _g_ stands for the velar nasal sound of “ng” in _singer_, and _q_ stands for that sound plus “g”, the ngg sound in “finger”. So Fijian _yaqona_ (kava-kava drink) is pronounced “yanggona”. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-followed-by-u/41136/9 "2000-11-14T12:38:19Z")
In very early Latin, when they first began to write it, they had a convention that the unvoiced velar stop was spelled with _k_ before _a_ and _o_ (thus “_kalendae_”), with _c_ before _e_ and _i_, and with _q_ before _u_. But they dropped that and just used _c_ in all positions, except that they kept the _q_ before _u_ when it was followed by another vowel. The original sound of _q_ in the Semitic languages was a postvelar stop, articulated farther back in the throat than _k_, as Tansu pointed out. That must be why it was associated with _u_, since _u_ is a back vowel. The specialized use of _c_ only before front vowels perhaps suggested its palatal articulation, further front. Perhaps the ancient Romans distinguished three sounds of [k]: postvelar (q), velar (k), and palatal ©. But since they weren’t different phonemes in the Latin language, they didn’t need three different symbols for them; one would do. Something similar went on in Ottoman Turkish spelling: originally the back vowels were spelled with the Arabic letter _q_ and the front vowels with the Arabic _k_. But when Turkish was romanized in 1928, they dropped the _q_ and dropped the distinction, and just used _k_ in all positions. (But they still need to distinguish when _k_ has a palatal sound before a back vowel, so they use the circumflex: _kab_ with velar _k_ means ‘cover, lid’, but _kâb_ with palatal _k_ means ‘ankle’. Albanian does just the reverse: In Albanian _q_ is used for the palatal “k” sound, as in _Shqip_ ‘Albanian’. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2000, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-followed-by-u/41136/10 "2000-11-15T04:00:14Z")
As any Scrabble fan can tell u, your q is not true. qat, qanat, qoph, qaid, qintar, qindar and qiviut ---
**Author:** ![Qwisp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qwisp/32/397_2.png) [@Qwisp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwisp)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2000, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-followed-by-u/41136/11 "2000-11-15T04:12:38Z")
Who said you need a **U** after **Q**? I don’t believe it! ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2000, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-followed-by-u/41136/12 "2000-11-15T04:58:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jman \* > \*\*So, friedo…with no C, how do you propose we spell ‘which?’ I guess we could make a letter with the ‘ch’ sound. > > Jman \*\* Well, like someone (who’s name I am too lazy to scroll down and look for) said, ch is just sh with a t before it. Which —\> witsh ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2000, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-followed-by-u/41136/13 "2000-11-15T05:04:44Z")
Ahhh…but then you have to write extra letters. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![andygirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@andygirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andygirl)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2000, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-followed-by-u/41136/14 "2000-11-15T06:06:49Z")
Or you could be a linguistics major and write everything using the IPA phonetic alphabet. Yayfun. [http://www.uni-marburg.de/linguistik/dgweb/demos/demo1.htm](http://www.uni-marburg.de/linguistik/dgweb/demos/demo1.htm) ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2000, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-followed-by-u/41136/15 "2000-11-15T06:52:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jman \* > \*\*Ahhh…but then you have to write extra letters. 😉 \*\* I don’t mind writing extra letters here and there if the overall system is easier. The extra letters would be more than made up for by the elimination of useless letters in other words, like the H’s in the “wh” words, and the C’s in words that have a “ck” in them, and so on. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2000, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-followed-by-u/41136/16 "2000-11-15T06:56:55Z")
The h in wh- is not a useless letter. It shows that the w is voiceless. It’s phonemically different from voiced w. “Which” and “witch” form a minimal pair that illustrates the difference in the two phonemes. I’m aware that a lot of people nowadays don’t pronounce the h sound any more, but that’s too bad. Other people still do! ---
**Author:** ![caircair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@caircair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caircair)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2000, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-followed-by-u/41136/17 "2000-11-15T21:13:58Z")
And then there’s George Bernard Shaw’s famous spelling of “Fish” – GHOTI. That’s “GH” as in “rough”, “o” as in “Women” and “ti” as in “attention”. f=i=sh. ---
**Author:** ![ren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@ren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ren)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2000, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-followed-by-u/41136/18 "2000-11-15T23:34:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dr\_Paprika \* > \*\*As any Scrabble fan can tell u, your q is not true. > > qat, qanat, qoph, qaid, qintar, qindar and qiviut > \*\* **Dr\_Paprika** , don’t forget _tranq_! [Homer] mmmmmm, Scrabble… [/Homer] ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2000, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-followed-by-u/41136/19 "2000-11-16T01:05:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ishmintingas \* > The h in wh- is not a useless letter. It shows that the w is voiceless. It’s phonemically different from voiced w. “Which” and “witch” form a minimal pair that illustrates the difference in the two phonemes. I’d always thought it had to do with aspiration, not voicing. At least that’s the way the teacher tried to teach me back in about 4th grade (well, she didn’t use those terms, but that’s what she meant). The WH would be aspirated and the plain W not. There are some dialects that distinguish these sounds and some that don’t. I’ve never been really sure which I belong to. Sometimes I aspirate, sometimes not. ---
**Author:** ![ren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@ren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ren)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2000, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-followed-by-u/41136/20 "2000-11-19T21:28:59Z")
…oh, and _qwerty_…wait, where did everybody go? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-followed-by-u/41136.md?page=2)