Why does "Q" always come before "U" in English?

Consider this: the letter "q" is invariably followed by the letter "u" in English.

Scrabble players are well aware that "q" is a challenging letter. To use "q" in the game, a player must find a suitable "u" letter, which certainly doesn't make things easier given that "q" is the second least frequently used letter in the alphabet.

Let's set sail towards deciphering the capricious letter "q", the 17th letter of the alphabet.

In English, "qu" is always used as a digraph (a pair of letters representing a single sound), for the /kw/ sound. The pairing of "q" with "u" originates from Latin, a derivative of Greek. The sound basis of "q", the koppa letter, was used in places where a /k/ or /g/ sound was needed, typically before round vowels. However, several letters, like "c", were also assigned the same sound in different combinations.

As the letter "c" gradually came to represent these sounds more frequently, the usage of the "q" sound diminished, becoming reliant on the letter "u" to represent any sound.


The sounds represented by "q" without "u" are typically not found in English but are more common in Semitic languages. Words borrowed from other languages, like "Quran" and "Iraq", exemplify the guttural /k/ sound of "q".


The shape of the letter "q" might originate from the Egyptian hieroglyph meaning a ball of wool, pronounced as "paw", with a descending line and loop symbol, which was also used for the Greek koppa and resembles the modern Latin letter used today.


http://blog.dictionary.com/q/