For the love of Q!

[Aurora1979]

In general I would rate the average intelligence of DDO players as quite high. Obviously.... I play, but aside from that, many people who played D&D tend to have a certain.... academic quality.... So maybe one of you big brains can help me solve this....

The letter Q!

As far as I'm aware there are no words in the English language that have a Q if it isnt followed by a U.

Now... the Qu sounds like.... kwa... ish. Im not good at typing phonetically.... but you know what I mean. Queen, Quirk, Quince etc...

So, what I been thinking is.... Why was Q ever invented?

Surely we could just use Kw... Kween, Kwirk etc....

If Q was used alone Id understand but.... as far as I'm aware, its the only letter in the English language that MUST have another letter after it..... So, why not just use the letters we already have.

Saves us a Q after all. :D

Seriously thoug.... well... Kind of serious.... but has anyone got any ideas? :)

[Quarterling]

Quarterling likes this thread. <3

[Chai]

Alot of English is borrowed nouns from other languages, as well as the alphabet itself, which is largely derived from arabic letters.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_containing_Q_not_followed_by _U

You will note that while these are listed as "English" words, most of their origins arent from native English speaking nations or regions.

[KingOfCheese]

I'd bet a qintar that there are some words that don't use the qu combo. I'd look them up, but I'm too busy harvesting qiviut from my oxen.

[Aurora1979]

I'd bet a qintar that there are some words that don't use the qu combo. I'd look them up, but I'm too busy harvesting qiviut from my oxen.

Ah wow!! lol. that didnt take long... and shows how dense I am... to be honest I didnt google.... and probably should have :D

All the words I could think of were QU's.... I Fail. I shall go research my question before I ask it in future :D

[Aurora1979]

LOL..... Erm.... ok...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_containing_Q_not_followed_by _U

* hangs head in shame and sits at the "special" table *

[darkrune]

Words with friends?

Try Qa or Qi.

What they mean don't care triple score on a 10 pt letter, oh yeah!!!

[NeutronStar]

I know the word Qi is an acceptable word in North American Scrabble tournaments.

It blew my mind when someone I was playing Words With Friends with used it.

[Aurora1979]

I know the word Qi is an acceptable word in North American Scrabble tournaments.

Oh really? I cant say Im very good at scrabble... my spellings atr.... atros.... really bad ;)

There is a TV quiz show in the U.K called QI... Quite interesting incase you're wondering :) Got Stephen Fry hosts it..... That guys a legend. He has to carry a bag around for his extra brain, he knows so much stuff the first one just cant hold it all..... I've derailed my own thread... huh. :)

[lazyninja81]

As an avid DDOer and Scrabbler I can tell you that there are a number of words in the English language in which Q is not followed by U. These include:

QI
QAT
QIS
QADI
QAID
QATS
QOPH
FAQIR
QADIS
QAIDS
QANAT
QOPHS
TRANQ
UMIAQ
FAQIRS
QABALA
QANATS
QINDAR
QINTAR
QIVIUT
QWERTY
SHEQEL
TRANQS
UMIAQS
QABALAH
QABALAS
QINDARS
QINTARS
QIVIUTS
QWERTYS
QABALAHS
MBAQANGA
QINDARKA
SHEQALIM
MBAQANGAS

Now, just don't ask me what any of them mean. If you had to know the meaning of every word you played in Scrabble I would never win.

[Lithic]

As an avid DDOer and Scrabbler I can tell you that there are a number of words in the English language in which Q is not followed by U. These include:

...
QAID
...

Definition: The alter ego of a secret agent brainwashed to penetrate martian resistance. Or some construction worker with brain damage. Or a martian freedom fighter with a hot hooker girlfriend.

[brian14]

As an avid DDOer and Scrabbler I can tell you that there are a number of words in the English language in which Q is not followed by U. These include:

<skip>

Note that most (not all) of these are alternate spellings. Common spelling of QABALAH is KABBALAH, for FAQIR it's FAKIR, etc. English is rather unusual in that it allows multiple spellings for the same (typically foreign) word.

[Lithic]

Note that most (not all) of these are alternate spellings. Common spelling of QABALAH is KABBALAH, for FAQIR it's FAKIR, etc. English is rather unusual in that it allows multiple spellings for the same (typically foreign) word.

It doesn't help that english had a period of time where all it's writters were paid by the letter, rather than the word. Because of this, many easily spelled words (by sound) a now longer with more complex spellings.

[Sheep_Stealer]

If Q was used alone Id understand but.... as far as I'm aware, its the only letter in the English language that MUST have another letter after it..... So, why not just use the letters we already have.

Saves us a Q after all. :D

Seriously thoug.... well... Kind of serious.... but has anyone got any ideas? :)

Not that it really gives a reason but the following gives a quick snapshot of the evolution of the modern english/latin alphabet:

http://i.imgur.com/MMlkg.gif

Now I can't account for the accuracy of the above gif but if you do believe it the letter U (and W for that matter) was a relatively late addition to the alphabet. Long after Q was incorporated.

[Arnhelm]

http://knightleyemma.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/q1.jpg

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