Q what is the point of a Q

[RATTER15]

Why does the letter Q have to be followed by a U what is the point ? or are there any words that have a Q and no U?

[jno]

William the conqueror and the Normans did this. The Anglo-Saxons just used spelling such as cwic for what is now quick; the Normans changed it to the French way of spelling

[RATTER15]

The bloody French have got a lot to answer for!!!

cwic is so much easier!!

[stewey]

'Zed' as pronounced in 'xylophone'.

[RATTER15]

Exactly!! why do we do it?

Look at M.A.F: a very straight forward set of three letters but can you think of a word beginning in these letters in that order and ENGLISH!! and Mafia is not English!!

[jno]

Mafia is an English word now. English is famous for sucking in words from all over the world (mainly because the British used to get about so much when they had an empire), and that's just one of them.

[Panic Button]

Sorry Prophet, you are wrong about what Qantas stands for.

It is not Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services, it is queers and nancies travelling as stewards








I'll get me coat.

[ELVIS68]

Qunt

I`ve heard Jonathan Ross say it on his show once

[Quizmonster]

No-one has mentioned Latin, but the 'qu' structure in English basically comes from that language. In Latin, the 'kw' sound was represented by 'qu' in words such as 'quis', meaning 'who' or 'quo' meaning 'where'. The French took it over but do not now pronounce it as 'kw'; their word 'qui' (who) is pronounced 'kee' not 'kwee', for example.
In Old English, this kw/qu sound was represented by 'cw' in words such as 'cwene', meaning 'queen', as suggested above. After 1066 and the Norman Conquest, 'qu' began to be used alongside 'cw' and by the end of the 13th century it had replaced it entirely. So, the 'qu' form has existed for over 700 years now.

[heathfield]

More here.

[RATTER15]

Thanks Heathfield!!