Never understood this rule. Its the only letter that needs to be paired together. I cant think of any words that are just Q without the U. Why are these two inseparable!! I need to know why!!
In: 16
The letter Q is largely an alphabetic revenant in modern English. It is among the least frequently used consonants along with J (for some reason?) as well X and Z, the former also being a revenant and the latter just kind of puttering around the edge of irrelevance. C is a revenant as well, and would do the world a favor if it went out for a pack of smokes and just never came back.
C on its own can be easily replaced by the letters K and S. The CH combination is the only time it holds a unique purpose, but it can be
substituted by a phonetically modified T.
The continued survival of the letter X is forgivable because it is a convenient compounding of the letters E, K, and S.
Q is especially annoying because, barring the rare instances where it performs alone at the end of a word, it is bound to the letter U. Which obviates the normal reasoning for retaining these relics, which is that they save time, space, or pencil milage. Where it cannot be replaced by K alone, it can be replaced by KW.
The place Q holds in the alphabet is mostly due to the influx of French into the English vocabulary following the Norman invasion of Britain, but it also remains relevant because of its frequency in Spanish.
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