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In English, the letter Q is almost always followed immediately by the letter U, e.g. quiz, quarry, question, squirrel. However, there are some exceptions. The majority of these are anglicised from Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Inuktitut, or other languages that do not use the English alphabet, with Q often representing a sound not found in English. For example, in the Chinese pinyin alphabet, qi is pronounced /tʃi/ (similar to "chi" in English) by an English speaker, as pinyin uses "q" to represent the sound , which is approximated as [tʃ] (ch) in English. In other examples, Q represents [q] in standard Arabic, such as in qat and faqir. In Arabic, the letter ق, traditionally romanised as Q, is quite distinct from ك, traditionally romanised as K; for example, ”قلب” /qalb/ means "heart" but “ كلب ” /kalb/ means "dog". However, alternative spellings are sometimes accepted, which use K (or sometimes C) in place of Q; for example, Koran (Qur'ān) and Cairo (al-Qāhira).

Of the words in this list, most are (or can be) interpreted as nouns, and most would generally be considered loanwords. However, all of the loanwords on this list are considered to be naturalised in English according to at least one major dictionary (see References), often because they refer to concepts or societal roles that do not have an accurate equivalent in English. For words to appear here, they must appear in their own entry in a dictionary; words that occur only as part of a longer phrase are not included.

Proper nouns are not included in the list. There are, in addition, many place names and personal names, mostly originating from Arabic-speaking countries, Albania, or China, that have a Q without a U. The most familiar of these are the countries of Iraq and Qatar, along with the derived words Iraqi and Qatari. Iqaluit, the capital of the Canadian territory of Nunavut, also has a Q that is not directly followed by a U. Qaqortoq, in Greenland, is notable for having three such Qs. Other proper names and acronyms that have attained the status of English words include Compaq (a computer company), Nasdaq (a US electronic stock market), Uniqlo (a Japanese retailer), Qantas (an Australian airline), and QinetiQ (a British technology company). Saqqara (an ancient burial ground in Egypt) is a proper noun notable for its use of a double Q.

Words

Unless noted otherwise, all words listed here are assumed to be pluralized by adding -s or -es. References in the "Sources" column relate to the headword in column one; variant spellings are then separately referenced. The sources given are selective, and the absence of a reference to a particular dictionary does not necessarily mean that the word does not appear in that dictionary.

In American and Canadian English, there are currently 4,422 words with Q not followed by U including the following words in the table below.

Uses in Scrabble

The examples and perspective in this section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may improve this section, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new section, as appropriate. (June 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

In many word games, notably in Scrabble, a player must build a word using a certain set of letters. If a player is obliged to use a q, but does not have a u, it may be possible to play words from this list. Not all words in this list are acceptable in Scrabble tournament games. Scrabble tournaments around the world use their own sets of words from selected dictionaries that might not contain all the words listed here.

Qi is the most commonly played word in Scrabble tournaments, and was added to the official North American word list in 2006.

Other words listed in this article, such as suq, umiaq or qiviut, are also acceptable, but since these contain a u, they are less likely to be useful in the situation described.

List of dictionaries cited

• : The American Heritage Dictionary (4 ed.). Dell. 2001. ISBN 0-440-23701-7.
• : American Heritage College Dictionary (4 ed.). Houghton Mifflin. 2007. ISBN 978-0-618-83595-9.
• : "Ask Oxford". Archived from the original on June 23, 2011. Retrieved July 27, 2009.
• : The Chambers Dictionary (9 ed.). Chambers. 2003. ISBN 0-550-10105-5.
• : Collins English Dictionary (3 ed.). HarperCollins. 1994. ISBN 0-00-470678-1.
• : Concise Oxford Dictionary (8 ed.). Clarendon. 1990. ISBN 0-19-861200-1.
• : "Microsoft Encarta online dictionary". Archived from the original on November 2, 2009. Retrieved May 29, 2006.
• : The Longman Dictionary of the English Language (5 ed.). Longman. 1988. ISBN 0-582-55511-6.
• : The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (4 ed.). Longman. 2003. ISBN 0-582-77649-X.
• : Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (11 ed.). Merriam-Webster. 2003. ISBN 0-87779-809-5.
• : "Merriam-Webster online dictionary". Archived from the original on September 22, 2017. Retrieved May 29, 2006.
• : Oxford Dictionary of English (2 ed.). Oxford UP. 2003. ISBN 0-19-861347-4.
• : Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford UP. 2003. ISBN 0-19-861347-4.
• : The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary (4 ed.). Merriam-Webster. 2005. ISBN 0-87779-929-6.
• : Random House Unabridged Dictionary (2 ed.). Random House. 1998. ISBN 0-517-19931-9.
• : Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (2 ed.). Random House. 2005. ISBN 0-375-42599-3.
• : The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (3 ed.). Clarendon. 1992. ISBN 0-19-861294-X.
• : Official Tournament and Club Word List (2 ed.). Merriam-Webster. 2006. ISBN 0-87779-635-1.
• : Random House Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. Random House Reference. 2000. ISBN 0-375-42560-8.
• : Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster. 2002. ISBN 0-87779-201-1.

See also

• Constrained writing
• English words without vowels

References

1. David Sacks (2004). Letter Perfect: The Marvelous History of our Alphabet from A to Z. Random House. ISBN 0-7679-1173-3.
2. Lynn Kauer. "Qaqortoq". Archived from the original on March 22, 2012. Retrieved April 6, 2011.
3. "Hewlett-Packard and Compaq Agree to Merge, Creating $87 Billion Global Technology Leader" (Press release). Hewlett-Packard. September 3, 2001. Archived from the original on November 30, 2012. Retrieved October 4, 2008.
4. Michael J. De la Merced (February 18, 2011). "Nasdaq and ICE Hold Talks Over Potential N.Y.S.E. Bid". Dealbook. The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 20, 2012. Retrieved February 18, 2011.
5. "Qantas frequent flyers get microchip cards, heralding new era in faster travel". The Independent. UK. November 13, 2009. Archived from the original on August 4, 2012. Retrieved April 10, 2010.
6. Andrew Buncombe (October 25, 2006). "Former CIA Chief Joins the Board of QinetiQ". The Independent. Archived from the original on October 23, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
7. Mulla Sadra Shirazi (2010). Divine Manifestations: Concerning the Secrets of the Perfecting Sciences. ICAS Press. p. 151. ISBN 978-1-904063-35-3.
8. Toby A. H. Wilkinson (2001). Early Dynastic Egypt: Strategies, Society and Security. Routledge. p. 259. ISBN 0-415-26011-6.
9. Robinson, Philip (1997). Ulster-Scots: A Grammar of the Traditional Written and Spoken Language. The Ullans Press. Archived from the original on 2004-03-14.
10. Playing the 'Q'. Huub Luyk. Sun.Star Baguio. October 5, 2010. Retrieved October 19, 2010. Archived March 19, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
11. "Scrabble players adjust as official dictionary adds ' za, 'qi ' and 3,300 others." Archived 2012-03-06 at the Wayback Machine Vargia Linn. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. April 9, 2006. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
12. Words with a Q not followed by a U fArchived 2010-10-06 at the Wayback Machine. Australian Scrabble Players Association. May 8, 2007. Retrieved October 18, 2010.

Bibliography

• Eckler, A. Ross (1976). "Must You Join the Queue?". Word Ways. 9 (2): 113–115. Archived from the original on August 2, 2010. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
• Quinion, Michael (2003). "Q followed by U". World Wide Words. Archived from the original on October 7, 2010. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
• Quinion, Michael (2009). Why is Q Always Followed by U? Word-perfect Answers to the Most-asked Questions about Language. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-1-84614-184-3. Archived from the original on October 9, 2010. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
• Scrabble Word Lists Q without U – Parker Brothers, attributed to: Joe Edley; John D. Williams, Jr. (2009). "Chapter 6: Your Fourth-Grade Teacher, Mrs. Kleinfelder, Lied to you: You Can Have Words with a Q and No U". Everything Scrabble: Third Edition. Simon and Schuster. pp. 56–58. ISBN 978-1-4165-6175-0.

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