List of English words containing Q not followed by U

Six rows of black square keys with white letters, numbers, and symbols on them slope from the top left to the bottom right with a metallic strip in the top right corner.
QWERTY, one of the few native English words with Q not followed by U, is derived from the first six letters of a standard keyboard layout.
A photograph of a busy passageway leading from the foreground to the background contains people walking in both directions illuminated by elongated slats of light.
A souq in Marrakech, Morocco. Like many of the other English words that use a q not followed by a u, souq is of Arabic origin.

In English, the letter Q is usually 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 [tɕʰ], 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.[1] 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,[2] 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),[3] Nasdaq (a US electronic stock market),[4] Uniqlo (a Japanese retailer), Qantas (an Australian airline),[5] and QinetiQ (a British technology company).[6][7] Saqqara (an ancient burial ground in Egypt)[8] is a proper noun notable for its use of a double Q.

  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.