I think it should be down amongst X, Y and Z.
2006-09-27 04:33:12 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
Well, let me first say that Q is my favorite letter. But as far as it's nature is concerned, I call Q a kind of 'exotic' letter, and it should be there at the end with the rest of the 'exotics' like X Y Z.
2006-09-27 04:48:59 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I assume you think that because the letter Q is more rarely used in English (and many other languages) than the letters around it. But the order of the alphabet was never based on the frequency of the letters in a particular language. Otherwise the vowels letters like P, R, S and T would all be near the beginning.
So why IS the letter Q where it is?
The order of most of the letters in our alphabet, which is based on the Latin alphabet, has remained fairly constant from the ancient Northwest Semitic alphabet that the Greeks borrowed from the Phoenicians and handed on to the Romans. The Phoenician alphabet ended with the letter T ("tau").
When a NEW letter was added, or in some cases (like Z) added back in, it was usually placed at the END -- thus most of the added letters come after our letter T. Or, if the letter was a variation on a letter that was already being used, it might be inserted next to the related letter (which is how the clusters I, J and U, V, W came about).
The letter Q is, as you can see, part of the 'original' alphabet, going back to "qoph", which marked a common sound in the Semitic languages. See letter #19 in the following list:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_alphabet#Letter_names_and_sequence
Unfortunately, no one knows exactly how the order of the ancient Semitic alphabet was decided on (and since we don't know precisely when this system of writing was first used, that's not surprising).
see also:
http://www.ancientscripts.com/alphabet.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/latin_alphabet
2006-09-27 12:56:35 · answer #2 · answered by bruhaha 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If we go by usage, the alphabet would read something like
E I A O U T S R, etc.
2006-09-27 11:40:43 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I agree, in scrabble points terms it definitely should be.
Stupid alphabet
2006-09-27 11:40:48 · answer #4 · answered by Ichi 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
No. I think it belongs between P and R. It Just sounds right.
2006-09-27 14:03:05 · answer #5 · answered by ~♥ L ♥~ 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes
but i think it sould be like this
Q A B C D E F G H I J K L M N .......
2006-09-27 11:41:29 · answer #6 · answered by ehsan 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Hey and why do I always get it if we play scrabble ?
2006-09-27 11:48:47 · answer #7 · answered by Uri 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
'Q' comes after 'P'. It's perfect.
2006-09-27 11:39:04 · answer #8 · answered by bachbeet2006 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
why don't u put it there,doesn't make sense try again.
2006-09-27 11:38:30 · answer #9 · answered by a_raveneau 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
i've always thought that too!! LOL!
2006-09-27 11:41:20 · answer #10 · answered by tirebiter 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋