The Letter Q
Quirky Qualities and a Quantity of Questions
American Studies
Ms. Sefcik
Amanda Anderson
24 September 2010
even a quintet, of incarnations, appearing in some form
in the Phoenician, Greek, Etruscan, and Roman
alphabets, and possibly having origins in an Ancient
Egyptian hieroglyph. Q represents a unique and original
sound in most words, not just that of “k”, but of “kw”.
However, it does not quit with one possibility; in some
words, such as plaque or masque, Q chooses to equip
itself with the “k” sound alone.
Q is the letter of science, of the deepest secrets
of the world. How can we hope to learn anything
without a question with which to begin? Our query
leads us on a quest, down to the building blocks of
matter itself: the quirky quarks. Q has brought us the ice
cream of elementary particles; quarks come in six
different flavors—up, down, charm, strange, top, and
bottom.
Having qualified matter, Q allows us then to
quantify it. Without Q, where will we get quintuple
quadrangles, or quaternary quanta? Q is the
quintessence of existence as we know it, adding so much
to our scientific descriptions of the world.
About the letter “Q” I am quite inquisitive. It
is quietly unique, a rare beauty and queen of the
letters, providing so much for us and our alphabetical
needs. Perhaps some seem quizzical about Q’s
excellence, finding it quaint or useless, but I shall
quench any quibbles or quips. Q is simply exquisite.
The seventeenth letter of our alphabet, Q has
a long history. It has traveled through a quartet, or
Q is unique and mysterious. It is not a letter for
everyday boredom, nor a common, overused letter.
Instead, it is one of the most rarely used letters in the
English language. Scarce and uncommon, Q’s
infrequent appearances make it a quandary. Though its
emergences are few and far between, it has perhaps the
greatest friendship with another letter found in the
alphabet. In almost all English words containing Q, it is
followed by the loyal U. Still, Q is only quasidependent upon U. It can appear without its faithful
devotee, in such words as qat or qoph, though these are
mostly derived from languages other than English.
Having enumerated the virtuous qualities of Q, I have no
qualms about asserting that the Q is quite the
quintessential letter.
Picture, above left:
“Illuminated Letter Q Copied from the Arnstein Passional” by Frederick Sandys
http://www.preraphaelites.org/the-collection/1906p1025/illuminated-letter-q-copied-from-the-arnstein-passional-harley-ms2800/