Q

17th letter of the English alphabet, corresponding to koppa of the earliest Greek alphabet. In Latin, as in English, it is always followed by u, though not in transliterations from Arabic. In English qu is pronounced either as /kw/, as in ‘quiet’, or as /k/, as in ‘pique’, ‘oblique’, and ‘liquor’.

The Latin alphabet adopted from the Etruscan three signs with the sound /k/: c, k, and q. It later dropped the k, and used c for both /k/ and /g/. The letter q, when followed by u, was used only for the sound /k/.

In the oldest form of the English alphabet there was no q, cw or kw being used for the sound of /kw/. In Italian it is pronounced as in English, that is, as /kw/, while in French and Spanish qu is pronounced /k/.