Q, the Sütterlin letter q

History

The letter Q is the 17th letter of the German alphabet. Phonetically, it represents a voiceless velar plosive /k/, virtually always paired with 'u' to form the consonant sequence /kv/.

Sütterlin lowercase q features a circular middle bowl and a descender that flicks rightward at the bottom. Capital Q is an upright circle with a decorative wave crossing its base.

The letter q is relatively rare in German, almost always appearing in the combination 'qu' ('Quelle', 'Quartier', 'Quittung'). In archival research, recognizing the rightward flick of q prevents confusion with g.

Whether q already appears in Proto-Sinaitic writing is disputed;^[1] its earliest certain ancestor is the Phoenician qoph,^[2] perhaps a monkey seen from behind, the stroke its tail,^[3] or else a human head with a neck.^[4] Qoph's sound was a k spoken in the throat, at the uvula.^[5] The Greeks used qoppa for k before o and u,^[6] then dropped it early, keeping it only as the numeral 90.^[7]