Which word is it?

Question

Hello,Did I find the right word in this exercise?Find the word in the box whose pronunciation does not follow the rule. The letter q always has u after it, followed by a vowel. We pronounce qu (KW) as in squirrel.1.Equipment2.Quarter3.Queen4Question5Queue6.Quick7Quiet8.Quite9.QuizMy choice is the wrod 'queue'Thanks

Philip · Accepted Answer

Your choice is correct, and the reason it doesn't follow the "English rule" is that it's a French word, French having a pronunciation system different from English.

RandomGuy · Answer

Hello,

Nina_NiaMy choice is the word 'queue'.

That's my choice, too.

DMW · Answer

In my speech, both "quarter" and "queue" break the usual pronunciation rule for QU.  I do not put any W sound in "quarter".  I suspect most other English speakers are the same; I don't think I've ever heard this word with a W sound.

Fivejedjon · Answer

John Wells, in his Longman Pronunciation Dictionary says that 68% of speakers of AmE pronounce it as /kw/, 32% as /k/. He gives /kw/ as the primary BrE pronunciation. The Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary also gives /kw/ as the primary BrE pronunciation.

Both dictionaries surprised me. I would have said that /k/ was rare. I would have been wrong.

DMW · Answer

Fivejedjon - Really? I find this extremely surprising. I guess things are odd in my little corner of the world. 68% of Americans and the majority of British say /kw/ in quarter? I must learn to listen more carefully. Maybe it's just that I'm always expecting to hear /'k??t?/, so that's what my brain imagines. I must survey my workmates - they include both British people and Americans.

I've just seen that OED gives /kw/ without any mention of the /k/ pronunciation. I will check The New Zealand Oxford Dictionary next time I'm near a copy of it.

Fivejedjon · Answer

DMW I must learn to listen more carefully.

I am no longer sure myself. I have tried saying 'quarter' and 'quarters in various sentences, and I am honestly not sure whether I am saying /kw/ as clearly as I think I am. Unfortunately, I no longer have access to a spectogram, so I can't analyse my own speech scientifically. Like you, I am going to have to listen carefully to colleagues.

CalifJim · Answer

DMWIn my speech, both "quarter" and "queue" break the usual pronunciation rule for QU. I do not put any W sound in "quarter". I suspect most other English speakers are the same; I don't think I've ever heard this word with a W sound.

I hear it both with and without the W sound here in California.

The words that exhibit this feature are the 'quar-' and the 'quo-' words. It has to do with the combination of the back-glide W with the back vowel O.

Occasionally I hear the W drop (or nearly drop) in these:

quart, quarter, quartile, quartz, quartzite, quorum, quota, quotidian

Not so much in quarrel, quarry, quote, quotation, quotient.

CJ

DMW · Answer

I checked The New Zealand Oxford Dictionary. It lists /kw/ and /k/ for "quart", then has a note mentioning that in New Zealand, one finds the /k/ pronunciation for all words beginning with "quart", and also "quorum" and "quorate". So I guess it is a New Zealandism, but not one that I was aware of until today.

So thank you, Nina_Nia - I have learnt something today because of your question.

Incidentally, I would never drop the W in "quota" or "quotidian".

Which word is it?

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