' Charming...in 26 brisk chapters [Bate] squeezes in a vivid portrait of each letter - but
also much more than that. The book is a history of writing a biography of the English language
and an introduction to linguistic science all smuggled into short lively and entertaining
stories.' The Economist ' A wonderful achievement! A breath-taking adventure through
the alphabet - each letter a hero with a remarkable story to tell. An absolutely delightful
read filled with jewels of lightly worn scholarship and dazzling insight. I just couldn' t
recommend it more highly.' Stephen Fry ' You' ll never look at a keyboard the same
way after reading Danny Bate' s fascinating linguistic history.' Sunday Times Why
does ' W' sounds like ' double U' ? What has the letter ' Q' got to do
with monkeys? Why are the ' C' s in circus pronounced differently? What' s the
point of the second ' N' in the author' s first name ' Danny' ? And why does
' Q' need to be followed by ' U' ? Every letter you' re reading right now
has a fascinating story to tell having been on a long linguistic historical political and
social journey. In Why Q Needs U linguistic expert Danny Bate takes readers on a
fascinating odyssey through the English alphabet diving into history archaeology politics
and linguistics to discover where we get our writing from. Sharing fun facts and revealing the
alphabet' s hidden mechanisms he explains where we get our letters from and why the English
language uses them so strangely including: - why a silent final ' E' turns '
hop' into ' hope' - how five English letters come from a single graphic grandparent
- why there is an ' L' in ' salmon' and a ' K' in ' know' - how we
may know the specific person who invented the letter ' G' - why ' Z' is the sixth
letter for the Greeks yet the last letter for us Explaining - and defending - the peculiar
way English today uses our ancient letters Bate' s witty and entertaining book will help
readers spot connections in languages across the world and inspire a newfound sense of wonder
for the letters we use every day.
