spelling

to clarify, i am referring to the need of an 'u' after the letter 'q'. I am in debate with my husband, who says that there is no rule regarding the use of q when spelling. I believe that q is always followed by an'u'. Could someone also direct me to a free on line source of the oxford english dictionary, as we are also in debate over the exsistance of the following words in the english language;
BOT
QUA
WIV
many thanks to anyone who can be helpful.

[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by mellypuss

to clarify, i am referring to the need of an 'u' after the letter 'q'. I am in debate with my husband, who says that there is no rule regarding the use of q when spelling. I believe that q is always followed by an'u'. Could someone also direct me to a free on line source of the oxford english dictionary, as we are also in debate over the exsistance of the following words in the english language;
BOT
QUA
WIV
many thanks to anyone who can be helpful.

There isn't a spelling rule. :( It's a matter of the history of English:

Originally Posted by etymology online

Q the 16th letter of the classical Roman alphabet, from the Phoenician equivalent of Heb. koph, which was used for the more guttural of the two "k" sounds in Semitic. The letter existed, but was little used and not alphabetized, in Gk.; the stereotypical connection with -u- began in Latin. Anglo-Saxon scribes adopted the habit at first, but later used spellings with cw- or cu-. The qu- pattern returned to Eng. with the Norman Conquest. Scholars use -q- alone to transliterate Sem. koph (e.g. Quran, Qatar, Iraq). In Christian theology, Q has been used since 1901 to signify the hypothetical source of passages shared by Matthew and Luke, but not in Mark; probably it is an abbreviation of Ger. Quelle "source."
Source

There's one word I know of that doesn't have 'u': qwerty, (1926), from the first six keys on a standard typewriter keyboard. There's also Qatar, which isn't an English word.

Here's a great online dictionary: Click Here. It has entries for bot and qua, but not for wiv.

All the best, :D