The thing about q is that it represents something that actually has no sound of its own, but changes nearby sounds (doubling a following unvoiced stop or sibilant). It's sometimes phonologically considered a glottal stop that assimilates to a following consonant. Q is frequently used for far back unvoiced stops, so it works. Plus, it's not used for anything else, and listing on-yomi isn't something that a naïve reader will have to deal with anyway.
The misleading bit is spelling づ dzu, since it's actually pronounced /zu/ (there's no "d" sound in it). Long o is spelled ou or oh, both of which suggest the correct pronunciation. I specifically avoided "oo", since to most English speakers that suggests the vowel in "boot"; similarly, I avoided "ee" (which suggests the vowel in "beet"), using "ey" instead.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2005-07-07 04:39 am (UTC)The misleading bit is spelling づ dzu, since it's actually pronounced /zu/ (there's no "d" sound in it). Long o is spelled ou or oh, both of which suggest the correct pronunciation. I specifically avoided "oo", since to most English speakers that suggests the vowel in "boot"; similarly, I avoided "ee" (which suggests the vowel in "beet"), using "ey" instead.