AZERTY
Encyclopedia
AZERTY is a specific layout
for the characters of the Latin alphabet
on typewriter
keys and computer keyboards
. The layout takes its name from the first six letters
to appear on the first row of alphabetical keys. Like the German QWERTZ
layout, it is modeled on the English QWERTY
layout, and it is used by most French speakers based in Europe, though France
and Belgium
each have their own national variations on the layout. The French speaking part of Switzerland uses the Swiss QWERTZ keyboard. Most of the citizens of Quebec
, the French-speaking province of Canada, use a QWERTY keyboard that has been adapted to the French language, although the government of Quebec
and the Canadian
federal government stipulate and use the Multilingual Standard keyboard CAN/CSA Z243.200-92.
The competing layouts devised for French (the ZHJAYSCPG layout put forward in 1907, Claude Marsan’s 1976 layout, the 2002 Dvorak
-fr and the 2005 Bépo layout) have won only limited recognition.
In France the AZERTY layout is the de facto
norm for keyboards. Nowhere does this layout feature as an officially recognized French standard. However, in 1976, a QWERTY layout adapted to the French language was put forward as an experimental standard (NF XP E55-060) by the French national organization for standardization
. This standard made provision for a temporary adaptation period during which the letters A, Q, Z and W could be positioned as in the traditional AZERTY layout. No provision, though, was made for adapting the M key, even on a temporary basis.
The AZERTY layout is used on Belgian keyboards (although most non-alphabetic symbols are positioned differently) and is also the inspiration behind the Lithuanian ĄŽERTY layout.
Several details should be noted:
s) on vowel
s.
can be generated by first striking the ^ key (located to the right of P in most AZERTY layouts), then the vowel requiring the accent (with the exception of y). For example, pressing '^' then 'a' produces 'â'.
In the Belgian AZERTY layout, the ` key is generated by the combination Alt Gr + µ; the µ key is located to the right of the ù key on Belgian AZERTY keyboards) then the key for the vowel requiring the accent.
In the Belgian AZERTY layout, it can be generated by a combination of Alt Gr + ù, then the vowel.
is available under Windows by using a combination of the Alt Gr + é keys, followed by the letter requiring the tilde.
s, the Alt key generates characters
by means of their individual codes. In order to obtain characters, the Alt key must be pressed and held down while typing the relevant code into the numeric keypad
.
On Linux
, the alt key gives direct access to French language special characters. The ligatures œ
and æ
can be keyed in by using either Alt Gr + o or Alt Gr + a respectively, in the fr-oss keyboard layout; their upper case equivalents can be generated using the same key combinations plus the French Shift key. Other useful punctuation symbols, such as ≤, ≥, or ≠ can be more easily accessed in the same way.
It is possible to fill in these gaps by installing a keyboard driver that has been specially enriched for the French language.
Some word-processing software packages sometimes address some of these gaps. The non-breaking space can be obtained by pressing the Ctrl key, followed by a space, in a word-processing package such as OpenOffice.org Writer
, or by using Ctrl + Maj [Caps] + Espace [Spacebar] in Microsoft Word.
Apart from these gaps, the French AZERTY layout has some strange features, which are still present in the Microsoft Windows Vista
operating system:
The Belgian AZERTY keyboard allows for the placing of accents on vowels without recourse to encoding via the Alt key + code. This is made possible by the provision of dead keys for each type of accent: ^ ¨ ´ ` (the last two being generated by a combination of Alt Gr + ù and µ respectively).
To recap the list of different keys from left to right and from top to bottom:
The description partially dead means that pressing the key in question sometimes generates the desired symbol directly, but that at least one of the symbols represented on the key will only appear after a second key has been pressed. In order to obtain a symbol in isolation, the space bar must be pressed, otherwise a vowel should be pressed to generate the required accented form.
The other keys are identical, even though traditionally the names of special keys are printed on them in English. This is because Belgium
is predominantly bilingual (French-Dutch) and officially trilingual (a third language, German, is spoken in the East Cantons).
It should be noted that the key to the right of 0 on the numeric keypad corresponds either to the full stop or to the comma (which is why there are two dinstinct keyboard drivers under Windows).
(µs), microfarad (µF), and micrometre
(µm). The usual solution of representing them by 'us', 'uF', and 'um' struck him as crude. He pushed his demands through, and the µ key was eventually included in the PC’s code page and included on its keyboard.
However, a position needed to be chosen for that particular key and a character included under one of the many inconvenient Alt-Ctrl commands (the system used prior to the addition of the Alt Gr key). The “\” symbol, never once used in DOS 1, seemed too little used to deserve such a prominent ranking. However, it was this symbol that was also chosen by Microsoft to act as a directory separator in DOS 2, which allowed directory hierarchies.
Keyboard layout
A keyboard layout is any specific mechanical, visual, or functional arrangement of the keys, legends, or key–meaning associations of a computer, typewriter, or other typographic keyboard....
for the characters of the Latin alphabet
Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
on typewriter
Typewriter
A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical device with keys that, when pressed, cause characters to be printed on a medium, usually paper. Typically one character is printed per keypress, and the machine prints the characters by making ink impressions of type elements similar to the pieces...
keys and computer keyboards
Keyboard (computing)
In computing, a keyboard is a typewriter-style keyboard, which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys, to act as mechanical levers or electronic switches...
. The layout takes its name from the first six letters
Letter (alphabet)
A letter is a grapheme in an alphabetic system of writing, such as the Greek alphabet and its descendants. Letters compose phonemes and each phoneme represents a phone in the spoken form of the language....
to appear on the first row of alphabetical keys. Like the German QWERTZ
QWERTZ
thumb|175px|A computer QWERTZ keyboardThe QWERTZ or QWERTZU keyboard is a widely used computer and typewriter keyboard layout that is mostly used in Central Europe...
layout, it is modeled on the English QWERTY
QWERTY
QWERTY is the most common modern-day keyboard layout. The name comes from the first six letters appearing in the topleft letter row of the keyboard, read left to right: Q-W-E-R-T-Y. The QWERTY design is based on a layout created for the Sholes and Glidden typewriter and sold to Remington in the...
layout, and it is used by most French speakers based in Europe, though France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
each have their own national variations on the layout. The French speaking part of Switzerland uses the Swiss QWERTZ keyboard. Most of the citizens of Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, the French-speaking province of Canada, use a QWERTY keyboard that has been adapted to the French language, although the government of Quebec
Government of Quebec
The Government of Quebec refers to the provincial government of the province of Quebec. Its powers and structure are set out in the Constitution Act, 1867....
and the Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
federal government stipulate and use the Multilingual Standard keyboard CAN/CSA Z243.200-92.
The competing layouts devised for French (the ZHJAYSCPG layout put forward in 1907, Claude Marsan’s 1976 layout, the 2002 Dvorak
Dvorak Simplified Keyboard
The Dvorak Simplified Keyboard is a keyboard layout patented in 1936 by Dr. August Dvorak and his brother-in-law, Dr. William Dealey. Over the years several slight variations were designed by the team led by Dvorak or by ANSI...
-fr and the 2005 Bépo layout) have won only limited recognition.
History
The AZERTY layout appeared in France in the last decade of the 19th century as a variation on American QWERTY typewriters. Its exact origin is unknown. At the start of the 20th century, the French “ZHJAY” layout, created by Albert Navarre, failed to break into the market for the simple reason that secretaries were already accustomed to the QWERTY and AZERTY layouts.In France the AZERTY layout is the de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
norm for keyboards. Nowhere does this layout feature as an officially recognized French standard. However, in 1976, a QWERTY layout adapted to the French language was put forward as an experimental standard (NF XP E55-060) by the French national organization for standardization
AFNOR
Association française de Normalisation is the French national organization for standardization and its International Organization for Standardization member body....
. This standard made provision for a temporary adaptation period during which the letters A, Q, Z and W could be positioned as in the traditional AZERTY layout. No provision, though, was made for adapting the M key, even on a temporary basis.
The AZERTY layout is used on Belgian keyboards (although most non-alphabetic symbols are positioned differently) and is also the inspiration behind the Lithuanian ĄŽERTY layout.
General information regarding AZERTY keyboards
- the Alt Gr key allows the user to type the character shown at the bottom right of any key with three characters.
- the Alt keyAlt keyThe Alt key on a computer keyboard is used to change the function of other pressed keys. Thus, the Alt key is a modifier key, used in a similar fashion to the Shift key. For example, simply pressing "A" will type the letter a, but if you hold down either Alt key while pressing A, the computer...
is used as a short cut to commands affecting windowsWindow (computing)In computing, a window is a visual area containing some kind of user interface. It usually has a rectangular shape that can overlap with the area of other windows...
, and is also used in conjunction with ASCIIASCIIThe American Standard Code for Information Interchange is a character-encoding scheme based on the ordering of the English alphabet. ASCII codes represent text in computers, communications equipment, and other devices that use text...
codes for typing special characters.
Dead keys
A dead key serves to modify the appearance of the next character to be typed on the keyboard. Dead keys are mainly used to generate accents (or diacriticDiacritic
A diacritic is a glyph added to a letter, or basic glyph. The term derives from the Greek διακριτικός . Diacritic is both an adjective and a noun, whereas diacritical is only an adjective. Some diacritical marks, such as the acute and grave are often called accents...
s) on vowel
Vowel
In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! or oh! , pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis. This contrasts with consonants, such as English sh! , where there is a constriction or closure at some...
s.
Circumflex accent
A circumflex accentCircumflex
The circumflex is a diacritic used in the written forms of many languages, and is also commonly used in various romanization and transcription schemes. It received its English name from Latin circumflexus —a translation of the Greek περισπωμένη...
can be generated by first striking the ^ key (located to the right of P in most AZERTY layouts), then the vowel requiring the accent (with the exception of y). For example, pressing '^' then 'a' produces 'â'.
Diaeresis
A diaeresis can be generated by striking the ¨ key (in most AZERTY layouts, it is generated by combining the Maj + ^ keys), then the vowel requiring the accent. For example, pressing '¨' then 'a' produces 'ä'.Grave accent
The grave accent can be generated by striking the ` key (in the French AZERTY layout it is located to the right of the “ù” key on Macintosh keyboards, while on PC-type keyboards it can be generated by using the combination Alt Gr + è.In the Belgian AZERTY layout, the ` key is generated by the combination Alt Gr + µ; the µ key is located to the right of the ù key on Belgian AZERTY keyboards) then the key for the vowel requiring the accent.
Acute accent
The acute accent is available under Windows by the use of Alt + a, then the vowel requiring the accent. For Linux users, it can be generated using Caps Lock + é then the vowel. On a Macintosh AZERTY keyboard, the acute accent is generated by a combination of the Alt + Maj + &, keys, followed by the vowel.In the Belgian AZERTY layout, it can be generated by a combination of Alt Gr + ù, then the vowel.
Tilde
The tildeTilde
The tilde is a grapheme with several uses. The name of the character comes from Portuguese and Spanish, from the Latin titulus meaning "title" or "superscription", though the term "tilde" has evolved and now has a different meaning in linguistics....
is available under Windows by using a combination of the Alt Gr + é keys, followed by the letter requiring the tilde.
Alt key
With some operating systemOperating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
s, the Alt key generates characters
Character (computing)
In computer and machine-based telecommunications terminology, a character is a unit of information that roughly corresponds to a grapheme, grapheme-like unit, or symbol, such as in an alphabet or syllabary in the written form of a natural language....
by means of their individual codes. In order to obtain characters, the Alt key must be pressed and held down while typing the relevant code into the numeric keypad
Numeric keypad
A numeric keypad, numpad or tenkey for short, is the small, palm-sized, seventeen key section of a computer keyboard, usually on the very far right. The numeric keypad features digits 0 to 9, addition , subtraction , multiplication and division symbols, a decimal point and Num Lock and Enter keys...
.
On Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
, the alt key gives direct access to French language special characters. The ligatures œ
Œ
Œ œŒ is a Latin alphabet grapheme, a ligature of o and e. In medieval and early modern Latin, it was used to represent the Greek diphthong οι, a usage which continues in English and French...
and æ
Æ
Æ is a grapheme formed from the letters a and e. Originally a ligature representing a Latin diphthong, it has been promoted to the full status of a letter in the alphabets of some languages, including Danish, Faroese, Norwegian and Icelandic...
can be keyed in by using either Alt Gr + o or Alt Gr + a respectively, in the fr-oss keyboard layout; their upper case equivalents can be generated using the same key combinations plus the French Shift key. Other useful punctuation symbols, such as ≤, ≥, or ≠ can be more easily accessed in the same way.
AZERTY under Linux
In X11, the window manager common to many flavors of UNIX, the keyboard interface is completely configurable allowing each user to assign different functions to each key in line with their personal preferences. For example specific combinations of Alt Gr + key could be assigned to many other characters.Missing elements
- Ever since the AZERTY keyboard was devised, a single key has been dedicated to the letter (ù), which only occurs in one word (où [where]), the œ is completely unrepresented, despite the fact that it is an integral part of the French language and occurs in many different words.
- æÆÆ is a grapheme formed from the letters a and e. Originally a ligature representing a Latin diphthong, it has been promoted to the full status of a letter in the alphabets of some languages, including Danish, Faroese, Norwegian and Icelandic...
, as in Lætitia [girl’s name] or ex æquo [dead-heat]. - The non-breaking spaceNon-breaking spaceIn computer-based text processing and digital typesetting, a non-breaking space or no-break space is a variant of the space character that prevents an automatic line break at its position. In certain formats , it also prevents the “collapsing” of multiple consecutive whitespace characters into a...
, which prevents having punctuation characters in isolation at the ends or beginnings of lines. - French language opening and closing quotation marks, « and ».
- The capital letters, É, Ç, Œ ... (in the words Œdipe [Oedipus], for example), are available neither on the typewriter itself, nor using the operating systemOperating systemAn operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
mentioned earlier.
It is possible to fill in these gaps by installing a keyboard driver that has been specially enriched for the French language.
Some word-processing software packages sometimes address some of these gaps. The non-breaking space can be obtained by pressing the Ctrl key, followed by a space, in a word-processing package such as OpenOffice.org Writer
OpenOffice.org Writer
OpenOffice.org Writer is the word processor component of the OpenOffice.org software package. Writer is a word processor similar to Microsoft Word and Corel's WordPerfect, with some of their features....
, or by using Ctrl + Maj [Caps] + Espace [Spacebar] in Microsoft Word.
Apart from these gaps, the French AZERTY layout has some strange features, which are still present in the Microsoft Windows Vista
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
operating system:
- The combination Maj + ² does not generate any character at all.
- The presence of two ^ (one of which is a dead key, while the other – at the bottom right of the ç9 key — is not).
- When a ¦ is required, a | is generated.
- Typing a period or numerals requires pressing Shift, whereas some rarer characters (ù, the semicolon) do not. This has led to drives to reform the AZERTY keyboard (chiefly by doing away with the ù, which may be typed using AltGr+è and u anyway, and/or swapping the period and semicolon), although to date this has not been successful.
Differences between the Belgian and French layouts of the AZERTY keyboard
To recap the list of different keys from left to right and from top to bottom:
- First row (symbols and numbers):
- By combining the shift and ² keys, ³ is obtained;
- The symbol | , is generated by a combination of Alt Gr + & same key as the 1;
- The @ symbol is generated by a combination of Alt Gr + é same key as the 2;
- Unlike the French layout, the ' (or 4) key does not contain a third symbol;
- Unlike the French layout, the ( (or 5) key does not contain a third symbol;
- The ^ symbol is generated by a combination of Alt Gr + § same key as the 6 ; but, as opposed to the ^ symbol found to the right of the p key, it is not a dead key, and therefore does not generate the placing of a circumflex accent;
- Unlike the French layout, the è (or 7) key does not contain a third symbol;
- Unlike the French layout, the ! (or 8) key does not contain a third symbol;
- The { symbol is obtained by a combination of Alt Gr + ç same key as the 9;
- The } symbol is obtained by a combination of Alt Gr + à same key as the 0;
- Unlike the French layout, the ) (or °) key does not contain a third symbol;
- The key to the right of the ) key contains the following symbols: - _ with shift and, unlike the French layout, does not contain a third symbol.
- Second row (the letters AZERTYuiop):
- the alphabetical keys do not have Alt Gr codes apart from the e, which generates the euro symbol, €;
- The [ symbol is obtained by a combination of Alt Gr + ^ same key as the ¨ (a partially dead key located to the right of the p key);
- the key to the right of the ^ key contains the following symbols: $ * with shift and ] with Alt Gr;
- Third row (the letters qsdfghjklm)
- the key to the right of m contains the following symbols: ù % with shift and the partially dead key ´ with Alt Gr , which allows acute accents to be generated on accented vowels;
- the key to the right of ù contains the following symbols: µ £ with shift and the partially dead key ` with Alt Gr, which allows grave accents to be generated on accented vowels;
- Fourth row (the letters wxcvbn and basic punctuation):
- The \ symbol is generated by a combination of Alt Gr + <;
- the key to the right of : contains the following symbols: = + with shift and the partially dead key ~ with Alt Gr, the latter either generating the tilde symbol when combined with the space bar, or positioning a tilde over a letter: a → ã, A → Ã, n → ñ, N → Ñ, o → õ, O → Õ.
The description partially dead means that pressing the key in question sometimes generates the desired symbol directly, but that at least one of the symbols represented on the key will only appear after a second key has been pressed. In order to obtain a symbol in isolation, the space bar must be pressed, otherwise a vowel should be pressed to generate the required accented form.
The other keys are identical, even though traditionally the names of special keys are printed on them in English. This is because Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
is predominantly bilingual (French-Dutch) and officially trilingual (a third language, German, is spoken in the East Cantons).
It should be noted that the key to the right of 0 on the numeric keypad corresponds either to the full stop or to the comma (which is why there are two dinstinct keyboard drivers under Windows).
µ key
Marcel Boulogne, responsible for marketing Personal Computers in France, refused to give the go-ahead for the launch of the product until the keyboards included the silent keys (^ and ¨) and the µ key. It was his belief that PCs would quickly take over from typewriters, and he did not want to have everyone complaining that it was impossible to symbolize certain units of measurement, such as the microsecondMicrosecond
A microsecond is an SI unit of time equal to one millionth of a second. Its symbol is µs.A microsecond is equal to 1000 nanoseconds or 1/1000 millisecond...
(µs), microfarad (µF), and micrometre
Micrometre
A micrometer , is by definition 1×10-6 of a meter .In plain English, it means one-millionth of a meter . Its unit symbol in the International System of Units is μm...
(µm). The usual solution of representing them by 'us', 'uF', and 'um' struck him as crude. He pushed his demands through, and the µ key was eventually included in the PC’s code page and included on its keyboard.
However, a position needed to be chosen for that particular key and a character included under one of the many inconvenient Alt-Ctrl commands (the system used prior to the addition of the Alt Gr key). The “\” symbol, never once used in DOS 1, seemed too little used to deserve such a prominent ranking. However, it was this symbol that was also chosen by Microsoft to act as a directory separator in DOS 2, which allowed directory hierarchies.
Related Articles
- QWERTYQWERTYQWERTY is the most common modern-day keyboard layout. The name comes from the first six letters appearing in the topleft letter row of the keyboard, read left to right: Q-W-E-R-T-Y. The QWERTY design is based on a layout created for the Sholes and Glidden typewriter and sold to Remington in the...
- QWERTZQWERTZthumb|175px|A computer QWERTZ keyboardThe QWERTZ or QWERTZU keyboard is a widely used computer and typewriter keyboard layout that is mostly used in Central Europe...
- Dvorak layoutDvorak Simplified KeyboardThe Dvorak Simplified Keyboard is a keyboard layout patented in 1936 by Dr. August Dvorak and his brother-in-law, Dr. William Dealey. Over the years several slight variations were designed by the team led by Dvorak or by ANSI...
- Layout of keys on computer keyboardsKeyboard layoutA keyboard layout is any specific mechanical, visual, or functional arrangement of the keys, legends, or key–meaning associations of a computer, typewriter, or other typographic keyboard....
External links
- The typewriter on the site of the National Archives
- Accentuate the capital letters
- The page on the Microsoft keyboard layouts /
- My website name highlighted on the keyboard drivers for Windows