The names QWERTZ, QWERTY and AZERTY can be found in the settings of computers or smartphones. They differ in meaning.
QWERTZ, QWERTY and AZERTY: That's the meaning
The names QWERTZ, QWERTY and AZERTY describe different types of keyboard layouts. The name comes from the first six letters in the top row of the keyboard.
- QWERTY stands for the US keyboard layout, QWERTZ for the German keyboard layout and AZERTY for the French keyboard layout.
- Some letters are swapped in the different systems because other letters are used more frequently in different language areas.
- The “Z” is hardly needed in English-speaking countries, but in German it is the “Y”. That's why these two keys are swapped in the keyboard assignments.
- In addition, the assignments of the special characters differ. You won't find a “ß” on a QWERTY or AZERTY keyboard. However, the French AZERTY layout has individual keys for “é” and “è”.
- On the QWERTY keyboard commonly used in this country, you will also find the letters “ä”, “ö” and “ü”, which are not found in the other variants.
History behind the keyboard layout
The development of these keyboard layouts goes back to 1868, when the American Christopher Latham Sholes arranged the letters on a typewriter in a meaningful way.
- Previously the letters were arranged alphabetically. However, if you wrote words that contained two consecutive letters in the alphabet (for example “ab”), the typewriter's stamps got stuck. This resulted in annoying work and loss of time.
- With the new QWERTY keyboard, this could hardly happen. Over time, different language areas adapted the keyboard to their needs. This is how variants such as QWERTZ and AZERTY emerged.