QWERTZ keyboard
The key arrangement of PC keyboards can be traced back to the typewriter, the Typewriter. Since different countries with Latin script use country-specific characters - in Germany, for example, it is the umlauts - there are country-specific designs as far as keyboards are concerned. The general arrangement of characters on a keyboard is divided into the alpha keyboard areas for letters and the numeric keyboard for digits.
In addition to the two areas mentioned for letter and number input, there are also the function keys, special keys and cursor keys on a PC keyboard. The layout of the various keyboards can be different, with one key layout being more suitable for one language and another key layout being more suitable for another language. For this reason, the differences are indicated by the naming. It is done using the first six letters of the top alphanumeric key row. The consecutive letters give the keyboard layout its name.
In Germany, the QWERTZ keyboard is used. This means that the first six keys of the top row of letters are assigned the letters Q, W, E, R, T and Z from left to right. The assignment is due to the fact that in Germany the letter "Z" is used more frequently than the letter "Y" and that the letter combination "TZ" often occurs in the German language. Other countries, such as the USA or France have a different marking for the keyboard layout. In the USA it is QWERTY and in France AZERTY.
The layout of the keyboards has a historical background, which is related to the development of the typewriter and provides for the best possible usability of the keyboards. It is directly related to the statistical distribution of letters in words of the corresponding national language.