Russell Bateman wrote:
Of course, we all realize that the original difference between AZERTY and QWERTY was the analyzed solutions to the problem of the likelihood of two typewriter hammers striking the platen in close enough succession that they would jam together and get stuck. Accents arose as a distinction only because the French decided, based presumably on a letter frequency analysis that AZERTY was the optimal key arrangement based on letter frequency in French words while Americans (I've never noticed what they type on in England) chose QWERTY. It was always a puzzle to me in my childhood as to why the keys weren't arranged in a more obvious fashion. It wasn't answered until, as I was acquainted with the Dvorak key layout, it was explained to me why typewriter keys had been arranged like that in the first place. Of course, now, it's all just tradition--strong enough that the Dvorak guys haven't carried the day and the chording guys are just a lone voice in the wilderness.
I don't follow what you're saying about accents (typo?). The French have used accented letters since (IIUC) before Gutenberg invented printing. Yes, the various typewriter keyboards are supposed to be the result of some ergology research, but I don't know the details. IIRC the QWERTY keyboard was invented in England at a time when that was the leading industrial country in the world. W is quite rare in French while -ez is part of the universal second-person-plural ending of verbs; but wouldn't the latter make one think that placing z next to e (well, next on the keyboard, and separated by only S 3 X in the machinery) would cause _more_ jamming in mechanical typewriters? The q is safely away from the u...
Best regards, Tony.
