AZERTY - Differences Between The Belgian and French Layouts of The AZERTY Keyboard

Differences Between The Belgian and French Layouts of The AZERTY Keyboard

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:

• 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 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).