Hebrew keyboard

Standard Hebrew keyboard

Standard Hebrew keyboards have a 101-key layout. Like the standard English keyboard layout, QWERTY, the Hebrew layout was derived from the order of letters on Hebrew typewriters.

One noteworthy feature is that in the standard layout, paired delimiters -– parentheses (), brackets [], braces {}, and angle brackets (less/greater than) <> –- have the opposite visual representation from the standard in left-to-right languages. Thus, an open parenthesis in a right-to-left language has the same visual representation as a close parenthesis in a left-to-right language. Key mappings follow the logical rather than the physical representation. For instance, whether on a right-to-left or left-to-right keyboard, Shift-9 always produces a logical "open parenthesis". On a right-to-left keyboard, this is written as the Unicode character U+0029, "right parenthesis": ). This is true on Arabic keyboards as well. On a left-to-right keyboard, this is written as the Unicode character U+0028, "left parenthesis": (.

In a 102-key layout of this form, there would be an additional key to the right of the left shift key. This would be an additional backslash key (). Keyboards with 102 keys are not sold as standard.

On some keyboards, the backslash key () can be found to the left of the enter key, rather than on the top row to the left of the backspace key, where it resides normally.

On computers running Windows, Alt-Shift switches between keyboard layouts. Holding down a Shift key (or pressing Caps Lock) in Windows produces the uppercase Latin letter without the need to switch layouts.

Hebrew on standard Latin-based keyboards

There are a variety of layouts that, for the most part, follow the phonology of the letters on a Latin-character keyboard such as the QWERTY or AZERTY. Where no phonology mapping is possible, or where multiple Hebrew letters map to a single Latin letter, a similarity in shape or other characteristic may be chosen. For instance, if ס (samech) is assigned to the S key, ש (shin/sin) may be assigned to the W key, which it arguably resembles. The shift key is often used to access the five Hebrew letters that have final forms (sofit) used at the end of words.

These layouts are commonly known as "Hebrew-QWERTY" or "French AZERTY-Hebrew" layouts. While Hebrew layouts for Latin-based keyboards are not well standardized, OS X comes with a Hebrew-QWERTY variant, and software layouts for Microsoft Windows can be found on the Internet. Tools such as the Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator can also be used to produce custom layouts.

While uncommon, manufacturers are beginning to produce Hebrew-QWERTY stickers and printed keyboards, useful for those who do not wish to memorize the positions of the Hebrew characters.

Niqqud

Both consonants and niqqud can be typed from virtual graphical keyboards available on the World Wide Web, or by methods integrated into particular operating systems.

Microsoft Windows

Linux

In GTK+ Linux systems, niqqud can be entered by holding down AltGr and pressing the same keys as for Windows below. Or by pressing Ctrl+Shift+u followed by the appropriate 4 digit Unicode.

Macintosh

Using the Hebrew keyboard layout in Mac OS X, the typist can enter niqqud by pressing the Option key together with a number on the top row of the keyboard. Other combinations such as sofit and hataf can also be entered by pressing either the Shift key and a number, or by pressing the Shift key, Option key, and a number at the same time.

Notes:

SIL International have developed another standard, which is based on Tiro, but adds the Niqqud along the home keys. Linux comes with "Israel - Biblical Hebrew (Tiro)" as a standard layout. With this layout, niqqud can be typed without pressing the Caps Lock key.

Paragraph Directionality

Since Hebrew is read and written right-to-left, as opposed to the left-to-right system in English, the cursor keys and delete keys work backwards when Hebrew text is entered in left-to-right directionality mode. Because of the differences between left-to-right and right-to-left, some difficulties arise in punctuation marks that are common between the two languages, such as periods and commas. When using standard left-to-right input, pressing the "period" key at the end of a sentence displays the mark on the wrong side of the sentence. However, when the next sentence is started, the period moves to the correct location. This is due to the operating system defaulting to its standard text directionality when a typed character (such as a punctuation mark) does not have a specified directionality.

There are several ways to force right-to left directionality. When typing, a Unicode right-to-left mark can be inserted where necessary (such as after a punctuation mark). In Notepad, or any Windows standard text box, it can be done with from the context menu Insert Unicode control character. With Windows Hebrew keyboard, RLM can be generated pressing Ctrl ]. In Microsoft Word, the Format -> Paragraph menu can be used to change the paragraph's default direction to right-to-left. Similar setting is available in Gmail composer.

There are also ways to choose the way the text is displayed, without changing the text itself. In Internet Explorer, right-to-left display can be forced by right-clicking a webpage and selecting Encoding -> Right-To-Left Document. In Notepad, or any Windows standard text box, directionality can be changed by right-clicking and selecting Right to left Reading order. Same effect can be achieved by pressing Shift key with Right Ctrl. You can switch back to Left to right Reading order by unselecting the check box or pressing Shift key with Left Ctrl. Note that this only effects presentation of the text. Next time you open the same text in Notepad, you will need to perform the same direction switch again.

Direction marks

As described above, Microsoft Windows Hebrew keyboard has a Ctrl ] shortcut to insert the Unicode right-to-left mark. Same effect can be achieved with Ctrl Shift 4. The shortcuts for left-to-right mark are Ctrl [ and Ctrl Shift 3.

Separators

The shortcut for Unit Separator character 1F (^_) is Ctrl -. The shortcut for Record Separator character 1E (^^) is Ctrl 6. Note that in Notepad, or any Windows standard text box, these characters can be easily inserted via the context menu Insert Unicode control character.

Sheqel symbol

The symbol "₪", which represents the sheqel sign, can be typed into Microsoft Windows on a standard Hebrew keyboard layout by pressing AltGr and 4 () or by Alt +20AA on a non-Hebrew layout.

Euro symbol

For a Euro sign, one would press the AltGr and "E (ק) key".

Rafe

The rafe is a niqqud that is essentially no longer used in Hebrew. However, it used in Yiddish spelling (according to YIVO standards). It is accessed differently from other nequddot. The rafe is input by pressing the AltGr key and the "-" key:

Note Ⅰ: The letter "O" represents whatever Hebrew letter is used.

Yiddish digraphs

These Yiddish digraphs are not used in Hebrew; if one wanted two vavs, a vav-yud, or two yuds in Hebrew, one would enter the desired keys independently.

Inaccessible punctuation

Certain Hebrew punctuation, such as the geresh, gershayim, maqaf, pasuq, sof pasuq, and cantillation marks, are not accessible through the standard Hebrew keyboard layout. As a result, similar looking punctuation is often used instead. For example, a quotation mark is often used for a gershayim, an apostrophe for a geresh, a hyphen for a maqaf, a vertical bar for a pasuq, and a colon for a sof pasuq, though this depends on the platform. On iOS devices, the geresh and gershayim are actually part of the system keyboard.