Urdu keyboard

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The Urdu keyboard is the keyboard layout on Urdu computer and typewriter keyboards. Since the first Urdu typewriter was made available in 1911, the layout has gone through various phases of evolution.[1] With time, the variety of layouts introduced in the 1950s for mechanised compositions have reduced to very few that are compatible with the new digital age.

Urdu is a versatile language with the potential to expand and grow to fulfil the needs of modern communications technologies. Significant work has been done by the National Language Authority (Muqtadra Qaumi Zaban - مقتدرہ قومی زبان) in Pakistan on standardisation and the linguistic aspects such as orthography and lexicography[2]. The National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language (Qaumi Council Bara-e Farogh-e-Urdu Zaban) has engaged in similar activities in India.[3] However, with the development of typewriters and then computers, it has been a natural desire of its adherents to harness the power of the new technologies to increase the productivity and textual efficiency in the usage of the language, especially through modern electronic media.

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[edit] Evolution of the Urdu keyboard

When Urdu was declared as the national language of the independent Pakistan in 1947, a variety of keyboard designs were quickly brought into the market by various individuals and organizations. However, differences remained in the order of the keys and the number of characters. This underscored an urgent need for a standard form of keyboard adaptable for diverse users.[1].

[edit] First generation

In 1963, the newly established Central Language Board in Pakistan standardardised the typewriter keyboard. The new standard keyboard also incorporated special characters of other provincial languages, such as Sindhi and Pushto. Languages spoken in Punjab and Balochistan could be easily accommodated within the Urdu characters.

[edit] Second generation

The keyboard was again modified in 1974. This time the layout was based on frequency tables and bifurcation (balancing load on typist's fingers) techniques, and the characters relating to other languages were replaced with the numerals.

[edit] Third generation

In 1980, the Urdu Language Authority (Muqtadra Qaumi Zaban) came up with a new keyboard layout for typewriters based on Naskh script. The keyboard comprised of 46 keys to type 71 Urdu consonants, vowels, diacritics, and punctuation marks, and 21 key symbols for arithmetic calculations and digits. However, with the arrival of the digital age, the layout became inadequate for computerised processing that required software[4] backup to select the shape of the character appropriate to the context, and the ability to store multiple language character sets[5].

These issues were addressed through the standardisation of keyboard[6] for a bilingual teleprinter to use both English and Urdu. The new layout was appropriate for use in computer-based applications and was immediately adopted with modifications for word processors.

[edit] Need for standardisation

Due to a variety of Urdu software developers, the keyboard layout still remains diversified, as each developer has devised her/his own character set as per convenience. This means that data cannot be moved from one application to another. No character table[7] exists for Urdu corresponding to the ASCII table for English, which is detrimental to Urdu data processing.[8]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Khaver Zia. "A Survey of Standardization in Urdu". 4th Symposium on Multilingual Information Processing, (MLIT-4), Yangon, Myanmar. CICC, Japan. 1999
  2. ^ National Language Authority, Pakistan
  3. ^ National Council for Promotion of Urdu language: Technology Mission
  4. ^ Mohammad Afzal, Urdu Software Industry: Prospects, Problems and Need for Standards. 4th National Computer Conference, Islamabad. Pakistan. 1997
  5. ^ Khaver Zia, Information Processing in Urdu. International Symposium on Multilingual Information Processing, AIST, MITI, Tsukuba, Japan. March, 1996
  6. ^ Khaver Zia, "Standard Code Table for Urdu". 4th Symposium on Multilingual Information Processing, (MLIT-4), Yangon, Myanmar. CICC, Japan
  7. ^ Sajjad, Akbar, "Efforts in the Standardization of Urdu code table", Akhbar-e-Urdu. Urdu Language Authority, Islamabad. June 1999 (In Urdu)
  8. ^ Khaver Zia, "Present Status and Policy for Information Technology in Pakistan, Country Report", Beaconhouse-Informatics Computer Institute, Lahore. Pakistan. 2000

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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