The original Latin alphabet had a. capital letters only b. lowercase letters only c. both capital and lowercase letters
The word “lowercase” comes from a. the emperor Charlemagne b. medieval English scribes c. early newspaper offices
From the 16th to the 18th centuries, it was popular to capitalize a. words at the end of a sentence as well as the beginning b. all important words, including most nouns c. all verbs and adjectives
Discussion/essay questions
In German, the capitalization of nouns is still a common practice. In some alphabets, like Arabic, there are no capital letters. Does your native language have capital and lowercase letters? What are the basic rules for using them?
Can you write a comment using 16th-century English capitalization?
Transcript
The English alphabet derives from the Latin alphabet, which was first used in ancient Rome. The original Latin alphabet only had capital letters. Lowercase letters evolved as scribes found faster ways to write by hand. Around 800 A.D., the emperor Charlemagne created a standard lowercase Latin alphabet. The two types of letters gained the names “uppercase” and “lowercase” after the invention of the Gutenberg press. Early newspaper offices stored letters in wooden cases. They kept the smaller letters in the lower cases because they used them more often. English capitalization rules varied throughout history. From the 16th to the 18th century, it was popular to capitalize all important words in a sentence, including most nouns. This ended around the beginning of the 19th century, when English grammar developed more universal rules.
Sholes designed the QWERTY keyboard for a. typewriters b. early computers c. touch screens
The purpose of the QWERTY layout is a. to stop keys from jamming b. to help telegraph operators translate Morse code c. unknown and still debated
It is difficult to modify the standard keyboard because a. it is the most efficient layout for typing in English b. it works very well with modern technology c. it is the layout that most people have developed muscle memory for
Discussion/essay questions
How fast do you type? Do you think you could adapt to a new type of keyboard?
The popularity of QWERTY keyboards has caused some people to be concerned that the traditional writing systems of character-based languages may be lost. Why do you think this is? Is there a solution?
Transcript
The standard layout for an English keyboard spells out “QWERTY” at the top. American inventor Christopher Sholes created this keyboard in 1868 for typewriters. The purpose of the QWERTY layout is unknown. One theory is that Sholes designed it to slow typists down so that keys would not jam. Another is that it helped telegraph operators translate Morse code easily. However, it is not the most efficient layout for typing words. Many inventors have tried to modify the standard keyboard, but this is difficult. People rely on muscle memory when they type, and it is hard to adapt to a keyboard with a different arrangement of letters. As the world becomes more dependent on technology, QWERTY keyboards have become common even in countries with languages that use characters instead of letters.
