Arabic Keyboard Stickers

Arabic keyboard labels have been carefully designed for the Arabic alphabet. We wanted to share some background facts on Arabic languages.

Arabic is a Semitic language. It has the same historical roots as the Hebrew language and the Aramaic language. Arabic is the liturgical language of Islam, the religious language of all Muslims. Arabic itself preserves the ancient grammar, while its alphabet loosely resembles the Aramaic script. Widely known classical Arabic constitutes the form of non-spoken language that is being considered by Arabs in a standard literary writing, while colloquial Arabic is a set of different spoken dialects.

Arabic alphabet is composed of 28 basic letters. Arabic keyboard layout matches the old Arabic typewriter standard where top text characters match d-s-t-q transcription pattern.

The big challenges to Arabic text printing came with the introduction of linotype machines. Using a keyboard, similar to that of a typewriter, typesetters typed out a full column-width line in metal. New "Selectric" typewriter was introduced in 1977 by IBM and was designed for typing Arabic, Farsi, and other right-to-left languages where carret was moving from right to left.

Arabic alphabet: