JCUKEN facts for kids

JCUKEN (pronounced "YAY-TSOO-KEN") is a special way the letters are arranged on a keyboard. It's used for languages that write with the Cyrillic alphabet, like Russian. Think of it like how English keyboards usually use the QWERTY layout, but for Cyrillic letters!

Before the Russian language changed a bit in 1917, there was an older keyboard layout called JIUKEN (pronounced "YEE-OO-KEN").

What is a Keyboard Layout?

A keyboard layout is simply the way the keys are placed on your keyboard. For example, on many English keyboards, the first six letters on the top row are Q, W, E, R, T, and Y. That's why it's called the QWERTY layout!

For languages that use the Cyrillic alphabet, like Russian, Ukrainian, or Belarusian, they need a different layout because their alphabets have different letters. The JCUKEN layout is the most common one for these languages. The name "JCUKEN" comes from the first few letters on the top row of this keyboard, just like QWERTY.

The Old JIUKEN Keyboard

Before 1917, the Russian language had a few more letters than it does today. Because of these extra letters, the keyboards used a slightly different layout called JIUKEN.

Why Did it Change?

In 1917, Russia went through a big change called the Russian Revolution. After this, the government decided to make some changes to the Russian language itself. They removed a few letters that were not used very often anymore.

Because these letters were removed from the alphabet, there was no longer a need for them on keyboards. So, the keyboard layout was updated from JIUKEN to JCUKEN to match the new, simpler Russian alphabet. This made typing easier and more efficient for everyone.

Images for kids

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  This picture shows an old typewriter with the ЙІУКЕН (JIUKEN) keyboard layout.

See also

In Spanish: Teclado JCUKEN para niños