Multilingual

The multilingual layout is suited for occasional typing in other languages which use the Latin writing system. It allows to type accents and special characters in many languages without switching keymaps. Colemak is designed for English, so for other languages Colemak isn't optimal.

Multilingual layout

Dead keys

• (ŭ) Breve - AltGr+[b]
• (ç) cedilla - AltGr+[,]
• (ü) Diaeresis (umlaut) - AltGr+[d]
• (ú) acuTe - AltGr+[t]
• (ű) double acute - AltGr+Shift+[t]
• (ù) gRrave - AltGr+[r]
• (ǔ) Háček (caron) - AltGr+[h]
• (ų) oGonek - AltGr+[g]
• (ū) Macron - AltGr+[m]
• (ũ) tilde - AltGr+[`]
• (ů) ring - AltGr+[k]
• (ċ) dot (.) - AltGr+[.]
• (û) circumfleX - AltGr+[x]
• Special characters - AltGr+[\] (only MS Windows/Mac)

Punctuation and symbols

• NBSP (non-breaking space): AltGr+Shift+Space
• ¢ (cent), € (euro): AltGr+[4], AltGr+[5]
• £ (pound), ¥ (yen): AltGr+Shift+[4], AltGr+Shift+[5]
• «, » (left/right guillemets): AltGr+[, AltGr+]
• ‹, › (left/right single angled quotation marks), AltGr+Shift+[, AltGr+Shift+]
• ‘, ’ (left/right single quotation marks): AltGr+[9], AltGr+[0]
• “, ” (left/right double quotation marks): AltGr+Shift+[9], AltGr+Shift+[0]
• – (en dash), — (em dash): AltGr+[-], AltGr+Shift+[-]
• ¹, ², ³ (superscript 1/2/3): AltGr+Shift+[1], AltGr+Shift+[2], AltGr+Shift+[3]
• ×, ÷ (multiplication/division): AltGr+[=], AltGr+Shift+[=]

Special characters (only MS Windows/Mac)

• © (Copyright), ® (Registered): AltGr+[\] [c], AltGr+[\] [r]
• ™ (Trademark): AltGr+[\] [t]
• ° (Degree): AltGr+[\] [d]
• µ (Micro): AltGr+[\] [m]
• № (Numero): AltGr+[\] [n]
• ¶ (Paragraph sign, Pilcrow): AltGr+[\] [p]
• § (Section sign): AltGr+[\] [s]
• … (ellipsis, three dots): AltGr+[\] [.]
• ± (plus-minus): AltGr+[\] Shift+[=]
• ≠ (not equal to): AltGr+[\] [=]
• ≤ (less-than or equal to), ≥ (greater-than or equal to): AltGr+[\] Shift+[,], AltGr+[\] Shift+[.]
• ≈ (almost equal to, double tilde): AltGr+[\] Shift+[`]
• ‰ (per-mille, tenth of a %): AltGr+[\] Shift+[5]
• ¦ (broken bar): AltGr+[\] Shift+[\]

Instruction for each language

Afrikaans

• á, é, í, ó, ú: AltGr+{letter}. Alternative: AltGr+[t] {letter}
• à, è, ì, ò, ù: AltGr+[r] {letter}
• ä, ö, ü: AltGr+[q], AltGr+[;], AltGr+[y]. Alternative: AltGr+[d] {letter}
• ë, ï: AltGr+[d] {letter}
• â, ê, î, ô, û: AltGr+[x] {letter}

Albanian (Shqip)

• ë: AltGr+[d] [e]
• ç: AltGr+[c]. Alternative: AltGr+[,] [c]

Basque (Euskara)

• ü: AltGr+[y], Alternative: AltGr+[d] [u]
• ç: AltGr+[c]. Alternative: AltGr+[,] [c]
• ñ: AltGr+[n]. Alternative: AltGr+[`] [n]

Breton (Brezhoneg)

• â, ê, î, ô, û: AltGr+[x] {letter}
• ù: AltGr+[r] [u]
• ü: AltGr+[y], Alternative: AltGr+[d] [u]
• ñ: AltGr+[n]. Alternative: AltGr+[`] [n]

Bosnian (Bosanski)

• ć: AltGr+[t] [c]
• č, š, ž: AltGr+[h] {letter}
• đ: AltGr+[j]

Catalan (Català)

• à, è, ò: AltGr+[r] {letter}
• é, í, ó, ú: AltGr+{letter}. Alternative: AltGr+[t] {letter}
• ï: AltGr+[d] [i]
• ü: AltGr+[y]. Alternative: AltGr+[d] [u]
• ç: AltGr+[c]. Alternative: AltGr+[,] [c]
• ŀ: AltGr+[.] [l] (only MS Windows/Mac)

Croatian (Hrvatski)

• ć: AltGr+[t] [c]
• č, š, ž: AltGr+[h] {letter}
• đ: AltGr+[j]

Czech (Čeština)

• á, é, í, ó, ú: AltGr+{letter}. Alternative: AltGr+[t] {letter}
• ý: AltGr+[t] [y]
• ů: AltGr+[k] [u]
• č, ď, ě, ň, ř, š, ť, ž: AltGr+[h] {letter}

Danish (Dansk)

• å: AltGr+[w]. Alternative: AltGr+[k] [a]
• æ: AltGr+[z]
• ø: AltGr+[p]
• á, é, í, ó, ú: AltGr+{letter}. Alternative: AltGr+[t] {letter}
• ý: AltGr+[t] [y]

Dutch (Nederlands)

• à, è: AltGr+[r] {letter}
• á, é, í, ó, ú: AltGr+{letter}. Alternative: AltGr+[t] {letter}
• ë, ï, ö, ü: AltGr+[d] {letter}

Esperanto

• ĉ, ĝ, ĥ, ĵ, ŝ: AltGr+[x] {letter}
• ŭ: AltGr+[b] [u]

Estonian (Eesti)

• ä, ö, ü: AltGr+[q], AltGr+[;], AltGr+[y]. Alternative: AltGr+[d] {letter}
• õ: AltGr+[`] [o]
• š, ž: AltGr+[h] {letter}

Faroese (Føroyskt)

• á, í, ó, ú: AltGr+{letter}. Alternative: AltGr+[t] {letter}
• ý: AltGr+[t] [y]
• æ: AltGr+[z]
• ø: AltGr+[p]
• ð: AltGr+[7]

Finnish (Suomi)

• å: AltGr+[w]. Alternative: AltGr+[k] [a]
• ä, ö: AltGr+[q], AltGr+[;]. Alternative: AltGr+[d] {letter}

French (Français)

• à, è, ù: AltGr+[r] {letter}
• é: AltGr+[e]. Alternative: AltGr+[t] [e]
• â, ê, î, ô, û: AltGr+[x] {letter}
• æ, œ: AltGr+[z], AltGr+[v]
• ë, ï, ü: AltGr+[d] {letter}
• ç: AltGr+[c]. Alternative: AltGr+[,] [c]

Galician (Galego)

• á, é, í, ó, ú: AltGr+{letter}. Alternative: AltGr+[t] {letter}
• ü: AltGr+[y], Alternative: AltGr+[d] [u]
• ç: AltGr+[c]. Alternative: AltGr+[,] [c]
• ñ: AltGr+[n]. Alternative: AltGr+[`] [n]

German (Deutsch)

• ä, ö, ü: AltGr+[q], AltGr+[;], AltGr+[y]. Alternative: AltGr+[d] {letter}
• ß: AltGr+[s]

Hungarian (Magyar)

• á, é, í, ó, ú: AltGr+{letter}. Alternative: AltGr+[t] {letter}
• ő, ű: AltGr+Shift+[t] {letter}
• ö, ü: AltGr+[;], AltGr+[y]. Alternative: AltGr+[d] {letter}

Icelandic (Íslenska)

• á, é, í, ó, ú: AltGr+{letter}. Alternative: AltGr+[t] {letter}
• ý: AltGr+[t] [y]
• æ: AltGr+[z]
• ö: AltGr+[;]. Alternative: AltGr+[d] [o]
• ð: AltGr+[7]
• þ: AltGr+[8]

Irish (Gaeilge)

• á, é, í, ó, ú: AltGr+{letter}. Alternative: AltGr+[t] {letter}

Italian (Italiano)

• à, è, ì, ò, ù: AltGr+[r] {letter}
• é: AltGr+[e]. Alternative: AltGr+[t] [e]

Kurdish (Kurdî)

• é, í, ú: AltGr+{letter}. Alternative: AltGr+[t] {letter}
• ê, î, û: AltGr+[x] {letter}
• ù: AltGr+[r] [u]
• ç: AltGr+[c]. Alternative: AltGr+[,] [c]
• ş: AltGr+[,] [s]

Latvian (Latviešu)

• ā, ē, ī, ū: AltGr+[m] {letter}
• č, š, ž: AltGr+[h] {letter}
• ģ, ķ, ļ, ņ, ŗ (cedilla): AltGr+[,] {letter}

Lithuanian (Lietuvių)

• ą, ę, į, ų: AltGr+[g] {letter}
• ė: AltGr+[.] [e]
• ū: AltGr+[m] [u]
• č, š, ž: AltGr+[h] {letter}

Luxembourgish (Lëtzebuergesch)

• é: AltGr+[e]. Alternative: AltGr+[t] [e]
• ä: AltGr+[q]. Alternative: AltGr+[d] {letter}
• ë: AltGr+[d] [e]

Maltese (bil-Malti)

• à, è, ì, ò, ù: AltGr+[r] {letter}
• î: AltGr+[x] [i]
• ċ, ġ, ż: AltGr+[.] {letter}
• č, š, ž: AltGr+[h] {letter}
• ħ: AltGr+[6]

Māori

• ā, ē, ī, ō, ū: AltGr+[m] {letter}

Norwegian (Norsk bokmål)

• å: AltGr+[w]. Alternative: AltGr+[k] [a]
• æ: AltGr+[z]
• ø: AltGr+[p]
• à, ò: AltGr+[r] {letter}
• é, ó: AltGr+{letter}. Alternative: AltGr+[t] {letter}
• ê, ô: AltGr+[x] {letter}

Norwegian (Norsk nynorsk)

• å: AltGr+[w]. Alternative: AltGr+[k] [a]
• æ: AltGr+[z]
• ø: AltGr+[p]
• à, ò: AltGr+[r] {letter}
• é, ó: AltGr+{letter}. Alternative: AltGr+[t] {letter}

Occitan

• á, é, í, ó, ú: AltGr+{letter}. Alternative: AltGr+[t] {letter}
• à, è, ò: AltGr+[r] {letter}
• ç: AltGr+[c]. Alternative: AltGr+[,] [c]

Pinyin (Chinese romanization)

• ü: AltGr+[y]
• ā, ē, ī, ō, ū, ǖ (1st tone): AltGr+[m] {letter}
• á, é, í, ó, ú, ǘ (2nd tone): AltGr+[t] {letter}
• ǎ, ě, ǐ, ǒ, ǔ, ǚ (3rd tone): AltGr+[h] {letter}
• à, è, ì, ò, ù, ǜ (4th tone): AltGr+[r] {letter}

Polish (Polski)

• ą, ę: AltGr+[g] {letter}
• ć, ń, ó, ś, ź: AltGr+[t] {letter}
• ż: AltGr+[.] [z]
• ł: AltGr+[l]

Portuguese (Português)

• á, é, í, ó, ú: AltGr+{letter}. Alternative: AltGr+[t] {letter}
• ã, õ: AltGr+[f], AltGr+[']. Alternative: AltGr+[`] {letter}
• à: AltGr+[r] [a]
• â, ê, ô: AltGr+[x] {letter}
• ü: AltGr+[y], Alternative: AltGr+[d] [u]
• ç: AltGr+[c]. Alternative: AltGr+[,] [c]
• º, ª: AltGr+[2], AltGr+[3]

Romanian (Română)

• â, î: AltGr+[x] {letter}
• ă: AltGr+[b] [a]
• ş, ţ: AltGr+[,] {letter}

Russian (Русский)

Not supported directly, but Translit.ru can be used with Colemak.

Serbian (Srpski)

• ć: AltGr+[t] [c]
• č, š, ž: AltGr+[h] {letter}
• đ: AltGr+[j]

Slovak (Slovenčina)

• á, é, í, ó, ú: AltGr+{letter}. Alternative: AltGr+[t] {letter}
• ĺ, ŕ, ý: AltGr+[t] {letter}
• ä: AltGr+[q]. Alternative: AltGr+[d] {letter}
• ô: AltGr+[x] [o]
• č, ď, ľ, ň, š, ť, ž: AltGr+[h] {letter}

Slovenian (Slovenščina)

• č, š, ž: AltGr+[h] {letter}

Spanish (Español)

• á, é, í, ó, ú: AltGr+{letter}. Alternative: AltGr+[t] {letter}
• ü: AltGr+[y], Alternative: AltGr+[d] [u]
• ñ: AltGr+[n]. Alternative: AltGr+[`] [n]
• ¡, ¿: AltGr+[1], AltGr+[/]
• º, ª: AltGr+[2], AltGr+[3]

Sundanese (Basa Sunda)

• é: AltGr+[e]. Alternative: AltGr+[t] [e]

Swedish (Svenska)

• å: AltGr+[w]. Alternative: AltGr+[k] [a]
• ä, ö: AltGr+[q], AltGr+[;]. Alternative: AltGr+[d] {letter}
• é: AltGr+[e]. Alternative: AltGr+[t] {letter}

Tagalog

• á, é, í, ó, ú: AltGr+{letter}. Alternative: AltGr+[t] {letter}
• à, è, ì, ò, ù: AltGr+[r] {letter}
• â, ê, î, ô, û: AltGr+[x] {letter}
• ñ: AltGr+[n]. Alternative: AltGr+[`] [n]

Turkish (Türkçe)

• â, î, û: AltGr+[x] {letter}
• ı: AltGr+[.] [i]
• ö, ü: AltGr+[;], AltGr+[y]. Alternative: AltGr+[d] {letter}
• ç: AltGr+[c]. Alternative: AltGr+[,] [c]
• ş: AltGr+[,] [s]
• ğ: AltGr+[b] [g]

Turkmen (Türkmençe)

• ä, ö, ü: AltGr+[q], AltGr+[;], AltGr+[y]. Alternative: AltGr+[d] {letter}
• ç: AltGr+[c]. Alternative: AltGr+[,] [c]
• ş: AltGr+[,] [s]
• ý: AltGr+[t] [y]
• ň, ž: AltGr+[h] {letter}

Walloon (Walon)

• â, ê, î, ô, û: AltGr+[x] {letter}
• å: AltGr+[w]. Alternative: AltGr+[k] [a]
• é: AltGr+[e]. Alternative: AltGr+[t] [e]
• è: AltGr+[r] [e]
• ç: AltGr+[c]. Alternative: AltGr+[,] [c]

Welsh (Cymraeg)

• â, ê, î, ô, û, ŵ, ŷ: AltGr+[x] {letter}
• á, é, í: AltGr+{letter}. Alternative: AltGr+[t] {letter}
• ï: AltGr+[d] [i]

Notes

• The layout is designed to similar to the US-International layout (which explains some of placements).
• The layout will work with all types of keyboards. On 102-key keyboards, the backslash key is often moved, and the extra key (usually '<') will be mapped as a dash/underscore.
• The layout has been designed not to get in the way for people who don't use the multilingual features.
• It is not feasable at the moment to create optimized variants for every language. Moreover, your needs might vary according to the language combinations you use, the frequency you use each language, whether you're used to the US layout or the local layout, whether you program or not, etc. If you want to create a layout optimized variant for your language, you can remap the 102nd key (not shown in layout) and some of punctuation keys you don't use often. The layout source is provided for all operating systems. You'd might want to remap the decimal point in the numeric keypad as well. In some cases, there's no statistical justification for adding a dedicated key, e.g. ç in French and ñ in Spanish have a frequency of less than 0.25%. Note that replacing ']' or '\' with a high-frequency letter will increase strain on the pinky finger.