Non-English Fount Distribution


This page shows some schemes for founts of metal type, for languages that are not English. The figures give the number of types for each character, within either an overall quantity, or weight. How the type fits into a case is shown either as Quantity in a Case, or as one of the many Type Lays available.

Schemes for English distributions are shown as a separate page.

Where appropriate below, † represents a single dagger, f represents long s, — represents an em rule, and ' an apostrophe.

German Distribution for 100kg Korpus Antiqua
(Genzmer: Das Buch des Setzers, Frankfurt 1961. Quantities are numbers of type)
a3000 s3300 à100 A400 S500 1500 .1500
b1000 ß300 á30 B350 T300 2450 ,2000
c1900 t3300 â40 C200 U200 3450 -1000
d3000 u2300 è80 D350 V280 4400 :200
e10500 v550 é200 E300 W300 5450 ;200
f900 w900 ê40 F250 X120 6400 !200
g1800 x250 ë40 G350 Y60 7400 ?200
h3000 y200 ì30 H300 Z200 8400 '200
i4600 z700 í30 I400 Ä80 9450 *150
j250 ä400 î30 J150 Ö60 0500 60
k700 ö250 ï40 K300 Ü100    §100
l2100 ü450 ò30 L250 Æ20    (250
m1500 ff150 ó30 M300 OE20    [100
n6400 fi100 ô40 N200 È30    »250
o1300 fl100 ù30 O200 É30    200
p500 æ30 ú30 P250 Ê20    &80
q200 oe30 û30 Q60 Ë20       
r5000    ç30 R250 Ç20       
 
German Distribution for 100kg Korpus Fraktur
(Genzmer: Das Buch des Setzers, Frankfurt 1961. Quantities are numbers of type)
a3500 s1050 ff200 A450 S570 1500 .1700
b1150 f1850 fi120 B400 T350 2450 ,2100
c200 t3300 fl120 C170 U230 3450 -1100
d3500 u2650 ll340 D400 V230 4400 :220
e12000 v600 ch1900 E300 W330 5450 ;220
f1050 w1050 ck200 F280 X60 6400 !220
g2000 x200 fi340 G400 Y60 7400 ?220
h1400 y200 ff220 H350 Z230 8400 '220
i5000 z800 ft820 I150 Ä90 9450 *150
j300 ä460 fz350 J150 Ö70 0500 70
k700 ö280 tz200 K350 Ü110    §100
l1950 ü500    L280       (280
m1700       M350       [100
n7300       N230       »280
o1500       O230       250
p580       P230       &100
q200       Q60          
r5700       R280          
 
French Distribution for 100,000 characters (400lb of 12pt)
(Lefevre: Guide Practique de Compositeur d'Imprimerie, Paris 1880. Quantities are numbers of type)
a5000 s6500 à500 A300 S300 A200 S200 1300 .1500
b1000 t5500 â250 B150 T300 B100 T200 2200 ,2000
c2500 u5000 é1500 C250 U250 C150 U175 3200 -1000
d3000 v1000 è500 D250 V200 D200 V125  4200 :200
e11000 x500 ê300 E450 X75 E350 X75  5200 ;300
f1000 y300 ë50 F150 Y50 F100 Y50  6200 !100
g1000 z300 î150 G150 Z50 G100 Z50  7200 ?100
h1000 ç100 ï50 H150 AE25 H100 AE25  8200 '1000
i5500 ae50 ô150 I300 OE25 I250 OE25  9200 *50
j500 oe100 ù250 J100 W25 J100 W25  0300 §50
k100 w50 û150 K25 Ç25 K25 Ç25     (150
l4500 fi350 ü50 L300 É100 L200 É75  e100 [50
m2500 fl150    M200 È75 M150 È50  l100 »300
n5000       N250 Ê25 N200 Ê25  m100 200
o4500       O300    O200     n100   
p2000       P200    P150     r100   
q1200       Q150    Q100     s100   
r5500       R300    R200     t100   
 
Italian Distribution for 100,000 characters
(Legros & Grant: Typographical Printing Surfaces, London 1916. Quantities are numbers of type)
a7550 s4800 à400 A300 S240 A150 S120 1450 .1200
b1400 t5250 è500 B160 T240 B80 T120 2450 ,1200
c3200 u2900 ì200 C200 U180 C100 U90 3400 -750
d2800 v1800 ò400 D200 V200 D100 V100  4400 :200
e7750 w200 ù350 E300 W60 E150 W30  5400 ;200
f950 x300    F150 X200 F75 X100  6400 !100
g1400 y200    G150 Y40 G75 Y20  7400 ?100
h1000 z1100    H100 Z200 H50 Z100  8400 '1200
i7900 ff200    I480 À40 I240 À20  9400 \600
j200 fi400    J60 È60 J30 È30  0450 (400
k300 fl200    K60 Ì40 K30 Ì20     *100
l5750       L300 Ò40 L150 Ò20    100
m1700       M180 Ù40 M90 Ù20     300
n4900       N200    N100        &100
o6750       O360    O180          
p2700       P180    P90          
q1000       Q100    Q50          
r4900       R240    R120          
 
Spanish Distribution for 100,000 characters
(Legros & Grant: Typographical Printing Surfaces, London 1916. Quantities are numbers of type)
a5550 s5650 á480 A430 S480 A430 S380 1450 .2700
b930 t4100 ã90 B280 T360 B280 T210 2450 ,2700
c2460 u4860 ç20 C330 U480 C370 U240 3400 -2140
d2970 v900 é430 D520 V430 D460 V140  4400 :710
e7360 x310 í430 E570 X240 E570 X70  5400 ;860
f900 y580 ó430 F280 Y280 F220 Y70  6400 !380
g910 z280 õ100 G280 Z140 G220 Z70  7400 ?380
h910 w40 ú360 H140 W35 H110 W35  8400 '70
i5240 æ45 ü100 I280 Æ40 I330 Æ20  9400 «620
j460 œ35    J160 Œ30 J180 Œ15  0450 (500
k70 ff70    K70 Á35 K35 Á35     =140
l2740 fi280    L360 Ç15 L360 Ç15 a100 *70
m1840 fl140    M280 É35 M280 É35  o100 70
n4140 ñ200    N280 Í35 N280 Í35     §70
o4650       O380 Ó35 O360 Ó35     280
p1570       P260 Ú20 P280 Ú30     &100
q1850       Q240 Ñ100 Q240 Ñ80       
r4240       R330    R360          
 
Hebrew Unpointed Distribution
(Legros & Grant, Typographical Printing Surfaces)
(London 1916)
        (Jerusalem Type Foundry (24pt))
(by Y. Miklaf 2001)
Aleph70      Aleph30    .13
Beth20  Beth18  ,11
Gimel21  Gimel8  :5
Daleth32  Daleth14  ;4
He73  He34  !3
Vau84  Vau56  ?3
Zayin21  Zayin7  (3
Cheth35  Cheth15  )3
Teth14  Teth6  {3
Yod77  Yod50  }3
Kaph56final11Kaph16  '3
Lamedh70  Lamedh22  "3
Mem56final21Mem24final15-4
Nun35final17Nun16final7\4
Samech15  Samech8  05
Ayin32  Ayin17  15
Pe14final10Pe8final525
Tzadde11final10Tzadde8final535
Koph13  Koph8  45
Resh42  Resh23  55
Sin84  Sin25  65
Tau20  Tau20  75
        85
        95
Russian Distribution for 100,000 characters
(Legros & Grant, Typographical Printing Surfaces, London 1916)
Namel.c.caps.c.      Namel.c.caps.c.      Figures      Points
A3900410100Es3800340901720.2000
Be130025070Te3800340 2660,2800
Ve3800410 U1700210603600;280
Ge1000250 Ef42090 4600:280
De2100250 Kha680210 5600-1440
Ye6200480120Tse680210 6600!200
Zhe700210 Che1200210 7600?200
Ze750210 Sha680210 8600'240
I3800250 Shcha550170 9600\400
Yot1200170 Jer3000250 0720(240
short I85017040Yery1300170   [120
Ka2500250 Yeri1200170 Accents*160
El3000340 Yat190017040ë42080
Em2500250 E550130 Ë70§80
En6300500 Yu680170 Ë20440
O6400500 Ya1500250     
Pe2100250 Fita13060     
Er250034090Izhitsa8020     
 
Dutch Distribution for display sizes
(Stichting Lettergieten 1983, Westzaan 2000. Quantities are numbers of type)
a12   n14   ç2   A8   N10   13   .10
b12o12ff2B6O823,4
c5p4fi2C6P533-4
d12q2fl2D8Q243:4
e26r12ffi2E16R853;4
f5s9ffl2F5S763!4
g6t10ij6G5T873?4
h6u6ae1H5U783'4
i10v6oe1I9V694&2
j4w4  J7W6033
k6x2Ç2K6X3  (4
l8y4AE1L7Y3    
m6z4OE1M7Z4    
 
It is interesting to note the differences in the order of frequency of the characters. Thus for the lower case:

e n d a o r t i s g h l k m u v b c z w ij f p j y x q (Dutch distribution for a 4500a fount)
e n a b d o r i t s l g h m u v ij c f k j p w y z q x (Dutch distribution for 12a fount, Stichting Lettergieten 2001)
e s t a n r i u o l d p c m v q b g f h x y j z k w (French distribution within 18,000 ens of Cicéro, Lefevre 1880)
e s i r t a n u l o d c m p q b f g h v j x y z k w (French distribution for a 5000a fount, Lefevre 1880)
e n r i s t a d h u l c g m o b f w k z v p ß j x q y (German Antiqua distribution for 3000a fount, Genzmer 1961)
e n r i a d t u g l f m o h b f s w z k v p j c q x y (German Fraktur distribution for 3500a fount, Genzmer 1961)
i e a o l t n r s c u d p v m b g z h q f k x j w y (Italian distribution for a 7550a fount, Legros & Grant 1916)
e s a i u o r n t d l c q m p b g h f v y j x z ñ k w (Spanish distribution for a 5550a fount, Legros & Grant 1916)

and contrast these with various schemes for English:

e a i n o r s t c d h l m u b f g p w y j k v q x z (Stephenson Blake 1989)
e a i n o r s c d h l m u b f g p t w y j k v q x z (Startype 1979)
e t a i n o s r h d l u c m f p w y b g v k j q x z (Monotype 1970s)
e a i n o r s t h l d c f m u b g p w y j k v q x z (Riscatype 1960s)
e t a o i s n u h r l w m c f d y g p b v k j z x q (Intertype 1930s)
e a i n o r s t h l d c m u b f g p w y j k v q x z (Southward iro ATF 1933)
e t a i n o s r h d l u c f m w y p b g v k q j x z (Southward 1887)
e t a i n o s h r d l u c m f w y g p b v k q j x z (MacKellar 1870)
e t a i n o s h r d l u c m f w y g p b v k j x q z (Savage 1841, from Caslon)
e t a i n o s h r d l u c m f w y g p b v k q j x z (Hansard 1825)
e a s i o t r n d l u h c m w y p g f b v k q j x z (Stanhope c1800)
e a t o h n r d i l f s m u w y c g b p v k x j q z (Smith 1755 improved)
e a t h i n o r d l m s u c f b g p w y k v j q x z (Smith 1755 traditional)

but note that ligatures and accented letters can make a difference, ie MacKellar has fi equal to q and ff equal to x (and above z). Hansard has fi equal to q, ff to j, fl to z (and é above z, and à â ê equal to z). Smith also includes long s ligatures in his schemes, which for example would move s above i in his traditional scheme, if the fount had no ligatures. The Dutch scheme has ij as shown, but also é above y and ó à è fl ä ö ü fi í ì above x and ò û â above q. Similarly, in the French scheme, é is above p, fi above y, fl and ç above k, etc., but also note how few k and w were in use at that time. In the German Antiqua scheme, ü and ä are above j and ö is above q and in the Fraktur scheme, ü and ä are above j and ö is above c. Italian has è à ò fi ò above k and Spanish has á above j and é í ó ú above x and fi above ñ.




Other empty cases
ie with the boxes left blank
Other type layouts
ie with characters assigned to boxes
Full Index of layoutsGlossary of terms usedSources of the layoutsIntroduction
Quantities in a fount of typeQuantities in a case of type
Notes about Job
and Double Cases
Notes about Upper casesNotes about Lower casesAlembic home page

This page was written by David Bolton and last updated 27 October 2018.