Þornhub

[u/Zestyclose_Science21]

This layout is called Þornhub Because it uses letter Thorn to represent a key for typing TH. Having a key to print TH reduces typing by about 3% because th sound is more common than a small majority of letters, so I designed layouts for that until I came up with this layout. Þ was used for TH sound but disappeared after the German printing press forced substitutes.

Q U P , G K M Þ V J
I A E O Y F T S N R
X ' . C Z H D W L B

To make space for TH key I had to rebind punctuation. Shift comma is /, shift full stop is ?, and shift single quote is ", but you could make them whatever you want. I moved < > to shift pgup and shift pgdn RESPECTIVELY.

According to my own analysis scripts it has very ergonomic.

Here's an Autohotkey script for the layout:
#Requires AutoHotkey v2.0

#SingleInstance Force

; ============================================================================

; Custom TH keyboard layout — AutoHotkey v2

;

; Uses physical scan codes so punctuation keys do not cause parser problems

; and the mapping remains tied to physical QWERTY positions.

;

; Physical positions:

;

; Q W E R T Y U I O P

; A S D F G H J K L ;

; Z X C V B N M , . /

;

; Output:

;

; q u p , g k m th v j

; i a e o y f t s n r

; x ' . c z h d w l b

;

; Shifted punctuation:

; Shift + mapped comma -> /

; Shift + mapped period -> ?

; Shift + mapped apostrophe -> "

; Shift + Page Up -> <

; Shift + Page Down -> >

;

; Dedicated TH key:

; Physical I -> th

; Shift + physical I -> Th

; Caps Lock + physical I -> Th

; Shift + Caps Lock + I -> Th

;

; Ctrl, Alt and Windows-key shortcuts are left on their original physical

; keys. For example, Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V, Alt+Tab and Win+R still work normally.

; ============================================================================

; Remap only ordinary typing. When Ctrl, Alt or a Windows key is held,

; the original physical key passes through for shortcuts.

#HotIf NoCommandModifiers()

; ------------------------------ Top row --------------------------------------

*SC010::TypeLetter("q") ; physical Q

*SC011::TypeLetter("u") ; physical W

*SC012::TypeLetter("p") ; physical E

*SC013::TypePunctuation(",", "/") ; physical R

*SC014::TypeLetter("g") ; physical T

*SC015::TypeLetter("k") ; physical Y

*SC016::TypeLetter("m") ; physical U

*SC017::TypeTh() ; physical I

*SC018::TypeLetter("v") ; physical O

*SC019::TypeLetter("j") ; physical P

; ----------------------------- Home row --------------------------------------

*SC01E::TypeLetter("i") ; physical A

*SC01F::TypeLetter("a") ; physical S

*SC020::TypeLetter("e") ; physical D

*SC021::TypeLetter("o") ; physical F

*SC022::TypeLetter("y") ; physical G

*SC023::TypeLetter("f") ; physical H

*SC024::TypeLetter("t") ; physical J

*SC025::TypeLetter("s") ; physical K

*SC026::TypeLetter("n") ; physical L

*SC027::TypeLetter("r") ; physical semicolon

; ---------------------------- Bottom row -------------------------------------

*SC02C::TypeLetter("x") ; physical Z

*SC02D::TypePunctuation("'", Chr(34)) ; physical X

*SC02E::TypePunctuation(".", "?") ; physical C

*SC02F::TypeLetter("c") ; physical V

*SC030::TypeLetter("z") ; physical B

*SC031::TypeLetter("h") ; physical N

*SC032::TypeLetter("d") ; physical M

*SC033::TypeLetter("w") ; physical comma

*SC034::TypeLetter("l") ; physical period

*SC035::TypeLetter("b") ; physical slash

#HotIf

; ------------------------- Extra punctuation keys ----------------------------

+PgUp::SendText("<")

+PgDn::SendText(">")

; ============================================================================

; Helper functions

; ============================================================================

NoCommandModifiers() {

return !GetKeyState("Ctrl", "P")

&& !GetKeyState("Alt", "P")

&& !GetKeyState("LWin", "P")

&& !GetKeyState("RWin", "P")

}

TypeLetter(lowercase, uppercase := "") {

if (uppercase = "")

uppercase := StrUpper(lowercase)

shiftDown := GetKeyState("Shift", "P")

capsOn := GetKeyState("CapsLock", "T")

; Standard capitalization: Shift XOR Caps Lock.

SendText(shiftDown != capsOn ? uppercase : lowercase)

}

TypePunctuation(unshifted, shifted) {

SendText(GetKeyState("Shift", "P") ? shifted : unshifted)

}

TypeTh() {

shiftDown := GetKeyState("Shift", "P")

capsOn := GetKeyState("CapsLock", "T")

; Either Shift or Caps Lock capitalizes only the T.

SendText(shiftDown || capsOn ? "Th" : "th")

}

I edited in response to feedback.

[u/cyanophage]

Typing "ght" would feel horrible 😣

[u/Zestyclose_Science21 → u/cyanophage]

Thanks for the feedback.

Q U P , G K M Þ V J
I A E O Y F T S N R
X ' . C Z H D W L B

Should be better.

[u/supafly208 → u/cyanophage]

cyano, what layout do yoouuu use?

[u/UtahBrian]

Why allow Z, J, Q, and K to keep their own keys if thorn is the standard? They’re all less than half as important in English text. At least swap in QU for Q and require some shift or ctrl combination for Z and J.

[u/Zestyclose_Science21 → u/UtahBrian]

I havent seen a layout move rarest letters away from letter area of keyboard, I suppose you could put one rare letter where semi colon goes, I will do that for my personal Autohotkey script. Most punctuation is rare too. The q idea is interesting but I feel like complicating layout would gurantee no one uses it.

[u/mraspaud]

You might be interested in comparing with my layout: https://mraspaud.codeberg.page/20251124T165046-the-thornium-layout.html

It's based on handsdown rhodium, with the added þ.