#idk what harpsichord/cembalo/spinet/clavecin/klavecimbel terminology would be...

[culmaer]

there isn't really any concensus in Afrikaans on what the word is for a typing keyboard

like, I use sleutelbord which is a literal translation of "key + board" and I feel like most people my age use this as well. a sleutel is the type of key which unlocks a door

I have occasionally seen klawerbord used, but this is surely a translation error, because klawerbord does technically mean "keyboard"... as in an electric piano. a klawer is a key on a piano, which is a klavier

and then I've also seen and heard academics, literary folks and journalists use toetsbord or toetsebord, so I feel like this is more "correct" term from a prescriptivist perspective, but the vibes are all wrong. a toetsebord refers to the keyboard manuals on a pipe organ, and the toetse, more broadly, also includes the stops (which ofc a regular piano doesn't have). and it just feels inappropriate to me to use the same word for something as majestic as an organ and also the little letters on my phone

and while I did play around on typewriters as a child, they were already basically obsolete at that point so idk what terminology was used for their keyboards. but I read an article recently which seemed to use toetse for the buttons, and sleutel for actual bit of metal which strikes the ribbon. so both sleutelbord and toetsbord could work