- Ordinary key, like "a", "b". we should use them to input text
- Special keys, which you would use to tell xterm to perform some action. They could not be to used to input text. They will generate escape sequences.
.inputrc is readline initialization file and used to map key sequence to readline function like "end-of-history". Then you need to use text to describe "special keys" or "escape sequences", see following example.