Shortform
“about” in braille
Written a-b — 5 letters cut to 2 letters of abbreviation, then written in 2 cells. That is 3 cells saved every time the word appears.
dots 1, then dots 1-2
Unicode ⠁⠃ — 5 letters in 2 cells
How to recognise it
Five letters down to a-b, and the plural is the interesting part: “abouts” is spelled out in full. It is the only shortform on the list with an everyday plural that the reference refuses to contract.
Two steps, not one
Abbreviated in letters first, then written in cells. “about” loses 3 letters — o, u, t — to become ab. Every letter of the abbreviation is then written as itself, one cell each.
| Stage | What it is | Cells |
|---|---|---|
| Spelled out | about | 5 cells |
| Abbreviated | ab | 2 letters |
| Written | 2 cells |
It carries no endings
Nothing derived from “about” keeps this shortform: of the one English word that begins with it, the reference spells it out. These 2 cells write the bare word and nothing else. “good” is the opposite case — it carries seven different endings.
What these 2 cells mean elsewhere
Every cell here has other jobs, which is where misreadings come from:
| Cell | Dots | What it is elsewhere |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | the letter a | |
| 1-2 | the letter b; the word “but” standing alone |
Check your own text
The translator writes “about” with Grade 2 selected, and the contractions page has all seventy-three.
“about” in braille as an image
The word as it is actually written: ab in 2 cells, not 5 letters.
