Shortform
“before” in braille
Written b-e-f — 6 letters cut to 3 letters of abbreviation, then written in 2 cells. That is 4 cells saved every time the word appears.
dots 2-3, then dots 1-2-4
Unicode ⠆⠋ — 6 letters in 2 cells
How to recognise it
The be- sign then an f. All eight be- words are built this way, so the second cell is the whole thing to learn: f for before, h for behind, l for below. This is the commonest of the eight.
Two steps, not one
Abbreviated in letters first, then written in cells. “before” loses 3 letters — o, r, e — to become bef. Then it contracts again: be is a single cell, which is how 3 letters of abbreviation fit into 2 cells.
| Stage | What it is | Cells |
|---|---|---|
| Spelled out | before | 6 cells |
| Abbreviated | bef | 3 letters |
| Written | 2 cells |
It carries no endings
Nothing derived from “before” keeps this shortform: of the 8 English words that begin with it, the reference spells every one out. These 2 cells write the bare word and nothing else. “good” is the opposite case — it carries seven different endings.
Words that only look like it
Longer words built on it are decided one at a time, and these are the ones the reference spells out. Each begins with the same letters and is written out in full.
| Word | In braille | Cells |
|---|---|---|
| beforehandedness | 8 cells | |
| beforeness | 5 cells | |
| beforesaid | 7 cells | |
| beforetime | 5 cells |
Learn it with the be- words
This is one of 8 shortforms built to the same shape — the be- sign, then one letter — and the set is far quicker learned together than one word at a time: because (bec), behind (beh), below (bel), beneath (ben), beside (bes), between (bet), beyond (bey).
What these 2 cells mean elsewhere
Every cell here has other jobs, which is where misreadings come from:
| Cell | Dots | What it is elsewhere |
|---|---|---|
| 2-3 | the letters bb between two letters; the prefix be- at the start of a word; the word “be” standing alone; the semicolon | |
| 1-2-4 | the letter f; the word “from” standing alone |
Check your own text
The translator writes “before” with Grade 2 selected, and the contractions page has all seventy-three.
“before” in braille as an image
The word as it is actually written: bef in 2 cells, not 6 letters.
