Shortform
“beside” in braille
Written b-e-s — 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 2-3-4
Unicode ⠆⠎ — 6 letters in 2 cells
How to recognise it
The be- sign then an s, and the s alone is the word “so”. “besides” keeps the shortform and adds another s, so both spellings ride on the same two cells — worth knowing, because beside and besides are not interchangeable in English.
Two steps, not one
Abbreviated in letters first, then written in cells. “beside” loses 3 letters — i, d, e — to become bes. 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 | beside | 6 cells |
| Abbreviated | bes | 3 letters |
| Written | 2 cells |
Longer words that keep it
The Shortforms List (Rules of Unified English Braille, Appendix 1) names no longer word that keeps “beside”. A longer word that is not on the list is spelled out. An added s keeps the cells as well: “besides” is ⠆⠎⠎ (10.9.5).
| Word | In braille | Ending | Cells |
|---|---|---|---|
| besides | -s | 3 cells |
Learn it with the be- words
This is one of 8 shortforms built to the same shape — the be- sign, then one letter: because (bec), before (bef), behind (beh), below (bel), beneath (ben), 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 | |
| 2-3-4 | the letter s; the word “so” standing alone |
In a whole book
In a count over the whole of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (26,439 words), this contraction is written 4 times and saves 16 cells. That is 0.05% of everything Grade 2 saves in the book, and ranks it 135th of the 158 contractions used.
The one word it is written in: besides (4).
Check your own text
The translator writes “beside” with Grade 2 selected, and the contractions page has all seventy-five.
“beside” in braille as an image
The word as it is actually written: bes in 2 cells, not 6 letters.
