Shortform
“between” in braille
Written b-e-t — 7 letters cut to 3 letters of abbreviation, then written in 2 cells. That is 5 cells saved every time the word appears.
dots 2-3, then dots 2-3-4-5
Unicode ⠆⠞ — 7 letters in 2 cells
How to recognise it
The be- sign then a t. Third commonest of the eight, behind “before” and “because”, and one of the two — with “because” — that gets seven letters into two cells. Seven English words are built on it, more than any other be- word, and the reference contracts every one.
Two steps, not one
Abbreviated in letters first, then written in cells. “between” loses 4 letters — w, e, e, n — to become bet. 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 | between | 7 cells |
| Abbreviated | bet | 3 letters |
| Written | 2 cells |
Endings it keeps
Of the 7 English words that begin with these letters, the reference keeps the shortform in every one. The one ending that survives is -s. Everything else is spelled out.
| Word | In braille | Ending | Cells |
|---|---|---|---|
| betweens | -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 — and the set is far quicker learned together than one word at a time: because (bec), before (bef), behind (beh), below (bel), beneath (ben), beside (bes), 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 | |
| 2-3-4-5 | the letter t; the word “that” standing alone |
Check your own text
The translator writes “between” with Grade 2 selected, and the contractions page has all seventy-three.
“between” in braille as an image
The word as it is actually written: bet in 2 cells, not 7 letters.
