Shortform
“braille” in braille
Written b-r-l — 7 letters cut to 3 letters of abbreviation, then written in 3 cells. That is 4 cells saved every time the word appears.
dots 1-2, then dots 1-2-3-5, then dots 1-2-3
Unicode ⠃⠗⠇ — 7 letters in 3 cells
How to recognise it
b-r-l, the three consonants of the word in order. Capitalised, as it usually is in running text, the capital sign goes in front of all three: ⠠⠃⠗⠇.
Two steps, not one
Abbreviated in letters first, then written in cells. “braille” loses 4 letters — a, i, l, e — to become brl. Every letter of the abbreviation is then written as itself, one cell each.
| Stage | What it is | Cells |
|---|---|---|
| Spelled out | braille | 7 cells |
| Abbreviated | brl | 3 letters |
| Written | 3 cells |
Longer words that keep it
The UEB Shortforms List (ICEB Rules of Unified English Braille, Appendix 1) names 12 longer words that keep the shortform, and each keeps it with an s added too. Words that merely begin with the same letters, such as “braillist” and “brailling”, are spelled out.
| Word | In braille | Cells |
|---|---|---|
| brailled | 4 cells | |
| brailler | 4 cells | |
| braillewriter | 8 cells | |
| braillewriting | 8 cells | |
| brailley | 4 cells | |
| misbraille | 6 cells | |
| misbrailled | 7 cells | |
| rebraille | 5 cells | |
| rebrailled | 6 cells | |
| rebrailler | 6 cells | |
| unbraille | 5 cells | |
| unbrailled | 6 cells |
What these 3 cells mean elsewhere
Every cell here has other jobs, which is where misreadings come from:
| Cell | Dots | What it is elsewhere |
|---|---|---|
| 1-2 | the letter b; the word “but” standing alone | |
| 1-2-3-5 | the letter r; the word “rather” standing alone | |
| 1-2-3 | the letter l; the word “like” standing alone |
Check your own text
The translator writes “braille” with Grade 2 selected, and the contractions page has all seventy-five.
“braille” in braille as an image
The word as it is actually written: brl in 3 cells, not 7 letters.
