Shortform
“first” in braille
Written f-s-t — 5 letters cut to 3 letters of abbreviation, then written in 2 cells. That is 3 cells saved every time the word appears.
dots 1-2-4, then dots 3-4
Unicode ⠋⠌ — 5 letters in 2 cells
How to recognise it
f-st, where the st is one cell — two cells for five letters. It carries four endings, and “firstship” is one of only four words in English that take the -ship ending on a shortform.
Two steps, not one
Abbreviated in letters first, then written in cells. “first” loses 2 letters — i, r — to become fst. Then it contracts again: st is a single cell, which is how 3 letters of abbreviation fit into 2 cells.
| Stage | What it is | Cells |
|---|---|---|
| Spelled out | first | 5 cells |
| Abbreviated | fst | 3 letters |
| Written | 2 cells |
Endings it keeps
Of the 11 English words that begin with these letters, the reference keeps the shortform in 10 of them. The endings that survive are -s, -ly, -ness, -ship. Everything else is spelled out.
| Word | In braille | Ending | Cells |
|---|---|---|---|
| firsts | -s | 3 cells | |
| firstly | -ly | 4 cells | |
| firstness | -ness | 4 cells | |
| firstship | -ship | 5 cells |
Words that only look like it
One dictionary word begins with it and is not built on it. It begins with the same letters and is written out in full.
| Word | In braille | Cells |
|---|---|---|
| firster | 5 cells |
What these 2 cells mean elsewhere
Every cell here has other jobs, which is where misreadings come from:
| Cell | Dots | What it is elsewhere |
|---|---|---|
| 1-2-4 | the letter f; the word “from” standing alone | |
| 3-4 | the letters st inside a word, and the word “still” alone |
Check your own text
The translator writes “first” with Grade 2 selected, and the contractions page has all seventy-three.
“first” in braille as an image
The word as it is actually written: fst in 2 cells, not 5 letters.
