Shortform
“friend” in braille
Written f-r — 6 letters cut to 2 letters of abbreviation, then written in 2 cells. That is 4 cells saved every time the word appears.
dots 1-2-4, then dots 1-2-3-5
Unicode ⠋⠗ — 6 letters in 2 cells
How to recognise it
f-r in two cells. Fifteen English words begin with it — friends, friendly, friendship, friendless — and the reference contracts every single one, with not a look-alike among them.
Two steps, not one
Abbreviated in letters first, then written in cells. “friend” loses 4 letters — i, e, n, d — to become fr. Every letter of the abbreviation is then written as itself, one cell each.
| Stage | What it is | Cells |
|---|---|---|
| Spelled out | friend | 6 cells |
| Abbreviated | fr | 2 letters |
| Written | 2 cells |
Endings it keeps
Of the 15 English words that begin with these letters, the reference keeps the shortform in every one. The endings that survive are -s, -ly, -ship, -less. Everything else is spelled out.
| Word | In braille | Ending | Cells |
|---|---|---|---|
| friends | -s | 3 cells | |
| friendly | -ly | 4 cells | |
| friendship | -ship | 5 cells | |
| friendless | -less | 4 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 | |
| 1-2-3-5 | the letter r; the word “rather” standing alone |
Check your own text
The translator writes “friend” with Grade 2 selected, and the contractions page has all seventy-three.
“friend” in braille as an image
The word as it is actually written: fr in 2 cells, not 6 letters.
