Shortform
“little” in braille
Written l-l — 6 letters cut to 2 letters of abbreviation, then written in 2 cells. That is 4 cells saved every time the word appears.
dots 1-2-3, then dots 1-2-3
Unicode ⠇⠇ — 6 letters in 2 cells
How to recognise it
l-l, the same letter twice, six letters in two cells. It takes -r rather than -er, because the stem already ends in e — “littler” is little plus r.
Two steps, not one
Abbreviated in letters first, then written in cells. “little” loses 4 letters — i, t, t, e — to become ll. Every letter of the abbreviation is then written as itself, one cell each.
| Stage | What it is | Cells |
|---|---|---|
| Spelled out | little | 6 cells |
| Abbreviated | ll | 2 letters |
| Written | 2 cells |
Endings it keeps
Of the 8 English words that begin with these letters, the reference keeps the shortform in every one. The endings that survive are -s, -r, -ness. Everything else is spelled out.
| Word | In braille | Ending | Cells |
|---|---|---|---|
| littles | -s | 3 cells | |
| littler | -r | 3 cells | |
| littleness | -ness | 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 1-2-3 | the letter l; the word “like” standing alone | |
| 1-2-3 | the letter l; the word “like” standing alone |
Check your own text
The translator writes “little” with Grade 2 selected, and the contractions page has all seventy-three.
“little” in braille as an image
The word as it is actually written: ll in 2 cells, not 6 letters.
