Shortform
“much” in braille
Written m-c-h — 4 letters cut to 3 letters of abbreviation, then written in 2 cells. That is 2 cells saved every time the word appears.
dots 1-3-4, then dots 1-6
Unicode ⠍⠡ — 4 letters in 2 cells
How to recognise it
m-ch, where the ch is one cell that also means the word “child”. It takes -ly and -ness but not -es, so “muches” is spelled out while “muchness” is not.
Two steps, not one
Abbreviated in letters first, then written in cells. “much” loses 1 letter — u — to become mch. Then it contracts again: ch is a single cell, which is how 3 letters of abbreviation fit into 2 cells.
| Stage | What it is | Cells |
|---|---|---|
| Spelled out | much | 4 cells |
| Abbreviated | mch | 3 letters |
| Written | 2 cells |
Endings it keeps
Of the 10 English words that begin with these letters, the reference keeps the shortform in 2 of them. The endings that survive are -ly, -ness. Everything else is spelled out.
| Word | In braille | Ending | Cells |
|---|---|---|---|
| muchly | -ly | 4 cells | |
| muchness | -ness | 4 cells |
Words that only look like it
Eight dictionary words begin with these letters, and three of them are Spanish. Each begins with the same letters and is written out in full.
| Word | In braille | Cells |
|---|---|---|
| muchacho | 6 cells | |
| muchacha | 6 cells | |
| muches | 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 1-3-4 | the letter m; the word “more” standing alone | |
| 1-6 | the letters ch inside a word, and the word “child” alone |
Check your own text
The translator writes “much” with Grade 2 selected, and the contractions page has all seventy-three.
“much” in braille as an image
The word as it is actually written: mch in 2 cells, not 4 letters.
