Shortform
“must” in braille
Written m-s-t — 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 3-4
Unicode ⠍⠌ — 4 letters in 2 cells
How to recognise it
m-st in two cells, and it is the great cautionary example of this list. The Shortforms List keeps it in a few words that have nothing to do with the verb — mustard, musty — and not in others that look the same: muster, mustache and mustang are spelled out.
Two steps, not one
Abbreviated in letters first, then written in cells. “must” loses 1 letter — u — to become mst. 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 | must | 4 cells |
| Abbreviated | mst | 3 letters |
| Written | 2 cells |
Longer words that keep it
For “must” the Shortforms List (Rules of Unified English Braille, Appendix 1) names 11 longer words that keep it, among them musta ⠍⠌⠁, musty ⠍⠌⠽, must've ⠍⠌⠄⠧⠑, mustard ⠍⠌⠜⠙, mustier ⠍⠌⠊⠻ and mustily ⠍⠌⠊⠇⠽. A longer word that is not on the list is spelled out. An added s keeps the cells as well: “musts” is ⠍⠌⠎ (10.9.5).
| Word | In braille | Ending | Cells |
|---|---|---|---|
| musts | -s | 3 cells |
Words that only look like it
Many words begin with these letters and are not this word. The ones below are not on the Shortforms List, and each is written out in full. mustn't and must've are on it and keep the shortform: ⠍⠌⠝⠄⠞ and ⠍⠌⠄⠧⠑.
| Word | In braille | Cells |
|---|---|---|
| mustache | 6 cells | |
| muster | 4 cells | |
| mustang | 6 cells | |
| musting | 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 1-3-4 | the letter m; the word “more” standing alone | |
| 3-4 | the letters st inside a word, and the word “still” alone |
In a whole book
In a count over the whole of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (26,439 words), this contraction is written 44 times and saves 88 cells. That is 0.26% of everything Grade 2 saves in the book, and ranks it 77th of the 158 contractions used.
The words it is written in: must (41), mustard (3).
Check your own text
The translator writes “must” with Grade 2 selected, and the contractions page has all seventy-five.
“must” in braille as an image
The word as it is actually written: mst in 2 cells, not 4 letters.
