Shortform
“neither” in braille
Written n-e-i — 7 letters cut to 3 letters of abbreviation, then written in 3 cells. That is 4 cells saved every time the word appears.
dots 1-3-4-5, then dots 1-5, then dots 2-4
Unicode ⠝⠑⠊ — 7 letters in 3 cells
How to recognise it
n-e-i, which is the “either” abbreviation with an n in front. The two words are opposites in English and neighbours in braille.
Two steps, not one
Abbreviated in letters first, then written in cells. “neither” loses 4 letters — t, h, e, r — to become nei. Every letter of the abbreviation is then written as itself, one cell each.
| Stage | What it is | Cells |
|---|---|---|
| Spelled out | neither | 7 cells |
| Abbreviated | nei | 3 letters |
| Written | 3 cells |
It carries no endings
No English word begins with “neither” except the word itself, so there is nothing for an ending rule to decide here. These 3 cells write the bare word and nothing else. “good” is the opposite case — it carries seven different endings.
What these 3 cells mean elsewhere
Every cell here has other jobs, which is where misreadings come from:
| Cell | Dots | What it is elsewhere |
|---|---|---|
| 1-3-4-5 | the letter n; the word “not” standing alone | |
| 1-5 | the letter e; the word “every” standing alone | |
| 2-4 | the letter i |
Check your own text
The translator writes “neither” with Grade 2 selected, and the contractions page has all seventy-three.
“neither” in braille as an image
The word as it is actually written: nei in 3 cells, not 7 letters.
