Shortform
“ourselves” in braille
Written o-u-r-v-s — 9 letters cut to 5 letters of abbreviation, then written in 4 cells. That is 5 cells saved every time the word appears.
dots 1-2-5-6, then dots 1-2-3-5, then dots 1-2-3-6, then dots 2-3-4
Unicode ⠳⠗⠧⠎ — 9 letters in 4 cells
How to recognise it
ou-r-v-s, four cells, and the first is the ou sign rather than an o. It is one of three -selves plurals, all of which end v-s.
Two steps, not one
Abbreviated in letters first, then written in cells. “ourselves” loses 4 letters — s, e, l, e — to become ourvs. Then it contracts again: ou is a single cell, which is how 5 letters of abbreviation fit into 4 cells.
| Stage | What it is | Cells |
|---|---|---|
| Spelled out | ourselves | 9 cells |
| Abbreviated | ourvs | 5 letters |
| Written | 4 cells |
It carries no endings
No English word begins with “ourselves” except the word itself, so there is nothing for an ending rule to decide here. These 4 cells write the bare word and nothing else. “good” is the opposite case — it carries seven different endings.
Learn it with the -selves plurals
This is one of 3 shortforms built to the same shape — four cells ending v-s — and the set is far quicker learned together than one word at a time: themselves (themvs), yourselves (yrvs).
What these 4 cells mean elsewhere
Every cell here has other jobs, which is where misreadings come from:
| Cell | Dots | What it is elsewhere |
|---|---|---|
| 1-2-5-6 | the letters ou inside a word, and the word “out” alone | |
| 1-2-3-5 | the letter r; the word “rather” standing alone | |
| 1-2-3-6 | the letter v; the word “very” standing alone | |
| 2-3-4 | the letter s; the word “so” standing alone |
Check your own text
The translator writes “ourselves” with Grade 2 selected, and the contractions page has all seventy-three.
“ourselves” in braille as an image
The word as it is actually written: ourvs in 4 cells, not 9 letters.
