Shortform
“themselves” in braille
Written t-h-e-m-v-s — 10 letters cut to 6 letters of abbreviation, then written in 4 cells. That is 6 cells saved every time the word appears.
dots 2-3-4-6, then dots 1-3-4, then dots 1-2-3-6, then dots 2-3-4
Unicode ⠮⠍⠧⠎ — 10 letters in 4 cells
How to recognise it
the-m-v-s, four cells for ten letters, and the first cell is the “the” sign — the same cell that writes the word “the” on its own. Ten letters is the longest word on the list, tied with “altogether”, “conceiving”, “perceiving” and “yourselves”.
Two steps, not one
Abbreviated in letters first, then written in cells. “themselves” loses 4 letters — s, e, l, e — to become themvs. Then it contracts again: the is a single cell, which is how 6 letters of abbreviation fit into 4 cells.
| Stage | What it is | Cells |
|---|---|---|
| Spelled out | themselves | 10 cells |
| Abbreviated | themvs | 6 letters |
| Written | 4 cells |
Longer words that keep it
The Shortforms List (Rules of Unified English Braille, Appendix 1) names no longer word that keeps “themselves”. A longer word that is not on the list is spelled out.
Learn it with the -selves plurals
This is one of 3 shortforms built to the same shape — four cells ending v-s: ourselves (ourvs), 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2-3-4-6 | the letters the inside a word, and the word “the” alone | |
| 1-3-4 | the letter m; the word “more” 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 |
In a whole book
In a count over the whole of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (26,439 words), this contraction is written 3 times and saves 18 cells. That is 0.05% of everything Grade 2 saves in the book, and ranks it 132nd of the 158 contractions used.
Every one of those is the word “themselves” itself.
Check your own text
The translator writes “themselves” with Grade 2 selected, and the contractions page has all seventy-five.
“themselves” in braille as an image
The word as it is actually written: themvs in 4 cells, not 10 letters.
