English Braille: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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Besides unmarked contractions, words are abbreviated with any of several abbreviation signs. All of these signs use only the right-hand side of the braille cell. {{angle bracket|{{bc|⠐}}}}, {{angle bracket|{{bc|⠘}}}}, and {{angle bracket|{{bc|⠸}}}} mark ''initial abbreviations'', combining with the initial (braille) letter of a word. The italic sign {{angle bracket|{{bc|⠨}}}}, letter sign {{angle bracket|{{bc|⠰}}}}, and capital sign {{angle bracket|{{bc|⠠}}}} mark ''final abbreviations'', combining with the final letter of a sequence, commonly a suffix.

;Initial abbreviations

(The combining initial letter is written here in boldface, as it does not always correspond to the initial letter of printed orthography.)

*{{angle bracket|{{bc|⠐}}}} forms the words ⠐⠓{{bc|⠐|⠓}} '''''h'''ere,'' ⠐⠮{{bc|⠐|⠮}} '''''the'''re,'' ⠐⠱{{bc|⠐|⠱}} '''''wh'''ere,'' ⠐⠑{{bc|⠐|⠑}} '''''e'''ver,'' ⠐⠳{{bc|⠐|⠳}} '''''ou'''ght,'' ⠐⠋{{bc|⠐|⠋}} '''''f'''ather,'' ⠐⠍{{bc|⠐|⠍}} '''''m'''other,'' ⠐⠝{{bc|⠐|⠝}} '''''n'''ame,'' ⠐⠡{{bc|⠐|⠡}} '''''ch'''aracter,'' ⠐⠟{{bc|⠐|⠟}} '''''q'''uestion,'' ⠐⠅{{bc|⠐|⠅}} '''''k'''now,'' ⠐⠇{{bc|⠐|⠇}} '''''l'''ord,'' ⠐⠕{{bc|⠐|⠕}} '''''o'''ne,'' ⠐⠙{{bc|⠐|⠙}} '''''d'''ay,'' ⠐⠎{{bc|⠐|⠎}} '''''s'''ome,'' ⠐⠏{{bc|⠐|⠏}} '''''p'''art,'' ⠐⠞{{bc|⠐|⠞}} '''''t'''ime,'' ⠐⠗{{bc|⠐|⠗}} '''''r'''ight,'' ⠐⠹{{bc|⠐|⠹}} '''''th'''rough,'' ⠐⠥{{bc|⠐|⠥}} '''''u'''nder,'' ⠐⠺{{bc|⠐|⠺}} '''''w'''ork,'' ⠐⠽{{bc|⠐|⠽}} '''''y'''oung''

*{{angle bracket|{{bc|⠘}}}} forms the words ⠘⠮{{bc|⠘|⠮}} '''''the'''se,'' ⠘⠹{{bc|⠘|⠹}} '''''th'''ose,'' ⠘⠥{{bc|⠘|⠥}} '''''u'''pon,'' ⠘⠱{{bc|⠘|⠱}} '''''wh'''ose,'' ⠘⠺{{bc|⠘|⠺}} '''''w'''ord''

*{{angle bracket|{{bc|⠸}}}} forms the words ⠸⠉{{bc|⠸|⠉}} '''''c'''annot,'' ⠸⠍{{bc|⠸|⠍}} '''''m'''any,'' ⠸⠓{{bc|⠸|⠓}} '''''h'''ad,'' ⠸⠮{{bc|⠸|⠮}} '''''the'''ir,'' ⠸⠎{{bc|⠸|⠎}} '''''s'''pirit,'' ⠸⠺{{bc|⠸|⠺}} '''''w'''orld''

In general, these are acceptable as parts of longer words as long as they retain their pronunciation. There are three main exceptions to this:

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;Final abbreviations

*{{angle bracket|{{bc|⠨}}}} forms the sequences ⠨⠙{{bc|⠨|⠙}} ''-oun'''d''','' ⠨⠞{{bc|⠨|⠞}} ''-oun'''t''','' ⠨⠑{{bc|⠨|⠑}} ''-anc'''e''','' ⠨⠎{{bc|⠨|⠎}} ''-les'''s''','' ⠨⠝{{bc|⠨|⠝}} ''-sio'''n'''''

*{{angle bracket|{{bc|⠰}}}} forms the sequences ⠰⠛{{bc|⠰|⠛}} ''-on'''g''','' ⠰⠇{{bc|⠰|⠇}} ''-fu'''l''','' ⠰⠞{{bc|⠰|⠞}} ''-men'''t''','' ⠰⠑{{bc|⠰|⠑}} ''-enc'''e''','' ⠰⠎{{bc|⠰|⠎}} ''-nes'''s''','' ⠰⠝{{bc|⠰|⠝}} ''-tio'''n''','' ⠰⠽{{bc|⠰|⠽}} ''-it'''y'''''

*{{angle bracket|{{bc|⠠}}}} Capital {{angle bracket|Y}} stands for the suffix ⠠⠽{{bc|⠠|⠽}} ''-all'''y''''',<ref name="UEB"/> and {{angle bracket|N}} for ⠠⠝{{bc|⠠|⠝}} ''-atio'''n'''''.<ref name="UEB">Eliminated in [[#Unified English Braille|Unified English Braille]]</ref>

These cannot follow an apostrophe or hyphen. They cannot form independent words like *''ally'' or *''less'', nor can they occur at the beginning of a word like *''ancestor'' or *''lesson''. However, then can usually occur elsewhere: ''c-ount, ar-ound''. They may be used across syllables, as in ''c-ance-r''. {{angle bracket|ness}} is used for the suffix ''-ess'' after ''n'', though not after ''en'' or ''in'', as in ''baroness (b-ar-o-ness)'' and ''lioness'', but not in ''chieftainess (ch-i-e-f-t-a-in-e-s-s)''.<ref>There is a similar restriction against spanning root and suffix. However, in application this is somewhat arbitrary: ''fruity'' does not use the ''-ity'' abbreviation, but ''equally'' and ''totally'' use ''-ally''.</ref>

''-full'' does not use ⠰⠇{{bc|⠰|⠇}} {{angle bracket|ful}} in order to preserve the parallel with the independent word ''full''. However, ''-ful'' and ''-fully'' do.

When there are several ways to write a word, the shortest one is chosen, and when they are of equal length, the one without (two-cell) abbreviations is chosen. So, ''thence'' is written ''th-ence'' (3 cells) rather than ''the-n-c-e'' (4 cells). However, with the sequences ''-anced, -ancer, -enced, -encer'', the form with ''-ance/-ence'' is used even if not shorter.

Braille also uses print abbreviations such as ''ea., Mon., Sept., etc.,'' in which case the period {{bc|⠲}} is used as in print.

==Spacing==