⠶
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Translingual
A character of the braille script, originally used as parentheses. Some alphabets use it for a variant of g because it is a lowered version of the braille letter ⠛ g.
Etymology
Invented by Louis Braille, braille cells were arranged in numerical order and assigned to the letters of the French alphabet. Most braille alphabets follow this assignment for the 26 letters of the basic Latin alphabet or, in non-Latin scripts, for the transliterations of those letters. In such alphabets, the first ten braille letters (the first decade: ⠁⠃⠉⠙⠑⠋⠛⠓⠊⠚) are assigned to the Latin letters A to J and to the digits 1 to 9 and 0. (Apart from '2', the even digits all have three dots: ⠃⠙⠋⠓⠚.)
The letters of the first decade are those cells with at least one dot in the top row and at least one in the left column, but none in the bottom row. The next decade repeat the pattern with the addition of a dot at the lower left, the third decade with two dots in the bottom row, and the fourth with a dot on the bottom right. The fifth decade is like the first, but shifted downward one row. The first decade is supplemented by the two characters with dots in the right column and none in the bottom row, and that supplement is propagated to the other decades using the generation rules above. Finally, there are four characters with no dots in the top two rows. Many languages that use braille letters beyond the 26 of the basic Latin alphabet follow an approximation of the English or French values for additional letters.
Punctuation mark
⠶
Letter
⠶
- Non-Latin transliteration
Symbol
⠶
See also
English
Punctuation mark
⠶ ( )
Usage notes
The two senses are distinguished by spacing: if there is space before, it is the opening parenthesis; if a space after, the closing one.
Abolished in Unified English Braille.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Letter
⠶ (gg)
- Renders the print sequence -gg-.
Usage notes
- Can only appear within a word where it does not contact an apostrophe or hyphen, as it would in egg-plant; at the beginning or end of a word it would be confused with parentheses. Cannot span the elements of a compound word.
Contraction
⠶
Usage notes
- This is used for the independent word were and where the word were is set off with an apostrophe or hyphen. It is not used otherwise for the letter sequence w-e-r-e.
- Because this cell does not have dots in the top row, its use for were could be confused with punctuation and therefore it is not used where it would contact a punctuation mark, such as at the end of a sentence but also in hyphenated words.
French
Punctuation mark
⠶ (« »)
Symbol
⠶
Contraction
⠶
- The independent word été.
- The letter sequence -gn-.
Usage notes
- The sequence -gn- must appear between other letters.
Korean
Letter
⠶ • (-ng)
- Syllable-final ㅇ.
Coordinate terms
- Syllable-initial ⠛ is reserved.
Mandarin
Letter
⠶
- (Mainland Braille) The rime wang/-uang
- (Taiwan Braille) The rime wai/-uai
- (Two-Cell Braille) The onset pi-