LESSON 14: CONTRACTIONS AND SHORT-FORM WORDS

Review of Contractions and Short-Form Words: In the absence of specific restrictions on the treatment of contractions and short-form words, English braille rules are applied.

The rules for contractions and short-form words have already been introduced in the following situations:

  1. Contractions must be used in a word or a part of a word joined to a numeral or to a letter by a hyphen or the dash.

  2. The contractions for "st and th" must not be used in an ordinal ending attached to a mathematical expression.

  3. Contractions must not be used where contractible leter combinations occur in a mathematial sequence of letters in which each letter has a separate indentity.

  4. Contractions must not be used for abbreviations "in." or "in," which usually means "inches." The "st" contraction may only be used as the abbreviation for "street" or "saint".

  5. The following contractions, whether capitalized, uncapitalized, or italicized, must not be used when in direct contact with a sign of grouping or with transcriber's grouping symbols: the one-cell whole-word alphabet contractions for but, can, do,....., as; the whole-word lower-sign contractions for be, enough, were, his, in, to, into, was, by; the whole- or part-word cotractions for and, for, of, the, with. Nor may these contractions be used when they are separated from a sign of grouping by a punctuation mark.

  6. Contractions must not be used in a combination of letters selected to represent a sign of a shape or shape modification.

  7. Contractions must not be used in a capitalized or uncapitalized word, part of a word, or abbreviation in direct contact with the symbol for the slash line. Contractions may be used if the word , part of a word, or abbreviation is separated from the slash by a sign of grouping which permits the use of contractions, or by a puncuation mark.

  8. Contractions must not be used in abbreviated function names. An unabbreviated function name must not be contracted in a mathematical context. In particular, the word "arc" must not be contracted when immediately preceded or followed by a mathematical symbols.

Additional Rules for Contractions and Short-Form Words:

a. Contractions and short-form words must not be used in a capitalized or uncapitalized word, part of a word, or abbreviation in direct contact with any item listed below or separated from a sign of comparison by a space. This rule applies even when the word or abbreviation is separated from an item by transition to another braille line.

If an expression contains a hyphen or a dash, only the word, or abbreviation in direct contact with one of the listed items is subject to this rule.

Contractions may be used in a word, part of a word, or abbreviation separated from any of the listed items by a punctuation mark or a sign of grouping, or in other situations which permit the use of contractions.

i. Contractions and short-form words must not be used in a capitalized or uncapitalized word, or abbreviation in direct contact with any braille indicator other than the capitalization indicator or the italic sign used in English braille.

  1. seven2

  2. seven3

  3. 44four- 35four =?four


  4. (ten2) + 1

  5. (ten)2 + 1






  6. Use a 5-ampere electric current.

  7. 1 inch-pound2

  8. 00 revolutions- min2

ii. Contractions and short-form words must not be used in a capitalized or uncapitalized word, part of a word, or abbreviation in direct contact with a numeral.

1. 2 Arc AB cosecant - 7/5

iii. Contractions and short-form words must not be used in a capitalized or uncapitalized word, part of a word, or abbreviation in direct contact with a single letter or with a sequence of letters in which each letter has a seperate identity.

  1. a arc sin x

iv. Contractions and short-form words must not be used in a word, part of a word or abbreviation in direct contact with a sign of operation, the radical sign, the general omission symbol, or any other mathematical symbol.

  1. rate x time

  2. (rate) x (time)

  3. nine-seven = two

  4. divisor x partial quotient = remainder

  5. thirty-seven + forty-seven

  6. people who drive cars/people who fly airplanes

  7. 60 min./hour

  8. statvolt - cm/statamp - oersted

  9. 1 foot-pound/hour

vi. Contractions must not be in a capitalized or uncapitalized word, part of a word, or abbreviation immediately preceding or following a sign of comparison, even when a space separates the sign of comparison from the word, part word, or abbreviation.

  1. 1 hour = 60 minutes

  2. 1 min = 60 sec

  3. (2000 pounds = 1 ton)

  4. 1 light-year = 9.46 x 1012km

  5. seven + three = ten

  6. (rate) x (time) = (distance)

  7. {all x | each x 8}

b.The contractions for to, into, and by must not be used before any of the items listed below. When the contraction for the word "into" cannot be used, the contraction for "in" may be used in the word "into" unless prohibited by other rules of code.

i. The contractions for to, into, and by must not be used before any braille indicator except capitalization indicators or the italic sign used according to the rules of English braille.

  1. Count to 100 by two's.

  2. Ann divided the pie into 4 parts.

  3. Join A to B and C to D.

  4. ab is parallel to cd.

  5. The vector is denoted by i.

  6. Divide 1/2 by 1/4.

  7. Add -7 to -4.

ii. The contractions for to, into, and by must not be used before a Roman numeral, a single letter, or a sequence of letters in which each letter has a separate identity, whether or not the Roman numeral, the single letter, or the sequence of letters requires the English letter indicator.

  1. The imaginary part is denoted by i = (0, 1).

  2. Is A : B equivalent to C : D ?

  3. Draw a line to pq.

  4. AB is parallel to CD.

  5. Use numerals showing that 10 x 10 is equal to ab x ba.

  6. Read Chapters II to VI and IX to X.

  7. Solve examples i to iv.

  8. 17 is equivalent to VII + X.

  9. 17 is equivalent to vii + x.

iii. The contractions for to, into, and by must not be used before a dash, the ellipsis, or the general omission symbol.

  1. 50 divided by ___equals 25.

  2. The pie is divided into___pieces.

  3. 31 added to ... equals 42.

  4. 6 X 4 divided by ... = 8.

  5. 63 divided by ? = 7.

  6. 14 X 4 is equal to ? X 28.

iv. The contractions for to, into, and by must not be used before any reference symbol or sign of grouping.

  1. Do exercises (1) to (5).

  2. Multiply (6 + 3) by (4 + 2).

v. The contractions for to, into, and by must not be used before any mathematical symbolof the code.

  1. What is denoted by .a1a2a3 ....?

  2. Multiply +25 by -5.

  3. Add +4 to +7.

  4. If ='s are divided by ='s, the results are =.

  5. Change the $100 into $5 bills.

  6. Covert each ratio to %.

  7. P>
  8. The numeral 3 is represented by ///.

vi. The contractions for to, into, and by must not be used before any abbreviated function name or before an unabbreviated function name in mathematical context.

  1. y is proportional to log x.

  2. The ratio is expressed by cos A = .8000.

  3. The ratio is expressed by the cosine A = .8000.

vii. The contractions for to, into, and by must not be used before an abbreviation.

  1. Turn to p. 46 to learn to convert 50 kg. into lbs.

  2. Convert mm to m.

  3. Convert 730 days into yrs. to obtain an answer.

viii. The contractions for to, into, and by must not be used before a word, part of a word, or abbreviation in context in which contractions are not permitted by any of the rules of the code.

  1. people who go by car + people who go by train

  2. the people who travel by car/the people who travel by train

  3. The area is divided in2 and not into ft2.

  4. Compare Seven2 to Seven3.

  5. Multiply ten5 by ten2.

  6. The distance is equal to time X rate.

c. Contractions must not be used when they can be mistaken for mathematical expressions or symbols.

  1. Can C = 100?

  2. We see that x = y.

  3. We know means " is less than".