Topic 4.1: Simple Upper word-signs
This topic introduces you to the letters of the alphabet which represent whole words when they are standing alone in Braille
Understanding how word-signs are formed helps in developing the ability to read and write in Braille. This topic covers simple word-signs and abbreviations. It provides practice activities that will help you to get familiar with word-signs and abbreviations. The following table shows how the letters of the alphabet are used in Braille to represent whole words when they are standing alone; usually it is the first letter that is taken (REB, 2020).
Letter a, i and o do not represent any word in Braille.
Single letters used in this way to represent words are called simple upper word-signs; simple because they take up one cell, upper because they have a dot in the top of the cell, and word-signs because they represent words. They may only be used as abbreviations for the word if they represent the exact word, i.e. when no other letters are added to them.
