RULE X - GENERAL USE OF CONTRACTIONS

34. General Rules Governing Part-Word Contractions:  Contractions forming parts of words should not be used where they would obscure the recognition or pronunciation of a word.

a.  Contractions may be used:

(1)  Where the letters of the contraction are in the same syllable. Ex:

standing /&+ cringing cr++

withered )]$ Wright ,w"r

inform 9=m pssst pss/

shhhh %hhh benevolent 2nevol5t

(2) Contractions may be used where the letters of the contraction would overlap a minor and/or incidental syllable division. Ex:

handle	h&le	sofa	s(a	tiny	t9y
Reno	,r5o	astringent	a/r+5t
Vanderbilt	,v&]bilt	Kingston	,k+/on
Seattle	,s1ttle	Eden	,$5
Minneapolis	,m9n1polis
Tennessee	,t5;see	andante	&ante
Monterey	,mont]ey

b.  However, a contraction must not be used:

(1)  Where the usual braille form of the base word would be altered by the addition of a prefix or suffix. Ex:

uneasy uneasy    unlessoned unlesson$

disingenuous 49g5u\s squally squally

fruity fruity undisturbed undisturb$

Exception:  The "ea" and the double letter signs "bb," "cc," "dd," "ff," and "gg" should be used even where a word ending or a suffix is added to the base word. Ex:

seaman	s1man	eggplant	e7plant
ebbing	e2+	stiffly	/i6ly

(2) A contraction must not be used where it would violate the primary syllable division between a prefix or a suffix and the base word. Ex:

mishandle mish&le mistrust mistru/

predate predate infrared 9frar$

prounion prounion twofold twofold

freedom freedom changeable *angea#

(3) A contraction must not be used where a primary syllable division occurs between the prefix and the root of a word. (See §34.c. below.) Ex:

reduce	reduce	edict	edict
benediction	b5edic;n	erupt	erupt
profess	profess	deduce	deduce
predict	predict	erect	erect
malediction	maledic;n
profound	prof.d	Benedict	,b5edict

(4)  A contraction must not be used where base words are joined to form an unhyphenated compound word. Ex:

sweetheart sweethe>t

stronghold /r;ghold

blowhard bl[h>d

painstaking pa9stak+

Jamestown ,jamest[n

stateroom /ateroom

pineapple p9eapple

kettledrum kettledrum

Bighorn ,bighorn

(5)  A contraction must not be used where the use of contractions would disturb the pronunciation of a digraph or trigraph (two or more letters pronounced as one sound). Ex:

sphere sph]e Boone ,boone

hoity-toity hoity-toity

tableau tabl1u

(6)  A contraction must not be used where two adjoining consonants are pronounced separately. Ex:

shanghaied	%anghai$
isinglass	is9glass	towhee	t[hee
nightingale	ni<t9gale	dinghy	d9<y
fiance	fiance	meningitis	m59gitis
lingerie	l9g]ie	Gingold	,g9gold
Stalingrad	,/al9grad
Vandyke	,vandyke	Wingate	,w9gate

(7) A contraction must not be used where the use of a contraction would cause difficulty in pronunciation. Ex:

Airedale ,airedale

battledore battledore

tweedledum twe$ledum

oleaginous oleag9\s

skedaddle skeda4le

genealogy g5ealogy

impermeable imp]mea#

c. General Exception: Contractions should be used in such easily read words as:

around	>.d	arise	>ise	arose	>ose
acknowledge	ac"kl$ge
baroness	b>o;s	governess	gov];s
drought	dr"\	doughty	d"\y

d.  Contractions should be used in entry words found in the dictionary. In general literature, contractions should be used in common terms for a particular subject, such as botany, medicine, etc., when they are listed in a glossary of the book being transcribed or when they are explained in the text as they are originally presented. Similarly, contractions should be used in coined words in science fiction.

e. Part-word contractions should be used rather liberally in dialect. Ex:

silance (silence) sil.e

depity (deputy) dep;y

bofe (both) b(e

thet (that) !t

impedent (impudent) imp$5t

huccom (how come) hu3om

must er (must have, must of) m/ ]

'stracted (distracted) '/ract$

(1) When "t" is replaced by "th" followed by "e," the "th" contraction should be used. Ex:

matther (matter) mat?]

sisther (sister) sis?]

(2)  When "you're" is represented in print by "your," the short-form word must not be used, since it does not retain its original meaning.

35. Preferred Contractions:  Unless their use violates any of the principles of the Rules of English Braille, where there is more than one possible choice in the use of contractions, the selection should be made on the following bases:

a.  Preference should be given to the contractions which save the greatest amount of space. Ex:

Leander ("and" not "ea") ,le&]

wither ("with" not "the") )]

oneness ("one" and "ness" not "en") "o;s

thence ("th" not "the") ?;e

bubble ("ble" not "bb") bub#

b.  One-cell contractions should be used in preference to two-cell contractions as parts of words. Ex:

prisoner ("er" not "one") prison]

opponent ("en" not "one") oppon5t

stoned ("ed" not "one") /on$

adhered ("ed" not "here") adh]$

haddock ("dd" not "had") ha4ock

Exception: The contraction for "ence" should be used before the letters "d" or "r." Ex:

commenced (not "en" "ed") -m;ed

silencer (not "en" "er") sil;er

c. Where a choice must be made between two consecutive contractions in order to avoid misspelling, preference should be given to the contraction which more nearly approximates correct pronunciation. Ex:

wherever :]"e

dispirited di_s$

coherence coh];e

English BrailleAmerican Edition1994

RULE X - GENERAL USE OF CONTRACTIONS

English Braille
American Edition
1994