German Braille

German Braille
Type
Languages German
Time period
ca. 1878
Parent systems
night writing
Print basis
German alphabet
Child systems
Tibetan Braille
U+2800 to U+283F

German Braille is one of the older braille alphabets. The French-based order of the letter assignments was largely settled on with the 1878 convention that decided the standard for international braille. However, the assignments for German letters beyond the 26 of the basic Latin alphabet are mostly unrelated to French values.

Letters

A German Braille index at the Nixdorfmuseum

In numerical order by decade, the letters are:

⠁ (braille pattern dots-1)
a
 
⠃ (braille pattern dots-12)
b
 
⠉ (braille pattern dots-14)
c
en
⠙ (braille pattern dots-145)
d
 
⠑ (braille pattern dots-15)
e
 
⠋ (braille pattern dots-124)
f
 
⠛ (braille pattern dots-1245)
g
 
⠓ (braille pattern dots-125)
h
 
⠊ (braille pattern dots-24)
i
 
⠚ (braille pattern dots-245)
j
 
⠅ (braille pattern dots-13)
k
 
⠇ (braille pattern dots-123)
l
 
⠍ (braille pattern dots-134)
m
 
⠝ (braille pattern dots-1345)
n
 
⠕ (braille pattern dots-135)
o
 
⠏ (braille pattern dots-1234)
p
 
⠟ (braille pattern dots-12345)
q
ll
⠗ (braille pattern dots-1235)
r
 
⠎ (braille pattern dots-234)
s
 
⠞ (braille pattern dots-2345)
t
 
⠥ (braille pattern dots-136)
u
 
⠧ (braille pattern dots-1236)
v
 
⠭ (braille pattern dots-1346)
x
mm
⠽ (braille pattern dots-13456)
y
el
⠵ (braille pattern dots-1356)
z
 
⠯ (braille pattern dots-12346)
&
ge
⠿ (braille pattern dots-123456)
%
es
⠷ (braille pattern dots-12356)

em
⠮ (braille pattern dots-2346)
ß
ss
⠾ (braille pattern dots-23456)
st
 
⠡ (braille pattern dots-16)
au
 
⠣ (braille pattern dots-126)
eu
 
⠩ (braille pattern dots-146)
ei
 
⠹ (braille pattern dots-1456)
ch
 
⠱ (braille pattern dots-156)
sch
 
⠫ (braille pattern dots-1246)

ein
⠻ (braille pattern dots-12456)

er
⠳ (braille pattern dots-1256)
ü
 
⠪ (braille pattern dots-246)
ö
 
⠺ (braille pattern dots-2456)
w
 
⠂ (braille pattern dots-2)

 
⠆ (braille pattern dots-23)

be
⠒ (braille pattern dots-25)

al
⠲ (braille pattern dots-256)

un
⠢ (braille pattern dots-26)

or
⠖ (braille pattern dots-235)

an
⠶ (braille pattern dots-2356)

eh
⠦ (braille pattern dots-236)

tt
⠔ (braille pattern dots-35)

in
⠴ (braille pattern dots-356)

ar
⠘ (braille pattern dots-45)

-ig
⠌ (braille pattern dots-34)
äu
 
⠜ (braille pattern dots-345)
ä
 
⠬ (braille pattern dots-346)
ie
 
⠼ (braille pattern dots-3456)
#
ich
⠨ (braille pattern dots-46)
$
ck
⠸ (braille pattern dots-456)

-lich
⠰ (braille pattern dots-56)

-ach

The generic accent sign, , is used with foreign names such as Molière that have accented letters not found in German. There are numerous contractions and abbreviations. These can be found in the external link in the reference section.

Punctuation

Punctuation is as follows:

⠄ (braille pattern dots-3)
.[1]
⠂ (braille pattern dots-2)
,
⠠ (braille pattern dots-6)
⠆ (braille pattern dots-23)
;
⠒ (braille pattern dots-25)
 :
⠢ (braille pattern dots-26)
?
⠖ (braille pattern dots-235)
!
⠤ (braille pattern dots-36)
-
⠠ (braille pattern dots-6)⠤ (braille pattern dots-36)
⠐ (braille pattern dots-5)⠂ (braille pattern dots-2)
/
⠸ (braille pattern dots-456)⠇ (braille pattern dots-123)
|
⠈ (braille pattern dots-4)⠌ (braille pattern dots-34)
\
⠠ (braille pattern dots-6)⠔ (braille pattern dots-35)
*
⠈ (braille pattern dots-4)⠸ (braille pattern dots-456)
_

Only the first asterisk is marked with dot 6, so print *** is in braille .

⠬ (braille pattern dots-346)
§
⠴ (braille pattern dots-356)
Art.
⠐ (braille pattern dots-5)⠥ (braille pattern dots-136)
&
⠈ (braille pattern dots-4)⠜ (braille pattern dots-345)
@
⠈ (braille pattern dots-4)⠴ (braille pattern dots-356)
°
⠈ (braille pattern dots-4)⠔ (braille pattern dots-35)
⠈ (braille pattern dots-4)⠔ (braille pattern dots-35)⠔ (braille pattern dots-35)

is the Artikel sign, marking an article of a document.

⠦ (braille pattern dots-236)⠀ (braille pattern blank)⠴ (braille pattern dots-356)
 
⠠ (braille pattern dots-6)⠦ (braille pattern dots-236)⠀ (braille pattern blank)⠠ (braille pattern dots-6)⠴ (braille pattern dots-356)
 
⠶ (braille pattern dots-2356)⠀ (braille pattern blank)⠶ (braille pattern dots-2356)
(   )
⠠ (braille pattern dots-6)⠶ (braille pattern dots-2356)⠀ (braille pattern blank)⠠ (braille pattern dots-6)⠶ (braille pattern dots-2356)
[   ]

For the brackets of phonetic transcription, German Braille uses a modified form, .

Additional punctuation and symbols, especially mathematical, are explained in the external reference below.

Numbers

Numbers are introduced with the sign . They are dropped to decade 5 for ordinals and for the denominator of fractions.

So, for example, is 4, while is 4. (4th), and is ¾́.

⠣ (braille pattern dots-126)
(num.)
⠼ (braille pattern dots-3456)⠴ (braille pattern dots-356)
%
⠼ (braille pattern dots-3456)⠴ (braille pattern dots-356)⠴ (braille pattern dots-356)

The percent sign requires the number sign even after a number: 2%; otherwise it would look like the (undefined) fraction ²⁄₀.

In a compound fraction, a repeat of the number sign separate the units from the fraction: .

Formatting

⠣ (braille pattern dots-126)
(num.)
⠨ (braille pattern dots-46)
(Caps)
⠘ (braille pattern dots-45)
(CAPS)
⠘ (braille pattern dots-45)⠘ (braille pattern dots-45)
(ALL CAPS)
⠶ (braille pattern dots-2356)
(l.c.)
⠸ (braille pattern dots-456)
(emphasis)
⠠ (braille pattern dots-6)⠄ (braille pattern dots-3)
(end)

The emphasis sign (for italics, underline, or bold) is marked with an extra point, , when it occurs in the middle of a word. It is doubled, , when more than one word is emphasized, in which case the ending sign will be required at the end of the last word.

The all-caps sign is used for initialisms and the like. Doubled, it is used for all-cap text, such as titles, and the same ending sign, , is used. Names with initials, such as J.S. Bach, do not require the cap sign. The lower-case sign is used to mark mixed case or exceptions to expected capitalization; as such, it replaces the apostrophe that sets off the plural -s in print:

IC's, MHz, GmbH.

(Note the initialism sign can be used for a single letter.)

Lower-case metric units are marked as lower-case: kW. This is useful, as it ends the scope of the number sign :

130 hPa, 130 kVA.

References

  1. And thus the ellipsis, (...).
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