Unit 7 Strong Groupsigns (ar, ed, er, gh, ow, ing)
The following 2 and 3-letter combinations are represented in braille by a one-cell braille shape.
| ar | ed | er | gh | ow | ing |
| ⠜ | ⠫ | ⠻ | ⠣ | ⠪ | ⠬ |
These braille shapes may be used in any part of a word for the letters they represent. They can be used to represent a whole word (Ow!) or name (Ed).
Example:
Words containing these groupsigns:
| care | edit | tiger | night | now | sing |
| ⠉⠜⠑ | ⠫⠊⠞ | ⠞⠊⠛⠻ | ⠝⠊⠣⠞ | ⠝⠪ | ⠎⠬ |
Example:
Words with multiple groupsigns:
| p(ar)k(ed) | m(ow)(ed) | c(ar)v(er) | hi(gh)(er) | sn(ow)(ing) |
| ⠏⠜⠅⠫ | ⠍⠪⠫ | ⠉⠜⠧⠻ | ⠓⠊⠣⠻ | ⠎⠝⠪⠬ |
NOTE: Whenever these contractions come in conflict with the strong wordsign contractions: (and), (for), (of), (the), (with), the strong wordsigns are the preferred choice because they usually save space.
Example:
gather = ga(the)r
ga(th)(er) is not the preferred choice
Exception:
The (ing) contraction is never used at the beginning of a word.
ingoing = (in)go(ing)*
NOT (ing)o(ing)
NOTE: the "in" contraction will be introduced in a later unit.