French Braille

French Braille is the original braille alphabet, devised by Louis Braille in 1829. It forms the foundation for braille scripts used in numerous languages worldwide, assigning specific raised dot patterns to the letters of the French alphabet. The system was a revolutionary improvement over earlier tactile writing methods like Valentin Haüy's embossed letters and Charles Barbier's night writing.

History

The system was created by Louis Braille, a student at the Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles in Paris. Inspired by the military night writing code of Charles Barbier, Braille simplified its 12-dot cell into a more manageable six-dot configuration. His work was first published in 1829, with a revised edition in 1837. Despite initial resistance from sighted educators like the institute's director, Alexandre René Pignier, the system's superiority led to its official adoption at the Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles in 1854, two years after Braille's death. Its spread was further championed by figures like Pierre-Armand Dufau.

Alphabet and punctuation

The alphabet assigns characters based on the first 25 letters of the French alphabet, with 'w' added due to its use in foreign words. The basic letters, from 'a' to 'j', form a pattern that is shifted downward to create subsequent groups, a principle extended to other braille systems like English Braille. Punctuation marks are also formed using the six-dot cell; for instance, the comma uses a single low dot, while the period uses a pattern resembling the letter 'd'. Specific symbols were created for French accents, such as the acute accent and grave accent, and for ligatures like 'œ'.

Formatting and contractions

French Braille employs a system of contractions to increase reading speed and reduce space. It includes single-cell contractions for common letter groups like 'ch', 'ou', and 'en'. Whole-word contractions exist for frequent words such as 'que' and 'dans'. Formatting marks indicate emphasis, with distinct symbols for italics, bold type, and capitalization. A special number sign prefix shifts the first ten letters of the alphabet to represent the numerals 1 through 0.

Relationship to other braille systems

As the progenitor, its structure directly influenced the creation of many derivative alphabets. English Braille, for example, was adapted by Thomas Rhodes Armitage and others, reassigning some accent cells to English digraphs like 'th'. Similarly, German Braille and Dutch Braille modified it for their umlauts and digraphs. Beyond Europe, it served as the basis for scripts as diverse as Arabic Braille, Vietnamese Braille, and the braille of many African languages. This relationship is formalized in the international standard known as Unified English Braille.

Usage and adaptations

It remains the standard for blind and visually impaired readers in France, Belgium, Switzerland, and other Francophone regions like Quebec. National bodies such as the Association Valentin Haüy promote its use. The system has been technically adapted for use with braille embossers and refreshable braille displays. Its principles are taught in specialized schools and are integral to accessing literature, from the works of Victor Hugo to modern publications. The encoding of the braille pattern characters is standardized within the Unicode block Braille Patterns.

Category:Braille Category:French language Category:Writing systems