Braille
Braille is not a language. It is a script, a tactile overlay built on six raised dots arranged in a cell. Any tongue written with a standardized alphabet can be encoded in it. The script holds whatever is put into it. The reader does the work.
It is used across every literate region of Adamah. Its stated purposes are accessibility for the blind and archival record-keeping. A written page fails in darkness. A braille page does not.
Phrases
| English | Key | Braille |
|---|---|---|
| Hello, friend | Friend | ⠋⠗⠊⠑⠝⠙ |
| Help me | Help | ⠓⠑⠇⠏ |
| I am blind | Blind | ⠃⠇⠊⠝⠙ |
| Where is the road? | Road | ⠗⠕⠁⠙ |
| Do not enter | Enter | ⠑⠝⠞⠑⠗ |
| Quiet, listen | Listen | ⠇⠊⠎⠞⠑⠝ |
| It is cold | Cold | ⠉⠕⠇⠙ |
| I need water | Water | ⠺⠁⠞⠑⠗ |
| Who is there? | Who | ⠺⠓⠕ |
| Go now | Now | ⠝⠕⠺ |
| Come here | Come | ⠉⠕⠍⠑ |
| Thank you | Thanks | ⠞⠓⠁⠝⠅⠎ |
| I cannot see | See | ⠎⠑⠑ |
| Read this aloud | Read | ⠗⠑⠁⠙ |
| Take my hand | Hand | ⠓⠁⠝⠙ |
| South | South | ⠎⠕⠥⠞⠓ |
| I remember | Remember | ⠗⠑⠍⠑⠍⠃⠑⠗ |
Vocabulary
| English | Braille |
|---|---|
| Cane | ⠉⠁⠝⠑ |
| Fire | ⠋⠊⠗⠑ |
| Food | ⠋⠕⠕⠙ |
| Door | ⠙⠕⠕⠗ |
| Night | ⠝⠊⠛⠓⠞ |
| Day | ⠙⠁⠽ |
| Coin | ⠉⠕⠊⠝ |
| Medicine | ⠍⠑⠙⠊⠉⠊⠝⠑ |
| Name | ⠝⠁⠍⠑ |
| Book | ⠃⠕⠕⠅ |
| Letter | ⠇⠑⠞⠞⠑⠗ |
| Key | ⠅⠑⠽ |
| Lock | ⠇⠕⠉⠅ |
| Warning | ⠺⠁⠗⠝⠊⠝⠛ |
| Exit | ⠑⠭⠊⠞ |
| Map | ⠍⠁⠏ |
| Archive | ⠁⠗⠉⠓⠊⠧⠑ |
| Danger | ⠙⠁⠝⠛⠑⠗ |
| Safe | ⠎⠁⠋⠑ |
| Poison | ⠏⠕⠊⠎⠕⠝ |
| North | ⠝⠕⠗⠞⠓ |
| South | ⠎⠕⠥⠞⠓ |
| East | ⠑⠁⠎⠞ |
| West | ⠺⠑⠎⠞ |
| Enemy | ⠑⠝⠑⠍⠽ |
| Guide | ⠛⠥⠊⠙⠑ |
| Stop | ⠎⠞⠕⠏ |
| Yes | ⠽⠑⠎ |
| No | ⠝⠕ |
| Open | ⠕⠏⠑⠝ |
| Closed | ⠉⠇⠕⠎⠑⠙ |
| Trust | ⠞⠗⠥⠎⠞ |
| Path | ⠏⠁⠞⠓ |
| Silence | ⠎⠊⠇⠑⠝⠉⠑ |
Alphabet
| Symbol | Letter | Symbol | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| ⠁ | A | ⠝ | N |
| ⠃ | B | ⠕ | O |
| ⠉ | C | ⠏ | P |
| ⠙ | D | ⠟ | Q |
| ⠑ | E | ⠗ | R |
| ⠋ | F | ⠎ | S |
| ⠛ | G | ⠞ | T |
| ⠓ | H | ⠥ | U |
| ⠊ | I | ⠧ | V |
| ⠚ | J | ⠺ | W |
| ⠅ | K | ⠭ | X |
| ⠇ | L | ⠽ | Y |
| ⠍ | M | ⠵ | Z |
Numbers & Punctuation
| Number | Cell | Punctuation | Cell |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | ⠚ | Period | ⠲ |
| 1 | ⠁ | Comma | ⠂ |
| 2 | ⠃ | Question | ⠦ |
| 3 | ⠉ | Apostrophe | ⠄ |
| 4 | ⠙ | Dash | ⠤ |
Digits reuse the first ten letters of the alphabet. J is 0. A is 1. B is 2. And so on through I as 9. The reader knows the cells are numbers and not letters because the number marker ⠼ appears in front of them. The same logic applies to ⠠, the uppercase marker, which flags the next cell as a capital.
Cell Convention
| Cell | Dots |
|---|---|
| ⠁ | 1 (top left) |
| ⠃ | 1 2 (left column) |
| ⠇ | 1 2 3 (left full) |
| ⠼ | number marker |
| ⠠ | uppercase marker |
Not a Language
Braille has no grammar of its own. It inherits the grammar of whatever tongue it is holding. A braille transcription of Franterra is Franterra. A braille transcription of any regional language with a standardized alphabet is that language, unchanged. The script changes nothing about the content it carries.
Tongues without a standardized alphabet cannot be encoded cleanly. Glyph systems, pictographic scripts, and symbol sets that depend on visual arrangement rather than linear letters do not translate into six-dot cells. Attempts to force them produce compromises that trained readers reject.
Common Use
Accessibility is the first purpose. Braille exists for the blind and is read by touch. Archival record-keeping is the second. A page that can be read in the dark is a page that can be read in places where light would be a problem, and there are many such places in Adamah. Storvhall maintains duplicate volumes in braille for this reason. The quote below is one of them.
"I have read every major text in the Storvhall archive. Enorneze, Einspeak, Durinkhâld fragments, the Ohrmam. All of it in the dark, with my fingers, same as everything else. The script doesn't care what language it's holding. Neither do I."
— unsigned, Storvhall archival transcript, date unknown