Appendix G
Symbols and Indicators
Note that symbols may require a grade 1 indicator preceding them when used within text. Refer to The Rules of Unified English Braille (UEB) for rules governing symbol usage. If a symbol has more than one meaning, only list the definition that applies to the material being transcribed.
The following symbols are required on the Special Symbols page if they are used within a braille volume. Each symbol is preceded by the dot locator for "mention," which is the first symbol in the list.
- Dot locator(s) (UEB §3.13, §3.14)
- Arrow symbols (UEB §11.6)
- Line mode indicators (UEB §16.2, §16.3)
- Sections and Paragraph Marks (UEB §3.20)
- Grouping indicators [braille grouping indicators, parentheses, braces, brackets, angle brackets] (UEB §7)
- Typeform indicators (UEB §9)
- Foreign language symbols (UEB §13)
- Music symbols (UEB §3.18)
- Modified letter indicators (UEB §4)
- Shape indicators (UEB §11.7)
- Math symbols (UEB §3.17, §3.24, §6, §11)Numeric passage/terminator (UEB §6.9)
- Currency symbols (UEB §3.10)
- Ratio (UEB §3.17)
- Proportion (UEB §3.17)
- Prime (UEB §3.11, §3.15)
- Double prime (UEB §3.11, §3.15)
- Minutes (UEB §3.11)
- Feet (UEB §3.15)
- At sign (UEB §3.7)
- Tilde (UEB §3.25)
- Trademark and Registered Trademark (UEB §3.8)
- Code switch indicators (UEB §14)
- Subscript and superscript indicators (UEB §3.24)
- Transcriber-defined symbols (UEB §3.26)
- Ditto sign (UEB §3.12)
The following symbols are new with the approval of UEB. These symbols may be included on the Special Symbols list.
- Ellipsis
- Opening transcriber's note indicator
- Closing transcriber's note indicator
- Percent sign
- Low line (underscore)
- Grade 1 symbol indicator (new terminology, same symbol)
- Single closing quotation mark
- Capitalized passage indicator
- Capitals mode terminator
- Dash
- Period, dot, or decimal (UEB §6) [Only when used as a dot or decimal]
Punctuation (UEB §7)
| Braille |
|
Meaning |
| 1 |
, |
Comma |
| 2 |
; |
Semicolon |
| 3 |
: |
Colon |
| 4 |
. |
Period, Full stop, Decimal |
| 444 |
... |
Ellipsis |
| 6 |
! |
Exclamation point |
| 8 |
? |
Question mark |
| 8 |
" " |
Opening double quotation mark |
| 0 |
" " |
Closing double quotation mark |
| ,8 |
' ' |
Opening single quotation mark |
| ,0 |
' ' |
Closing single quotation mark |
| ' |
' ' |
Apostrophe |
| "< "> |
( ) |
Opening/closing parenthesis |
| .< .> |
[ ] |
Opening/closing (square) brackets |
| @< @> |
‹ › |
Opening/closing (angle) brackets |
| _< _> |
{ } |
Opening/closing (curly) brackets |
| _/ |
/ |
Solidus, Slash |
| _* |
\ |
Reverse solidus, backslash |
| - |
- |
Hyphen |
| ,- |
– |
Dash |
| ",- |
— |
Long Dash |
| .- |
_ |
Low line, Underscore |
General Symbols and Indicators (UEB §3)
| Braille |
|
Meaning |
| < > |
|
Opening/closing braille grouping indicators |
| $ |
|
Shape indicator |
| \ |
|
Arrow indicator |
| \[ |
← |
Simple left-pointing arrow |
| \o |
→ |
Simple right-pointing arrow |
| \+ |
↑ |
Simple up-pointing arrow |
| \% |
↓ |
Simple down-pointing arrow |
| 3 |
: |
Ratio, is to |
| 33 |
:: |
Proportion, as |
| 5 |
|
Subscript indicator |
| 7 |
′ |
Single prime meaning foot or feet |
| 7 |
′ |
Single prime meaning minutes or arc |
| 77 |
″ |
Double prime meaning inches |
| 77 |
″ |
Double prime meaning seconds or arc |
| 9 |
|
Superscript indicator |
| #* |
♮ |
Natural |
| #< |
♭ |
Flat |
| #% |
♯ |
Sharp |
| @a |
@ |
At sign |
| @c |
¢ |
Cents |
| @e |
€ |
Euro |
| @f |
₣ |
French franc |
| @l |
£ |
Pounds sterling |
| @n |
₦ |
Naira |
| @s |
$ |
Dollar sign |
| @y |
¥ |
Yen |
| @& |
& |
Ampersand |
| @< |
< |
Less than |
| @5 |
^ |
Caret |
| @9 |
~ |
Tilde |
| @> |
> |
Greater than |
| @.< |
|
Opening transcriber's note indicator |
| @.> |
|
Closing transcriber's note indicator |
| @,? |
† |
Dagger |
| @,] |
‡ |
Double dagger |
| ^c |
© |
Copyright |
| ^j |
° |
Degrees |
| ^p |
¶ |
Paragraph |
| ^r |
® |
Registered trademark |
| ^s |
§ |
Section |
| ^t |
™ |
Trademark |
| ^x |
♀ |
Female sign |
| ^y |
♂ |
Male sign |
| _? |
# |
Number sign, Crosshatch, Pound sign |
| _4 |
• |
Bullet |
| "1 |
〃 |
Ditto |
| "6 |
+ |
Plus |
| "7 |
= |
Equal |
| "8 |
× |
Multiplication, Times |
| "9 |
* |
Asterisk |
| "/ |
÷ |
Division |
| "- |
− |
Minus |
| ""= |
|
Dot locator for "use" |
| .= |
|
Dot locator for "mention" |
| .0 |
% |
Percent |
| _\ |
| |
Vertical line (UEB §15.1) |
| _\_\ |
‖ |
Double vertical line (UEB §15.1) |
Indicators
| Braille |
Meaning |
| ; |
Grade 1 symbol indicator (UEB §5.2) |
| ;; |
Grade 1 word indicator (UEB §5.3) |
| ;;; |
Grade 1 passage indicator (UEB §5.4) |
| ;' |
Grade 1 terminator (UEB §5.5) |
| # |
Numeric indicator (UEB §5.6, §6.1) |
| ## |
Numeric passage indicator (UEB §6.9) |
| #' |
Numeric terminator (UEB §6.9) |
| , |
Capitalized symbol indicator (UEB §8.1) |
| ,, |
Capitalized word indicator (UEB §8.4) |
| ,,, |
Capitalized passage indicator (UEB §8.5) |
| ,' |
Capitals terminator (UEB §8.6) |
Typeform Indicators (UEB §9)
| Braille |
Meaning |
| .2 |
Italic symbol indicator |
| .1 |
Italic word indicator |
| .7 |
Italic passage indicator |
| .' |
Italic terminator |
| ^2 |
Bold symbol indicator |
| ^1 |
Bold word indicator |
| ^7 |
Bold passage indicator |
| ^' |
Bold terminator |
| _2 |
Underlined symbol indicator |
| _1 |
Underlined word indicator |
| _7 |
Underlined passage indicator |
| _' |
Underline terminator |
| @2 |
Script symbol indicator |
| @1 |
Script word indicator |
| @7 |
Script passage indicator |
| @' |
Script terminator |
Modified Letter Indicators (UEB §4.2)
| Braille |
|
Meaning |
| @* |
◌̸ |
Solidus (forward slash) overlay on following letter |
| @3 |
◌̶ |
Horizontal stroke overlay on following letter |
| @+ |
◌̆ |
Breve above following letter |
| @- |
◌̄ |
Macron above following letter |
| ^& |
◌̧ |
Cedilla below following letter |
| ^* |
◌̀ |
Grave accent above following letter |
| ^% |
◌̂ |
Circumflex above following letter |
| ^$ |
◌̊ |
Ring (circle) above following letter |
| ^] |
◌̃ |
Tilde above following letter |
| ^3 |
◌̈ |
Diaeresis (umlaut) above following letter |
| ^/ |
◌́ |
Acute accent above following letter |
| ^+ |
◌̌ |
Caron (hacek, wedge) above following letter |
| ^_1 |
|
First transcriber-defined modifier on following letter |
| ^_2 |
|
Second transcriber-defined modifier on following letter |
| ^_- |
|
Third transcriber-defined modifier on following letter |
Pronunciation Symbols
| Braille |
|
Meaning |
| ^.b |
|
Primary stress |
| ^.2 |
|
Secondary stress |
| _5 |
ə |
Schwa |
| ^n |
ŋ |
Eng |
Transcriber-Defined Symbols (UEB §3.26)
| Braille |
Meaning |
| ? |
First transcriber-defined symbol |
| #? |
Second transcriber-defined symbol |
| @#? |
Third transcriber-defined symbol |
| ^#? |
Fourth transcriber-defined symbol |
| _#? |
Fifth transcriber-defined symbol |
| "#? |
Sixth transcriber-defined symbol |
| .#? |
Seventh transcriber-defined symbol |
Transcriber-Defined Emphasis Indicators (UEB §9)
| Braille |
Meaning |
| @# |
First transcriber-defined indicator |
| ^# |
Second transcriber-defined indicator |
| _# |
Third transcriber-defined indicator |
| "# |
Fourth transcriber-defined indicator |
| .# |
Fifth transcriber-defined indicator |