RULE XIII - LOWER SIGNS

39. "Be," "Enough," "Were," "His," "In," and "Was:"  The lower signs which represent the words "be," "enough," "were," "his," "in," and "was" may be preceded by the capital and/or italic sign, but must not be in contact with any other letter, contraction, word, or punctuation sign. Ex:
    
    

    It may be. ,x may be4
    
    Was it as you thought it was?
    ,0 x z y ?"\ x was8
    
    Enough's enough. ,5\<'s 5\<4
    
    The would-be actor. ,! wd-be actor4
    
    So you were. ,s y w]e4
    
    "Was he a good-enough player?"
    8,was he a gd-5\<
    play]80
    
    These were his books. ,^! 7 .8 books4
    
    So you wereæwere you? ,s y w]e--w]e y8
    
    "Were they his?" 8,w]e !y his80
    
    My mother-in-law is my only in-law.
    ,my "m-in-law is my only
    in-law4
    
    Arriving (in time) I walked in.
    ,>riv+ 7in "t7 ,i walk$
    in4
    
    shut-in %ut-in shut-ins %ut-9s
    
    However, these signs should be used where they are no longer in contact with the hyphen. Ex:
    
    

    built- built-	good- gd-
    in 9	enough 5
    would- wd-
    be 2

40. Lower Sign Rule:  Any number of lower signs should follow one another without a space if one of them is in contact with a sign containing dot 1a or dot 4@. Although the italic sign . contains a dot 4, it is not to be considered an upper sign. Ex:
    

linenæen- L95--5-
tirely ruined tirely ru9$

She seems soædisinclined.
,%e seems s--49-
cl9$4

•   Two or more unspaced lower signs must not follow one another when they are not in contact with an upper sign containing a dot 1 or a dot 4. Ex:
  Was that his? ,0 t .his8
  

  in- in-	"dis- 8dis-
  duce duce	play" play0

  con- .con-
  duct duct
  
  
  b.  When two or more lower-sign contractions follow one another without being in contact with an upper sign, the final lower-sign contraction must not be used. Ex:
  
  

  comin' -in'
  

  to con- 6con-	to disen- 64en-
  cur cur	gage gage

  He is to be a man.
  ,he is 6.be a man4
  
  
  41. "To," "Into," and "By:"
      
  
  
  1.   Braille the lower signs "to," "into," and "by" unspaced from the word, abbreviation, letter, or number which follows, or the braille equivalent for a print symbol which follows.
     
     
  2.   The lower sign may begin the next braille line where there is not room on the braille line for the lower sign and either at least the first syllable of the following word, or the abbreviation, and/or the braille equivalent for a print symbol and the letter or number joined to it, which follows.
     
     
  3.   The lower signs "to," "into," and "by" may be preceded and/or followed by braille composition signs.
     
     
  4.   The lower signs "to," "into," and "by" may not be used and joined to any punctuation sign which follows. Do not use these lower signs as parts of words, in compound words, nor as proper names. When the sign "into" cannot be used, use the "in" contraction.
     
     Examples
     
     

     I was to receive it by 12 noon.
     ,i 0 6rcv x 0#ab noon4
     
     He came by because he wanted a ride into Toronto.
     ,he came 02c he want$ a
     ride 96,toronto4
     
     The new bylaw, passed by 51%, will create a big to-do.
     ,! new bylaw1 pass$
     0#ea@3p1 w cr1te a big
     to-d4
     
     By and large, they voted by a "show of hands".
     ,0& l>ge1 !y vot$ 0a
     8%[ ( h&s04
     
     Colonel By was commemorated by Bytown.
     ,colonel ,by 0 -memorat$
     0,byt[n4
     Give it to 'im. ,give x to 'im4
     
     What she got into, was trouble.
     ,:at %e got 9to1 0 tr\#4
     
     "To err is human, to ... divine." 8,6.]r is
     human1 to ''' div9e40
     
     "TO BE OR NOT TO BE" opens a famous speech.
     8,,6,,be ,,or ,,n
     ,,6,,be0 op5s a fam\s
     spee*4
     
     It was referred to by his sister.
     ,x 0 ref]r$ 60his si/]4
     
     Do right by him. ..,d "r 0.hm4
     
     $15 added to X came to $45.
     4#ae a4$ 6;,x came
     64#de4
     
     They came to (verbal) blows.
     ,!y came to 7v]bal7
     bl[s4

     
     
     
• "Ea" and the Double-Letter Signs:  The lower-sign contractions for "ea" and the double-letter signs "bb," "cc," "dd," "ff," and "gg" must be used only when these letters occur between letters and/or contractions within a word. They must never begin or end a word. Ex:
  
  

  mean m1n	realize r1lize	eat eat
  sea sea	seas s1s
  rubbed ru2$	tobacco toba3o
  add add	cuff cuff	eggs e7s

  1.   They should not be used when in contact with a hyphen or an apostrophe. Ex:
     
     

     sea-island sea-isl&	sou'east s\'ea/
     ebb-tide ebb-tide	sheriff's %]iff's
     rea- rea-	"add- 8add-
     son son	ed" $0

     
     

       These contractions must not be used where the letters are separated by a primary syllable division. (See §34.b.(2).) Ex:
     

     preamble pream#	agreeable agreea#
     readjust readju/	dumbbell dumbbell
     headdress h1ddress	permeable p]mea#
     subbasement subbase;t
     wiseacre wiseacre

     
     Exception:  The signs for "bb," "cc," "dd," "ff," and "gg" may overlap syllable divisions which occur between a prefix and the root of a word, since to use them would not obscure recognition. Ex:
     
     

     accept a3ept	address a4ress
     affect a6ect	aggressive a7ressive

       Use any alternative one-cell contraction in preference to "ea" and the double-letter signs except where a contraction ending in "e" would break the "eau" trigraph, as in: tableau, Fontainebleau, Clemenceau, Bertheau, etc. Ex:
     
     

     "ar" in near ne>	heart he>t	bear be>
     "ble" in bubble bub#	dabble dab#
     "ch" in saccharine sac*>9e
     bacchanal bac*anal
     "ed" in peddle p$dle	wedding w$d+
     "of" in office (fice	proffer pr(f]
     "for" in effort ef=t	afford af=d

       However, where the same space is saved, use any lower one-cell contraction in preference to a two-cell contraction. 

     Preferences:
     
     "dd" in Haddon Hall ,ha4on ,hall
     haddock ha4ock
     
     "en" in opponent oppon5t
     adherent adh]5t

     
     
     

  "Be," "Con," and "Dis:"  The lower part-word contractions "be," "con," and "dis" may be used only as syllables at the beginning of a word or at the beginning of a line in a divided word, except that they may be used after a hyphen in a hyphenated compound word. These contractions may be used in names for the first syllable following Mac or Mc when such a syllable is capitalized. As part-word contractions, they must not stand alone as syllables at the beginning of a line in a divided word. They may not be used when in contact with a hyphen in a divided or in a syllabified word. Ex:
  
  

  believe 2lieve	dish di%
  un- un-	dis- dis-
  becoming 2com+	pleasure pl1sure
  ba- ba-	may- may-
  con con	be be
  concept 3cept	indistinct 9dist9ct
  disconnect 4connect	Congress ,3gress

  McConnell ,mc,3nell
  
  self-control self-3trol
  
  dis-con-cert (syllabifying) dis-con-c]t

  
  
  

  1.   The contractions for "be," "con," and "dis," when used in a complete word, should be used in the abbreviation of the word. They must not be used if they comprise the entire abbreviation, nor may "con" be used as a whole word. Ex:
     
     

     conj. (conjunction) 3j4
     
     con. (concerto) con4
     
     cont. (continued) 3t4
     
     pro and con pro & con
     
     dist. (district) 4t4

     
     
     
  2.   The contractions "be," "con," and "dis" must never be used before the apostrophe, but they may follow it. Ex:
     
     

     O'Connor ,o',3nor

     be'ave be'ave

     dis'armony dis'>mony

     
     
     

  "Com:"  The lower part-word contraction "com" may be used at the beginning of a word or of a line in a divided word, but it need not be a syllable. It must never be used in contact with a hyphen, a dash, or an apostrophe, even when a composition sign intervenes. It may be used after the capital and/or italic sign, unless it immediately follows a hyphen, a dash, or an apostrophe on the same line of writing. When "com" is capitalized, the contraction may be used in a name following Mac or Mc. Ex:
  
  

  commerce -m]ce	Comb ,-b
  Com'ere ,com']e	come -e	coming -+
  Company ,-pany	com- com-
  mence m;e

  MacCommack ,mac,-mack
  
  anti-Communist anti-,communi/
  
  I willæcome what may.
  ,i w--come :at may4
  
  Will 'e 'commodate me?
  ,W 'e 'commodate me8
  
  The bookæcomparativelyæis not good.
  ,! book--.comp>atively
  --is n gd4