# ⠆

| ⠆ | U+2806, &#10246; BRAILLE PATTERN DOTS-23 |
| ← ⠅ [U+2805] | Braille Patterns | ⠇ → [U+2807] |

## Translingual

A character of the braille script, originally used as a semicolon. Some alphabets use it for a variant of b because it is lowered version of the braille letter ⠃ b.

### Etymology

Invented by Louis Braille, braille cells were arranged in numerical order and assigned to the letters of the French alphabet. Most braille alphabets follow this assignment for the 26 letters of the basic Latin alphabet or, in non-Latin scripts, for the transliterations of those letters. In such alphabets, the first ten braille letters (the first decade: ⠁⠃⠉⠙⠑⠋⠛⠓⠊⠚) are assigned to the Latin letters A to J and to the digits 1 to 9 and 0. (Apart from '2', the even digits all have three dots: ⠃⠙⠋⠓⠚.)
The letters of the first decade are those cells with at least one dot in the top row and at least one in the left column, but none in the bottom row. The next decade repeat the pattern with the addition of a dot at the lower left, the third decade with two dots in the bottom row, and the fourth with a dot on the bottom right. The fifth decade is like the first, but shifted downward one row. The first decade is supplemented by the two characters with dots in the right column and none in the bottom row, and that supplement is propagated to the other decades using the generation rules above. Finally, there are four characters with no dots in the top two rows. Many languages that use braille letters beyond the 26 of the basic Latin alphabet follow an approximation of the English or French values for additional letters.

### Letter

* (Hausa Braille) ɓ
* (Igbo Braille, Yoruba Braille) gb
* (IPA Braille) ʔ
       Non-Latin transliteration
* (Arabic Braille) ـً (-an)
* (Thai Braille) The vowel ◌ี long i
* (Cantonese Braille) The rime yn (yun)

### Symbol

* (music) triplet.
* (Ethiopic Braille) closing digit indicator: cf. opening ⠁.
    (Ethiopic also retains the international use as the semicolon, ፤.)

### See also

* Braille eight-dot extensions from ⟨⠆⟩: ⡆ ⢆ ⣆

## English
### Punctuation mark

* ; (semicolon)

### Letter

⠆ (bb)
* Renders the print sequence -bb-.

#### Usage notes

* Can only appear within a word where it does not contact an apostrophe or hyphen; at the end of a word it would be confused with a semicolon. Cannot span a compound word as in dumbbell or an obvious affix like subbasement, but acceptable in words like abbreviation where the affix is obscure.

### Prefix

* be-

#### Usage notes

Does not need to be an etymological prefix, but does need to be a full syllable at the beginning of a word, including in a compound word after a hyphen, or after a prefixed preposition by, to or into.
In addition to otherwise spelled-out words, this prefix occurs in several contractions:
    ⠆⠉ because with c, ⠆⠋ before with f, ⠆⠓ behind with h, ⠆⠇ below with l, ⠆⠝ beneath with n, ⠆⠎ beside with s, ⠆⠞ between with t, and ⠆⠽ beyond with y.

### Contraction

* be

#### Usage notes

* This is used for the independent word be. Apart from the prefix above, it is not used otherwise for the letter sequence b-e.
* Because this cell does not have dots in the top row, its use for be could be confused with punctuation and therefore it is not used where it would contact a punctuation mark, such as at the end of a sentence but also in hyphenated words like bride-to-be.

## French
### Punctuation mark

* The semicolon, ⟨;⟩.

### Contraction

* The letter sequence br [+V].
* The letter sequence ui [+C].

#### Usage notes

* The sequences br and ui may appear anywhere in their word, as long as they are followed by at least one vowel or consonant letter, respectively.

## Japanese
### Syllable

⠆ (romaji wi)
* The hiragana syllable ゐ (wi) or the katakana syllable ヰ (wi) in Japanese braille.

## Korean
### Letter

⠆ • (-ch)
* Syllable-final ㅊ (ch)

#### Coordinate terms

* Syllable-initial ⠰.

## Luxembourgish
### Punctuation mark

* The semicolon.

## Mandarin
### Letter

* (Mainland Braille) Tone 4
* Braille eight-dot extensions from ⟨⠆⟩: ⡆ ⢆ ⣆