English friends, Pardon an intrusion by an "outsider" (I'm a chemist). I'm teaching a course in reading braille for sighted teachers, and there is considerable discussion about how to interpret one of the rules for writing braille...I'm hoping you all can help! In braille, there are "contractions", which are "shortcuts" to cut down on the number of braille dots that the reader has to feel. There are whole-word contractions, such as the words "the" and "people", and part-word contractions, such as "bb" and "ation". The braille rules book says this: "Contractions are to be used when letters they represent fall in the same syllable, or WHEN THEY OVERLAP A MINOR SYLLABLE." They never define minor syllable. Some examples given of words with minor syllables (the permitted contractions are shown in parentheses): a(st)r(ing)(en)t m(ed)iocre h(and)le R(en)o s(of)a t(in)y d(en)y fe(st)ival Suggestions? Any help in DEFINING what a minor syllable is would be helpful. The current discussion in the blind issues discussion group gives definitions of what it isn't ("if it isn't a major syllable, it's a minor syllable") and examples of minor syllables, but no definitions. Thanks in advance! Robert R. Gotwals, Jr. Computational Science Educator The Shodor Education Foundation, Inc. 923 Broad Street Suite 100 Durham, NC 27703 [log in to unmask] WWW: http://storm.shodor.org/~gotwals/gotwals.html (919) 286-1911