Braille Writing Systems Around the World: How 20+ Languages Use Braille (JA)
Discover how braille works in different languages. Compare braille systems for English, Spanish, French, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hindi, and more.
By Braille Translator Team
How Does Braille Work in Different Languages? (JA)
Braille is not a single, universal system — it is a framework that has been adapted to represent over 133 languages worldwide. While every braille system uses the same 6-dot cell structure invented by Louis Braille in 1824, the way dots are assigned to characters varies significantly from language to language.
This guide explores how braille works across 20+ languages, the challenges of adapting braille to non-Latin scripts, and how our multilingual braille translator handles these differences.
Latin-Script Languages (JA)
Languages that use the Latin alphabet (A-Z) generally share the same core braille assignments for the basic 26 letters. Differences arise with accented characters, special letters, and punctuation.
English Braille (UEB) (JA)
Unified English Braille (UEB) is the modern standard used in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. It replaced several older English braille codes in 2005.
Key features:
- 26 letters match the original French braille assignments
- 189 contractions in Grade 2 for common words and letter combinations
- Number indicator (⠼) before digits
- Capital indicator (⠠) before uppercase letters
Try it: English to Braille Translator
Spanish Braille (JA)
Spanish braille extends the basic Latin braille with accented vowels:
| Character | Dots | Braille |
|---|---|---|
| á | 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 | ⠷ |
| é | 2, 3, 4, 6 | ⠮ |
| í | 3, 4 | ⠌ |
| ó | 3, 4, 6 | ⠬ |
| ú | 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | ⠾ |
| ñ | 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 | ⠻ |
| ü | 1, 2, 5, 6 | ⠳ |
Spanish braille also supports Grade 2 contractions, though they differ from English contractions.
French Braille (JA)
As the original braille system, French braille holds special historical significance. French braille includes characters for:
- Accented vowels: à, â, é, è, ê, ë, ï, î, ô, ù, û, ü, ÿ, ç
- French-specific contractions in Grade 2 (abrégé)
- The French quotation marks « » (guillemets)
German Braille (Blindenschrift) (JA)
German braille adds characters for umlauts and the Eszett:
| Character | Dots | Braille |
|---|---|---|
| ä | 3, 4, 5 | ⠜ |
| ö | 2, 4, 6 | ⠪ |
| ü | 1, 2, 5, 6 | ⠳ |
| ß | 2, 3, 4, 6 | ⠮ |
German Grade 2 (Kurzschrift) has its own set of contractions. Try it: German Braille Translator
Italian Braille (JA)
Italian braille closely follows the French system with additions for accented vowels common in Italian: à, è, é, ì, ò, ù.
Portuguese Braille (JA)
Portuguese braille handles both Brazilian and European Portuguese conventions, with accented characters like ã, õ, á, é, í, ó, ú, â, ê, ô, à.
Cyrillic-Script Languages (JA)
Russian Braille (JA)
Russian braille maps the Cyrillic alphabet to the 6-dot cell system. Since Cyrillic has 33 letters (more than the 26 in Latin), Russian braille uses dot combinations differently:
| Character | Dots | Braille |
|---|---|---|
| А | 1 | ⠁ |
| Б | 1, 2 | ⠃ |
| В | 2, 4, 5, 6 | ⠺ |
| Г | 1, 2, 4, 5 | ⠛ |
| Д | 1, 4, 5 | ⠙ |
| Е | 1, 5 | ⠑ |
| Ж | 2, 4, 5 | ⠚ |
| З | 1, 3, 5, 6 | ⠵ |
| И | 2, 4 | ⠊ |
| К | 1, 3 | ⠅ |
Note that Russian braille assignments differ from Latin braille. The letter В (V) uses dots 2,4,5,6 instead of dots 1,2,3,6 used for V in English.
Bulgarian Braille (JA)
Bulgarian braille follows similar principles to Russian but with adjustments for the Bulgarian Cyrillic alphabet, which has 30 letters.
Arabic Braille (JA)
Arabic braille is unique because Arabic is written right to left, but braille is always read left to right. This creates an interesting challenge:
- Arabic braille text runs left to right (opposite to printed Arabic)
- The braille cells themselves are not mirrored
- The Arabic alphabet has 28 base letters, each with up to 4 forms in print (initial, medial, final, isolated) — but braille uses only one form per letter
| Character | Dots |
|---|---|
| ا (Alif) | 1 |
| ب (Ba) | 1, 2 |
| ت (Ta) | 2, 3, 4, 5 |
| ث (Tha) | 1, 4, 5, 6 |
| ج (Jim) | 2, 4, 5 |
| ح (Ha) | 1, 5, 6 |
Our translator supports both Arabic Grade 1 and Grade 2: Arabic Braille Translator
East Asian Languages (JA)
Chinese Braille (JA)
Chinese braille does not encode individual Chinese characters (there are thousands). Instead, it uses a phonetic system based on Mandarin pronunciation (Pinyin):
- Each syllable is represented by 2-3 braille cells
- The first cell indicates the initial consonant
- The second cell indicates the final vowel/tone
- Tones are indicated by specific dot patterns
This means Chinese braille is a phonetic transcription, not a character-by-character translation.
Japanese Braille (点字 — Tenji) (JA)
Japanese braille represents the hiragana syllabary rather than kanji characters:
- Each hiragana character gets one braille cell
- Katakana is indicated with a special prefix
- Numbers use a number indicator similar to English
- Kanji must be converted to hiragana readings first
| Hiragana | Braille |
|---|---|
| あ (a) | ⠁ |
| い (i) | ⠃ |
| う (u) | ⠉ |
| え (e) | ⠋ |
| お (o) | ⠊ |
Korean Braille (점자 — Jeomja) (JA)
Korean braille is based on the Hangul writing system. Each Hangul syllable block is decomposed into its component jamo (consonants and vowels), and each jamo gets a braille representation:
- Initial consonants: Represented by specific dot combinations
- Vowels: Different dot patterns
- Final consonants (batchim): Another set of patterns
This makes Korean braille relatively efficient since Hangul is already an alphabetic system.
Try it: Korean Braille Translator — supports Grade 2
South Asian Languages (JA)
Hindi Braille (Bharati Braille) (JA)
Hindi and other Indian languages use Bharati Braille, a unified braille system designed for all Indian scripts. Key features:
- Based on the structure of Devanagari and other Indian scripts
- Consonant-vowel combinations follow the natural order of Indian alphabets
- Supports Hindi, Marathi, Sanskrit, and other Devanagari-based languages
Tamil Braille (JA)
Tamil braille represents the Tamil script’s unique characters. Our translator includes a custom Tamil Grade 1 table.
Other Notable Braille Systems (JA)
Turkish Braille (JA)
Turkish braille extends Latin braille with additional characters for Turkish-specific letters: ç, ğ, ı, ö, ş, ü. The dotless i (ı) and dotted İ distinction is particularly important in Turkish braille.
Polish Braille (JA)
Polish braille includes characters for the Polish diacritics: ą, ć, ę, ł, ń, ó, ś, ź, ż. These use unique dot combinations not found in standard Latin braille.
Danish Braille (JA)
Danish braille adds characters for æ, ø, å and supports Danish Grade 2 contractions.
Dutch Braille (JA)
Dutch braille covers both Netherlands and Belgian Dutch, with slight variations between the two.
Romanian Braille (JA)
Romanian braille includes characters for ă, â, î, ș, ț.
Afrikaans Braille (JA)
Afrikaans braille is based on the English system with minor additions for Afrikaans-specific characters. Our translator supports both Grade 1 and Grade 2 Afrikaans.
Challenges of Multilingual Braille (JA)
Character Conflicts (JA)
The same dot combination can mean different things in different languages. For example, dots 1,2,4,6 might represent one character in French braille and a completely different character in Arabic braille. This is why selecting the correct language table in a braille translator is crucial.
Script Complexity (JA)
Languages with large character sets (Chinese, Japanese) require creative phonetic approaches, while alphabetic languages (English, Spanish) map more directly to braille cells.
Standardization (JA)
While Unified English Braille (UEB) has standardized English braille globally, many languages still have competing braille standards. Efforts by organizations like the World Blind Union continue to promote standardization.
Our Multilingual Braille Support (JA)
Our braille translator supports 20+ language tables:
| Language | Tables Available |
|---|---|
| English | UEB Grade 1, UEB Grade 2, US Grade 2, UK Grade 2 |
| French | Unified Grade 2, Uncontracted |
| German | Grade 1, Grade 2 (Beta) |
| Spanish | Grade 1, Grade 2 |
| Italian | Standard |
| Romanian | Uncontracted |
| Danish | Grade 2 |
| Dutch | Netherlands, Belgium |
| Korean | Grade 2 |
| Tamil | Grade 1 |
| Chinese | Simplified |
| Afrikaans | Grade 1, Grade 2 |
| Arabic | Grade 1, Grade 2 |
Try translating in any language with our free braille translator.