Bridging the Boundaries:
How Braille and Cognitive Science Research Can Inform Each Other,
and Why We Should Listen
Robert Englebretson
Rice University Dept. of Linguistics
reng@rice.edu
Data Handout
I. Examples of structure-accentuating contractions
A. Phonograms
cOW SH/OUt CHurCH pEN pIN mEAn
C[ %\T *UR* P5 P9 M1N
B. Morphograms
wait
waitED
waitING
waitER
WAIT WAIT$ WAIT+ WAIT]
appeAR
DISappeAR/ANCE
APPE> 4APPE>.E
cARe cAReFUL
cAReLESS
C>E C>E;L C>E.S
C. logograms:
YOU CAN DO
IT!
,Y C D X6
D. Phrasal constituents
He ran BY/THE rivER.
,HE RAN 0! RIV]4
He ran by, AND SHe trippED HIM.
,HE RAN BY1 & %E TRIPP$ HM4
SHe wENt TO/THE STore.
,%E W5T 6! /ORE4
I want TO/GO.
,I WANT 6G4
I HAD to, BUT I didn't want to.
,I _H TO1 B ,I DIDN'T WANT TO4
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II. Examples of structure-attenuating contractions
Please note: as written, some of these examples are unacceptable
according to the current rules of American, British, and/or Unified English
braille.
A. Constituent bridging
THEy SToppED BY/FOR lunCH yeST/ER/DAY.
,!Y /OPP$ 0= LUN* YE/]"D4
IT WAS refERrED tO/AS an example.
,X 0 REF]R$ 6Z AN EXAMPLE4
B. Morpheme bridging
1. Stem-stem bridging
doGH/OUse DO<\SE
hoTH/EAd HO?1D
raWHide RA:IDE
CHeMOTHERapy *E"mAPY
2. prefix-stem bridging
dENote D5OTE
prER/EAdER PR]1D]
rENew R5EW
rEDraw R$RAW
rEAdmit R1DMIT
3.a. Stem-suffix bridging
milEAge MIL1GE
freEDom FRE$OM
fruITY FRU;Y
3b. Variable stem-suffix bridging
adHERE adhER/ED adHEREd AD"H ADH]$ AD"HD
phONE phonED phONEd PH"O PHON$ PH"OD
NAME NAMEd namED "N "ND NAM$
COMmENCE COMmENCEd COMmENcED -M;E -M;ED
-M5c$
C. Syllable bridging
SEAttle ,S1TTLE
crEAte CR1TE
prOFesSIONal PR(ES.NAL
3
(compare EBAE profesSIONal PROFES.NAL with prOFit PR(IT)
all of the lower-cell geminates: aCC/OUNT A3.T, aDDress
A4RESS, aFFect A6ECT, etc.
D. Stem alternations
egg eGGs EGG E7S
flea flEAs FLEA FL1S
add aDD/ING ADD A4+
puff puFFy PUFF PU6Y
E. tautosyllabic grouping
1. Phoneme mis-priming:
auTHEntic / auTH/ENtic AU!NTIC _/ AU?5TIC
THErapy / TH/ERapy !RAPY / ?}APY
2. Complex grapheme de-coupling
hoOF HO(
baTHE BA!
hINGe H+E
Selected Bibliography
1. A selection of works appropriate for a general audience concerning the psychological and
neurological underpinnings of reading.
Berninger, Virginia W. and Todd L. Richards. 2002. Brain Literacy for Educators and Psychologists. San
Diego: Academic Press.
Rayner, Keith, Barbara R. Foorman, Charles A. Perfetti, David Pesetsky, and Mark S. Seidenberg.
2001. "How psychological science informs the teaching of reading." Psychological Science in the
Public Interest 2: 31-74.
Wolf, Maryanne. 2007. Proust and the Squid: the Story and Science of the Reading Brain. New York: Harper.
2. A selection of works designed for teachers (but also appropriate for a general audience)
about language structure and reading.
Henry, Marcia. 2003. Unlocking Literacy: Effective Decoding and Spelling Instruction. Baltimore: Brookes.
Moats, Louisa C. 2000. Speech to Print: Language Essentials for Teachers. Baltimore: Brookes.
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3. A selection of relevant academic literature on the role of morphology and orthography in
reading
Bowers, Peter N. 2006. Adding Transparency to Morphologically Opaque Words through Instruction. M.Ed.
Thesis, Queen’s University. Kingston: Ontario.
Carlisle, Joanne F. and C. Addison Stone. 2005. “Exploring the role of morphemes in word
reading.” Reading Research Quarterly, 40 (4): 428-449.
Luelsdorff, Philip A. 1994. “Developmental morphographemics II.” in W. C. Watt, ed. Writing
Systems and Cognition: Perspectives from Psychology, Physiology, Linguistics, and Semiotics, 141-182.
Boston: Kluwer.
Mann, Virginia and Maria Singson. 2003. “Linking morphological knowledge to English decoding
ability: large effects of little suffixes.” in Egbert M.H. Assink and Dominiek Sandra, eds.
Reading Complex Words: Cross-Language Studies, 1-25. New York: Kluwer.
Verhoeven, Ludo and Charles Perfetti, eds. 2003. The Role of Morphology in Learning to Read.
Scientific Studies of Reading (Special Issue) 7 (3).
Wimmer, Heinz and Usha Goswami. 1994. "The influence of orthographic consistency on reading
development: word recognition in English and German children." Cognition 51 (1): 91-103.
4. An academically-oriented overview of reading theory and practice
Snowling, Margaret J. and Charles Hulme, eds. 2005. The Science of Reading: a Handbook. Malden:
Blackwell.
5. General-interest works on writing systems from a cross-language perspective
Daniels, Peter T. and William Bright, eds. 1996. The World's Writing Systems. New York: Oxford
University Press.
Rogers, Henry. 2005. Writing Systems: a Linguistic Approach. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
6. A selection of relevant works on braille and/or blindness and language
Clark, Christine and Julia B. Stoner. 2008. “An investigation of the spelling skills of braille readers.”.
Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness 102: 553-563.
Hamp, Eric P. and Hilda Caton. 1984. “A fresh look at the sign system of the braille code”. Journal of
Visual Impairment and Blindness 78: 210-214.
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Hannan, Cheryl Kamei. 2006. “Review of research: neuroscience and the impact of brain plasticity
on braille reading”. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness 100: 397-413.
Lauenstein, Christine. 2007. On the Compatibility of the Braille Code and Universal Grammar. Ph.D.
Dissertation, Institute of English Linguistics, Universität Stuttgart
Millar, Susanna. 1997. Reading by Touch. New York: Routledge.
Monson, Martin R. and Sandy K. Bowen. 2008. “The development of phonological awareness by
braille users: a review of the research”. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness 102: 210-220.
Perez-Pereira, Miguel and Gina Conti-Ramsden. 1999. Language Development and Social Interaction in
Blind Children. Hove: Psychology Press.
Sadato, Norihiro. 2005. “How the blind ‘see’ braille: lessons from Functional Magnetic Resonance
Imaging”. Neuroscientist 11: 577-582.
Steinman, Bernard A., B. J. LeJeune, and B. T. Kimbrough. 2006. “Developmental stages of reading
processes in children who are blind and sighted”. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness
100: 36-46.
7. Previous proposals for research on (syllable) bridging
Braille Authority of North America. 1983. “Proposal to Study the Effects of Syllable Bridging and
Consistency of Presentation on Speed and Accuracy of Braille Reading”. attached to the
Minutes of the Ad Hoc BANA Braille Research Committee Meeting, Oct. 7, 1983.
International Council on English Braille. 2004: See http://www.iceb.org/gares04.html:
“6.0 This General Assembly resolves that the ICEB support research in the area of the use
of contractions in syllable bridging and its impact on readability in all English-speaking
countries; and that the Executive appropriate an amount to be dedicated toward expenses
for conducting such research; and that ICEB work in collaboration with other entities (such
as the International Braille Research Center, the American Foundation for the Blind, the
Canadian National Institute for the Blind, the Royal National Institute of the Blind, etc.)
interested in and committed to conducting research on braille reading and writing and which
are willing to contribute additional funding as needed to complete such research.”