Greek

Hi Susie,

Thank you for your question and for posting the pdf of the page in question.

The foreign language characters for Greek are to be found in World Braille Usage which can be downloaded for free at http://www.perkins.org/assets/downloads/worldbrailleusage/world-braille-usage-third-edition.pdf if you don't have a copy. I would use the Greek (International) table on pages 185-187 because of the accented characters and breath marks. There are no contractions used in International Greek.

In terms of Formats, it looks to me like the Greek is in bold, which I would retain to distinguish it from the English. Also, the Greek letters and breath marks should be listed on the Special Symbols Page.

Your sample also has the breath marks ῾ spiritus asper (rough breathing) (dots 125) and ᾿ spiritus lenis (smooth breathing) (dots 356). These signs are placed before the vowel to which they apply.

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Best,
Rebecca
Vice-Chair, Foreign Language Committee

Susie,

You need to evaluate whether or not to use non-UEB passage indicators (5 12356 3) to open and (6 5 23456) to close.  These code switch indicators are found at the beginning of Section 14: Code Switching in the Rules of UEB, Look up Sections 13.7.2 and 14.3.2 also. These will state that you can omit the non-UEB passage indicators as your Greek is in bold. However, it may be helpful to use the non-UEB passage indicators if your reader is unfamiliar with Greek.

In any case, you will be using the contractions listed on page 186 of World Braille Usage for your acute and grave vowels. Remember, the Greek passage is uncontracted.

There is a NBA Bulletin article that covers breathing marks in Greek titled Transcribing Breathing Marks in Greek: English Context. It was published in the Fall 2016 NBA Bulletin edition, Volume 52, Number 3.

Hope this helps,

Carol Greer

For foreign material with EBAE transcription, the NBA's Interim Manual for Foreign Language Braille Transcribing, 2002 is in effect. Material within that publication on pp. 69-70 covers accented vowel symbols and breathing marks. This means you'll be following Rebecca's response and using the contraction as opposed to the dot 4 (or dot 6) and the vowel. The contractions listed in the Interim Manual and World Braille Usage are the same.

Carol Greer