Night Writing (Barbier)

Night writing, also called sonography, is a tactile writing system developed by Charles Barbier de La Serre (1767–1841) and presented in 1815.

Its principle consists in transcribing 36 sounds or phonetic units of French, using raised dots arranged in a cell of 2 columns and 6 rows.

The system is based on a table of 6 rows and 6 columns containing the 36 sounds selected by Barbier to represent French.

The first row groups the vowels: a, i, o, u, é, è. The second contains notably the nasal vowels and other vocalic units: an, in, on, un, eu, ou. The third groups b, d, g, j, v, z, and the fourth p, t, q, ch, f, s. The fifth contains l, m, n, r, gn, ll. The sixth contains oi, oin, ian, ien, ion, ieu.

Each element receives two coordinates, corresponding to its row and column in the table. These two numbers are then transformed into two vertical columns of raised dots.

Identify the phonetic units of the word

Locate each element in the table

Convert the coordinates into dots: place in the first column of the cell as many dots as the row number, then in the second as many dots as the column number. The dots are arranged vertically from the top of the cell.

Decoding is the reverse operation, performed by touch. First examine the two columns of the cell and count the number of dots in each. The number of dots in the first column gives the row of the sound in the table, while the number of dots in the second gives its column.

Night writing does not provide dedicated signs for numbers, punctuation marks, mathematical symbols, or musical notation. Several local variants were developed to overcome this problem.

The characters use a cell of 2 columns and 6 rows, noticeably taller than a classic Braille cell of 2 columns and 3 rows.

Arrangement of the dots then: in each of the two columns, the dots are aligned vertically from the top and their number, between 1 and 6.

Any traces of grooves, a punch or marking tool, perforated or embossed paper, and documents related to the history of the Royal Institution for Blind Youth are clues.