Characters & B-Codes

In Get Started you learned that every Bliss character has a B-code and that indicators attach with ;. This page goes deeper into how characters are built internally, compound characters, and the full indicator system.

Character Composition

Characters are made of positioned shapes. For example, B313 ("feeling") is defined as H:0,8, a heart shape at position (0,8):

B313 - the character

Input:

[grid]||B313

H:0,8 - its underlying definition

Input:

[grid]||H:0,8

Characters have standard dimensions (20 units height) designed for consistent alignment in words and sentences. The grid shows the coordinate system. See Grid Basics for details.

Compound Characters

Many characters are compounds, built from other characters positioned together. B931 ("observation") combines B447 ("mind") and B303 ("eye"):

B931 - observation

Input:

B931

Defined as B447;B303:2,0 (mind + eye)

Input:

[grid]||B447;B303:2,0

The definition B447;B303:2,0 uses ; (the part separator) to overlay two elements, with :2,0 positioning the eye relative to the mind. These internal definitions use the same syntax you'd use when building custom characters from shapes.

Indicators

Indicators are small diacritic marks that modify a character's grammatical function. They attach with ; and automatically position themselves above the character.

Indicators Reference

Indicator	Code	Purpose	Example
Action	B81	Marks as action (verb)	B431;B81 = to love
Description	B86	Marks as description (adjective/adverb)	B313;B86 = emotional
Thing	B97	Marks concrete sense	B447;B97 = brain
Plural	B99	Marks plural	B513;B99 = persons
Past	B92	Marks past tense	B431;B92 = loved
Future	B87	Marks future tense	B431;B87 = will love

See the Indicators Reference for the complete list.

Auto-Positioning

Indicators position themselves automatically above the character. Each glyph defines its own anchor point, so the indicator is placed correctly even when that means it's not mathematically centered:

Centered indicator

Input:

[grid]||B431;B81

Indicator automatically shifted left

Input:

[grid]||B391;B81

For details on how anchor points work and how to override positioning manually, see Positioning.

Combined Indicators

Many grammatical meanings require multiple indicators together. Bliss provides pre-combined indicators for common combinations:

Combined	Code	Equivalent to
Definite plural	B5996	B904 + B99
Plural thing	B98	B99 + B97
Definite thing	B5997	B904 + B97
Past passive	B95	B92 + B91

the persons, combined definite plural indicator

Input:

B513;B5996

was loved, combined past passive indicator

Input:

B431;B95

See the Indicators Reference for all combined indicators.

Custom Indicator Combinations

You can also combine indicators yourself by separating them with ;. The indicators are spaced apart and centered as a group:

to love (plural), two separate indicators

Input:

B431;B81;B99

Manual Indicator Positioning

You can override automatic indicator positioning with :x,y coordinates. See the Positioning guide for how this works within the character's coordinate space.

When Indicators Meet Words

An indicator semantically applies to an entire word, but it's still physically placed above a single character. When you build multi-character words, ;; lets you attach indicators at the word level, and the builder determines which character receives it. See Words & Sentences.

Characters to Try

Code	Meaning
B313	feeling, emotion
B431	love, affection
B1103	understanding
B412	knowledge
B513	person
B278	ear
B319	fire
B81	action indicator
B86	description indicator
B99	plural indicator
B4	period (full stop)
B5	comma
B3	question mark
B1	exclamation mark