Reply To: Shortform word after parentheses
According to 10.6.2, the beginning of a word is defined as the letters-sequence which follows a psace, hyphen or dash and which may be preceded by the punctuation and indicator symbols listed in 2.6.2 (which is the standing alone rule). The parentheses are listed in 2.6.2, so you CAN use the shortform for little in this instance.
Cindi