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There is no indefinite article in Borg; an unmarked noun should be considered indefinite by default. For the definite article, Borg uses the particle lwe, which follows the noun: thab a book, thab lwe the book. It is not used as often as the in English; it can be omitted if it is clear that the same object is being referred to, is never used with the words ghoH and tob, and is frequently dropped if a preposition accompanies the word. On the other hand, one refers to the Borg as borgh lwe almost always, except before certain common prepositions (especially tve).

Pronouns

There are few pronouns per se in Borg; the only true pronoun is ghov you. For the rest, phrases based on the word v_q unit, person are used: voq ghiH this unit, me, voq tib that unit, he, she, it. These can be pluralized to indicate more than one: vorq ghirH we, vorq tirb they. Note that the word vaq unit, piece, is occasionally used to refer to animate beings, as well. Moreover, first and third person pronouns can also be represented respectively by the demonstratives ghoH/ghorH this one, I/these ones, we and tob/torb that one, he, she/those ones, they alone.

Numbers

Borg uses a base-16 numbering system. The numbers from 0 - 16 are as follows (note that we use the convention of representing the values of 10 - 15 by letters of the alphabet):

BorgNameRoman | BorgNameRoman
0pagh0
9zagh9
1?az1
Abap10
2naz2
Bwaq11
3taz3
C?aS12
4ghaz4
Dchat13
5pap5
Ekach14
6jat6
FDHa?15
7qav7
10?zaHam16
8zak8

Higher numbers are compounds made from the lower digits (converted to CCv form) and words indicating the powers of 16: Ham (161); kav (162); pab (163), maD (164); powers of 16 are combined as simple phrases: ?zapab kchakav tzaHam zak : 1E3816 = 773610.

Ordinal numbers are formed by changing the a vowel to i. The resulting word is a true adjective and behaves like any other: thyab ghyiz (on the) fourth day.

Commentary: When used with nouns, numbers precede the noun; the noun is used in the plural with numbers greater than one. Number phrases of any length combined with nouns are considered a single unit; adjectives and prepositions follow the noun, and the number does not take the plural or oblique markers: nzaHam vyarq fnebyirsh 32 small units.

Numbers can also be used as names or labels. In this case, they follow the noun, but without changing the central vowel. Only the first noun, and not the number, takes the oblique y, if required: vyaq nzaHam Unit 32 (obl.).

Correlatives

Certain words fall into a pattern and are called correlatives. These are formed from the roots

and the following infixes (some of which are used in no other paradigm):

p_n
indefinite		 v_p
interrogative		 gh_H
near demonstrative		 t_b
remote demonstrative		 k_l
inclusive		 j_k
negative
a pan
something		 vap
what thing		 ghaH
this thing		 tab
that thing		 kal
everything		 jak
nothing
o pon
someone		 vop
who		 ghoH
this person		 tob
that person		 kol
everybody		 jok
nobody
eDHa peDHan
some amount		 veDHap
how many, how much		 gheDHaH
this much		 teDHab
that much		 keDHal
the whole		 jeDHak
not a bit
i pin
some		 vip
what, which		 ghiH
this		 tib
that		 kil
every, each		 jik
none, no
u?i pu?in
some kind		 vu?ip
what kind		 ghu?iH
this kind, such		 tu?ib
that kind, such		 ku?il
every kind		 ju?ik
no kind
e pen
somehow		 vep
how		 gheH
this way, thus		 teb
that way, thus		 kel
in every way		 jek
in no way
aghe paghen
somewhere		 vaghep
where		 ghagheH
here		 tagheb
there		 kaghel
everywhere		 jaghek
nowhere
a'e pa'en
sometime		 va'ep
when		 gha'eH
now		 ta'eb
then		 ka'el
always		 ja'ek
never
o'e po'en
for some reason		 vo'ep
why		 gho'eH
for this reason		 to'eb
for that reason		 ko'el
for every reason		 jo'ek
for no reason

Commentary:

  1. The indefinite series can be made even more non-specific by addition of the particle jna after the word: pan something, pan jna anything; paghen somewhere, paghen jna anywhere; po'en for some reason, po'en jna for any reason, etc. This particle can also be used with the v_p series: vap jna whatever, vu?ip jna whatever kind, etc.
  2. Location adverbs in aghe can be made to indicate motion towards by addition of the oblique y: paghyen to somewhere.
  3. Quantity nouns in eDHa can be used as adverbs (with change in vowelling) to modify verbs: nru poHeDHen borgh tve vagh vma pi'uw kus I can only speak Borg a little bit.

Use of the oblique case

  1. Object of a verb: ji'uD vop thyab lwe Who reads the book?
  2. To show motion
    1. with prepositions: jya? Dwe ruj go to a planet
    2. as a replacement for a motion preposition: ruj jya? go to a planet
    3. with adverbs showing motion: vaghyep to where?
  3. To show duration: taz jyaj ji'uD ghoH I've been reading for 3 days.
  4. For time stamps: jyaj tyiz miwuv juD ghoH I stopped reading on the third day.
  5. To indicate quantity: taz ?yal Hi'uH vli bish tob mzi ghoH That person is 3 ?al bigger than me.

Commentary: In some cases, the oblique word functions almost like an adverb, and thus precedes the verb. Such sentences can still contain a regular object in the oblique case after the verb.

Use of Participles

Active participles in o describe an action performed by the noun to which they refer. Passive participles in e describe an action performed on the noun to which they refer. The consonants ' w l indicate the time when the action occurred, relative to the time of the main verb of the sentence.

Participles can be used in different parts of speech, depending on the final vowel:

The adjectival participles can combine with tenses of the verb HuH to form compound tenses. One must recall that the time of the participle is always relative to that of the main verb:

Compound tenses using active participles are not often used, but compounds with the passive participles are common. Participles in e'i refer to actions uncompleted at the time of the main verb, those in ewi refer to completed actions. Participles in eli express intention or readiness.

Quantities

One asks how many, how much using the word veDHap: Si'ukh tab veDHyap How much does that weigh?, shiwuS borgh lwe veDHyap How many did the Borg invade? Note that words formed with eDHa are nouns, and take the oblique case as required.

The answer to how much can be a simple descriptive: taz jar? three planets, jar? mirgh many planets. To indicate an amount of something, however, a more complicated expression is required: nan lhu 'aq a container of fuel, nan lhu peDHan a certain amount of fuel, chak lhu val more time. This type of construction requires a noun to indicate quantity, although sometimes expressed in English as an adjective (as in more time) or adverb.

Expressions with lhu are used with quantities out of an unspecified or amorphous whole. To indicate selection out of a specific group, the preposition lwi is used instead: li'ukh nan lwi veDHyap How much fuel do you want?, Hi'uH qewish chaT ghiH lwi veDHap How many of this species have been assimilated?, Hi'uH qewish chaT lwi kol Everyone of the species has been assimilated.

To express part of a single component, the preposition tve is used: ja? tve pa' a piece of the planet.

In all of the above cases, when the quantity phrase is the object of a verb, only the noun indicating the quantity takes the oblique case, and not the noun from which the quantity is taken: wiwuw torb ja? tve pya' They destroyed a piece of the planet.

Subjects and Impersonals

Borg allows sentences without expressed subjects. A declarative sentence without a subject is generally assumed to refer to the speaker, if there is no other reference: Hi'uH nil I am powerful. If there is some other prior subject, a subject-less sentence usually refers to that subject: Hi'uH nirl borgh lwe. ka'el ri'uq The Borg are powerful. They always conquer. A question without a subject is assumed to refer to the person being spoken to: chqu Hi'uH nil Are you powerful? When needed to avoid confusion, expressions using voq, ghov, ghoH and tob can be used, as noted elsewhere.

Borg also allows sentences without subjects which do not refer to any actual entity. These are called impersonals: qra wi'ukh It's not important, Hi'uH wikh HuH ka'el qo'ish It's important to always be assimilating (note that even though wikh is modifying a verb phrase with HuH, the phrase itself is functioning nominally, so wikh remains a predicate adjective), gha'eH vi'uzh It's raining now. Sentences of the type there is/are are a kind of impersonal in English, but not in Borg: ja? sru li'uzh naz zarj There are two ships on the planet (the expression naz zarj two ships is the subject of luzh). Finally, sentences with an indefinite subject may be rendered with the noun zon they, one, someone as subject: ki'us zon khhe shiluS borgh lwe They say the Borg will invade.

Predicate Nominatives

The expression "They paint the ship red" differs from "They paint the red ship", in that it implies a change of state. Borg has a similar construction: Ti'uT zon zyaj HuH ziD They paint the ship (to be) red. Although "to be" is merely implied in the English sentence, the verb HuH is always required in the Borg: tiwugh vemaq vyoq tyib HuH Hlokutos The collective chose that one to be chief spokesperson.

Foreign Words

The somewhat restricted morphology of Borg makes it difficult for Borg to adopt loan-words from other languages, but the language has strategies to accomodate this.

In the first place, when scientific terms, instruments or other universal natural phenomena are considered, Borg tends not to adopt the word itself, but the concept, and then translate the concept using native Borg elements. The word for oscilloscope, ñomudan (lit. wave instrument), may be an example of this. On the other hand, given the antiquity of the Borg race and its obvious technological sophistication, such terms may be original with the Borg and not loan-words at all.

Words for flora, fauna, cultural artifacts and other items not a part of Borg society must be assimilated in some way, however. Borg takes such terms, transliterates them as closely to their native forms as possible, and then uses this transliteration together with a "class" noun, that is, a word designating the type of item represented by the tranliteration. Some examples are has kat cat, neqan bred bread, neqan qofi coffee, ghaDH tri tree. Borg even goes so far as to express alien nouns in such a manner: 'am parti party: DweHiwuH ghorH 'yam parti, which might be loosely rendered We attended a (as it is called) party. As this example shows, case and number markings are applied only to the "class" noun and not to the transliterated term.

The Borg generally refer to species and planets by their own numerical designations, but they do have a mechanism for rendering native names. The above nouns are really names for items foreign to the Borg, and the actual names of places and species are treated in the same way. For example, chaT qardas Cardassians, ja? bejor Bajor, zaj 'enterpriz the Enterprise (note that foreign words beginning with a vowel begin with ' in Borg).

Each of the above terms is a general term, referring to the named item as a whole, eg. has kat actually means the cat species. To refer to a specific individual of the whole, the infix ep is added to the class word: kepas kat a (particular) cat, chepoT qardas a Cardassian, jepo? bejor a Bajoran, ghepaDH sprus a spruce tree.

As for proper names, those of the Borg are all meaningful words in Borg and as such are used like any other words, eg. Di'uth zuHagh lwi vyaq qyiv I see Seven of Nine; Hi'uH ghoH borgh tve Hlokutos I am the Borg Chief Spokesperson (some older UTA algorithms render this as I am Locutos of Borg, but this is obviously a mistranslation).

Foreign names are treated in the same manner as other foreign nouns, using the word naD name, label. In such cases, the wording of sentences changes somewhat: Si'uv ghoH nyaD kapten zhan luq peqard I am (lit. have the label) Capt. Jean-Luc Picard. When the Borg refer to such persons (rarely), they use the word newoD one who is labelled with the name: knuwahuv newyoD piqard Bring (me) (the one labelled) Picard.

Conditionals

Conditional verbs express an action which is hypothetical, or which the speaker doubts will occur: sli HihuH nil... If I were powerful (but I'm not), tihuzh borgh lwe jya? ghyiH... If the Borg should discover this planet (but I doubt they will).

With verbs such as puw to be able and duv must, the conditional implies uncertainty: di'uv wuw zon jya? lwe They must destroy the planet, dihuv wuw zon jya? lwe They ought to destroy the planet, pi'uw wuw zon jya? lwe They can destroy the planet, pihuw wuw zon jya? lwe They could/might/ought to be able to destroy the planet.

Reported Speech

Simple reported speech uses the particle khhe (kh+he) to link the main verb and the reported speech: kiwus kutos khhe qilajush ja? The spokesperson said that the planet will be assimilated. The reported verb in such sentences retains its original tense, i.e., the tense used when the verb was originally spoken. Often the main verb is a verb of speaking, but it can also be a verb of thinking or feeling: Hi'ub khhe shiluS borgh lwe I believe the Borg will invade, bi'udh khhe shi'uS borgh lwe I regret that the Borg are invading.

Reported questions replace khhe with the interrogative chqu: viwu? tob chqu shiluS borgh lwe He asked if/whether the Borg will invade.

Reported requests or demands retain the particle khhe, but place the verb in the imperative: li'ukh khhe shahu' ghyazh I want you to seal the airlock. This holds true also for implied commands: Hi'uH Dedh khhe shahu' ghyazh It's necessary to seal the airlock.

Relatives

The correlative series in v_p serves not only as the interrogative, but also renders relative words, which are used to relate part of the sentence to the rest: shiwuS borgh lwe jya? vyip tiwuzh The Borg invaded the planet which they discovered, va'ep shiwuS borgh lwe ta'eb Hiwuv chaT paqled The Paqled fled when the Borg invaded, qra khi'ut ghoH vo'ep Hiwuv chaT qardas I don't understand why the Cardassians fled.

The adjectival relative modifies a noun by supplying more information about it; the adverbial relatives provide information supplemental to the entire sentence.

In an English sentence like The Paqled fled when the Borg invaded, the word when is a relative adverb, and actually stands for two words: The Paqled fled then (i.e. at that time), when the Borg invaded. The single word when stands both for the relative adverb that belongs to the subordinate phrase, and for the definite time adverb then that belongs to the main phrase. In Borg, both adverbs must be used (relative and definite) in sentences that refer to time or place, as in va'ep shiwuS borgh lwe ta'eb Hiwuv chaT paqled. In this kind of sentence, the relative adverb phrase comes first, and the definite time or place phrase second.

Only the relative adverb is required when referring to sentences involving manner or motive. These phrases usually follow the main phrase.

When the time of a subordinate phrase differs from that of the main phrase, it can be expressed in two ways. In either case, the prepositions bla before, pDo after, or ?ri until are used to express the time of the subordinate phrase. If a simple noun exists and there is no subject or object, these prepositions can simply be used with that noun. But, if there is a subject or object in the subordinate phrase, a verbal relative phrase is required, preceded with the relative time adverb va'ep, in its nominal form of va'ap and one of these prepositions. The definite time adverb ta'eb (which remains an adverb) is required to link the main and subordinate phrases.

© 1998, Terrence Donnelly

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