b.
Similarly, the reference line does not extend below the last character of
the word: 
gh.
Borg words are formed on a vertical reference line. Each word is written
separately. The consonant characters above are those used in the middle of
a word. When a consonant begins a word, the vertical line does not extend
above the first character:
b.
Similarly, the reference line does not extend below the last character of
the word: gh.
Vowels do not extend as far from the reference line as the consonants. Vowels
may be modified by addition of the oblique y-glide,
yi,
and the
plural r, 
ar.
All Borg words begin with a consonant, and most end with one. When a word
ends in a vowel, the terminator 
is used as the final character. It has no sound of its own, and serves
only to mark the end of the word: 
lhu.
Borg is written top to bottom, right to left. Each sentence occupies a column. If a sentence extends beyond one column, it continues in the column to the left, with a slight gap at the top of the column before the first word begins. There is no punctuation or special capitalization signs.
Examples:
borgh
nil powerful
Hi'uH nirl borgh. ka'el ri'uq. The Borg are powerful. They always conquer.
These characters are written just like the consonants; numbers formed
from a single digit end with the terminator character. One can
identify the characters as a number by the lack of a vowel sign.
Ordinal numbers are
written with a final i and the terminator character; see
the section on numbers for pronounciation of ordinals. A
two-digit ordinal number can be mistaken for a particle word, but
context is generally sufficient to resolve any ambiguity.
Examples: 
ghaz four;
ghiz fourth;
nzaHam thirty-two;
nziHim
(not nHi) thirty-second;
1E3816 7738(th).
© 1998, Terrence Donnelly