strokes). Vowels Vowel letters are composed of two parts: the basic 5-shape of the Mandombe script plus a numeral, or—in the case of ü ()—by modifying the basic u vowel letter. Vowel 1 is i, vowel 2 u, vowel 3 e, vowel 4 o, and vowel 5 a. A vowel can be written individually and form a syllable on its own. In a vowel sequence or diphthong, however, a diacritic is used for the second vowel or part of the vowel. That is, lio (two syllables) is written li plus the diacritic for o, while mwa (one syllable) is written mu plus the diacritic for a. Diacritics come at the end of the last stroke of the vowel. While there is a diacritic for u, sequences ending in u are instead generally written as two full syllables, the second being wu. This strategy is apparently also employed in some other cases rather than using diacritics. Ü is . It has no diacritic. Consonants groups and families There are four basic consonant shapes. Each shape (base character) can be reflected horizontally, vertically, or both to represent a different consonant; the four consonants thus formed are considered to be a group, and consonants reflected in the same way are considered to be a family. These consonants are combined with vowels, which are similarly reflected, to create syllables. Family 1 The consonant with the basic orientation is attached to the lower left of the vowel Family 2 The consonant-plus-vowel is reflected both horizontally and vertically (rotated 180°) Family 3 The consonant-plus-vowel is reflected horizontally Family 4 The consonant-plus-vowel is reflected vertically Vowel diacritics are reflected along with the main vowel. The use of geometric transformation is also present in Pitman shorthand and Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics, though Mandombe consonants in the same group do not seem to have any phonological relationship (except the fifth group named mazita ma zindinga, in which all consonants are affricates and fricatives). Examples Complex characters Prenasalisation of consonants is indicated with a variation on (n) disconnected from the vowel. This always joins the consonant body, else certain signs could be read in more than one way. Nasalisation of the vowel is marked by an attached diacritic: . If is placed between the two separable parts of the vowel glyph, it represents an intervening /r/. Examples of complex syllables Tones Digits The digit for 1 resembles the Arabic numeral 1,