A Brief Look at Shaltakh

PRONOUNS

Shaltakh has only six pronouns, with no appropriate change for formal or informal speech, and dno difference between subjects or objects. Pronouns are as follows:

I: sho
You: het
He/she/it: sen
We: gasho
You all: gahet
They: gasen


VERBS

The language of the Shalt is formed in subject+verb+object word order (like English), but it only has four tenses: one present, one past, one future, and one for direct commands. The infinitive form of the verb always ends in ERN. Verbs conjugate as follows (using the verb "to carry", akhern):

PRESENT
1st (I/we carry): akhe
2nd (you/you all carry): akha
3rd (he/she/it/they carry): akho

PAST:
1st (I/we carried): akhes
2nd (you/you all carried): akhas
3rd (he/she/it/they carried): akhos

FUTURE:
1st (I/we will carry): akher
2nd (you/you all will carry): akhera
3rd (he/she/it/they will carry): akhero


EMPHASIS

While Shaltakh is full of monosyllabic words, when there is more than one syllable, emphasis is to be placed according to the following rules:

When the word ends with a consonant, emphasize 2nd syllable
When the word ends with a vowel, emphasize 1st syllable


PRONUNCIATION

The letters of the Shaltakh alphabet are transliterated as follows:

Consonants
G
S
N
Z
Kh (as in Scottish "loch")
K
R (heavily rolled)
Q (as in "Qur'an")
H
Sh
Zh (as in "pleasure")
J
D
T
L

Vowels
e (eh)
o (oh)
a (flat as in "cat")
i (ih - short as in "fish")
ì (ee - long as in "tree")