Salthan Language made easy

Chapter 1 - Introduction

Pronouncing the Sounds

Salthan language is composed of one beat sylable sounds consisting of a constanent and a vowel each. This makes reading saltha very easy once you know what

the symbols represent. Most of the sounds are very much like in english. There are 18 constanents and 5 vowels in the Salthan alphabet.

A	'ah' as in grandma.	O	oh as in mow
E	'eh' as in coal.	U	'oo' as in pool
I	'eh' as in coal.	Y	like english word 'eye'
g	soft g like gin or j in jam

Note: Because of the inflexibility of their lips, salthans find it hard to pronounce W or M. M is typically replaced by N. W is somewhat more inolved. The "Wa" sound that it makes, like the U in the word "Quite" is usualy replaced by a oo sound, so "Quite" might be pronounced "ku-yt" . In the case of W at the beginning of a word it is left silent or sometimes replaced by a blowing sound the is quite similar to F. For example pronouncing the english word "water" as "fauter". or "ater" is very common.

When there are two constanents together there is a extra short "ah" sound between the vowels, making them seperate sylables. For example. the word gIIkakel "There was a rock long ago." would be pronounced gi-ia-ka-kel (4 sylables)

The Clicks

There are two charecters have no equivalent to the English language, these are two kinds of clicks.The "Ñ" click is made by rolling the tongue behind the upper teach and pulling back quickly. (The "Ç" click sound is made by putting your tongue behind your lower teeth (flat against the bottom of your mouth) and pulling back. These click sounds can be tricky, but is not too difficult to learn.

The inflective language

Salthan is a higly inflective language, meaning the words are mostly made up of a base and prefixs and affixes to modify the word.

Prefixes

Kal-	Past Tense	Gil-	Over
Ne-	Future Tense	U-	Lesser/Smaller
I-	Present Tense	Ur-	Under
ç-	Complete.	El-	Belonging to
Gi-	Greater/Bigger	-s	verb affix
Gir-	Over	Da-	Noun doing something
U-	Lesser/Smaller	Chi-	Noun that is the subject of action
Ul-	Under	-a	masculine
El-	Belongs to	-i	feminine
Ky-	Name prefix, Son or Daughter of

Tneses are very important, because it can not only denbote time, but a specific space (current tense of a place is "here" for example)

Types of Words

Verbs always have the affix -s

Construction Words

Constructing words with prefixes and affixes can be a little confusing.

Generaly tense goes first. Modifying prefixes goes directly before the thing it is modifying. Example: Ikakel "There was a rock" Igikakel "There was a big rock" gIIgIkakel "There was a big rock long ago." Words can be quite descriptive and long. Example: gIIgIdagitesginys which can be translated as "Long ago, There were many big people who gave much."

Grammer

There is no specific order to verb phases. who does what to whom is shown by prefixes. The "da" prefix denotes the one doing the action, and "chi" the object being done to. So "Dakon Neños chiesktha " would mean "Kon ate (the) fish". But "Chiesktha dakon Neños " or "Chiesktha neños dakon" would also mean the same.

Terms of scale, like like/dislike and big/small are contextual based on everything listed. If nothing listed, then it is more simply stated.

Esil gioken hika uokel lade (I like beer more than wine)

Esil Uoken hika (I dislike beer)

Giserg Daesil Userg Chisana (I am bigger than him)

Gigiserg Daesil Userg Chisana (I am much bigger than him)

userg Esil (I am small)

Noun Forms

	Query	This/That	Some	No	All
Person	Kisan (Who?)	Sana(He) Sani (She)	Sany (Someone)	ñasan (Noone)	SanÇy (Everyone)
Thing	Kiteha (What?)	Teha (This or That)	Tehany (Something)	ñateha (Nothing)	TehanÇy (Everything)
Place	Kirathe (Where?)	Rathe (Here or There)	Ratheny (somewhere)	ñaRathe (Nowhere)	RatheÇny (Everywhere)
Time	KiKaine (When?)	Kaine (At the time)	Kaineny (Sometime)	ñakaine (Never)	kaireÇany (Always)
Reason	Kigak (Why?)	Gak (Because)	Gakany (Some reason)	ñakan (No Reason)	GakaÇany

Chapter 2 - Travel

Asking a question

You are most likely going to be asked questions when arived, from customs to a friendly asking of "how are you?" Questions are always started with the prefix ki-.

Kigak Irathe Chitosa?	Why are you here?
Daesil irathe Chikas	I am here to study
Daesil irathe Chibasanaks	I am here to work
Kirathe Tos?	Where are you from?
Kikiane Tos KaÑa Irathe	When did you come here?
Kigikaine Tos nekaÑa	How long do you plan to stay?

Chapter 3 - Time and Days

Gigikilreina	Some time in the very distant past (years)
Gikilreina	Some time in the more distant past (months)
Kilreina	Some time in the near past (Days or weeks)
Kilshireina	Day before yesterday
Kildareina	Yesterday
IReina	Today
Nedareina	Tomarrow
Nesjireina	Day after Tomarrow
Nereina	Some time in the near future (Days or weeks)
Ginereina	Some time in the more distant future (months)
giginereina	Some time in the very distant future (years)

Other days can be expressed by replacing "da" in kildareina and Nedareina with the appropriate number, so kilashireina is the day before yesterday, neshireina is the day afer tomarrow and so on.

Chapter 4 - Meeting People

Bika, Ehs	Hello, Friend NOTE: To just use "Bika" is basicly a way of saying "I don''t like you,."
Daelesil Smith	I am Mr. Smith
DaGiasa Giasa ChiKiras	This is Mr. Kiras
Sal Chira ChiTos	Good to meet you.
Kiketes Elnesak ChiTos	May I know your name?
Kisal ChiTos?	How are you?
Esil sal, eltas tosa	I'm good, thank you.
li kitos?	And you?
Ñeatka, Eltas Tosa.	Not bad, thank you
Ñeatka Ñesal	So-So. (LIteraly "not good not bad")
Gikaine Keolynas chitosa	It's been a long time since I saw you
Inelail datos	Peace with you tomarrow and the next day

Shopping

Kiten Ten	What is that?
	How much does that cost?

Glossary A - Expressions

Expression	Explination	Examplr
To Trip over a Kes	One who has Bad sight, or is unobservant or clumsy. A kes is a large animal.	That boy is so distracted, he'll trip over s Kes.
Cleaning a mudball	To be making a show of piety or repentance.	he wants everyone to see him cleaning a mudball.
Spitting in the desert	To do something useless and futile.	Trying to stop a angry Kes is like spitting in the desert.
To have one's tail over their head	To be recently severly whipped, Humbled or humiliated. (One wouuldn't want their tail to touch their sore bottom)..	She was caught stealing, and now wears her tial on her head.
To be or feel like a dry well	To be or feel useless.	With her arm broken, she felt like a dry well.