kemharSekharu

makenhotep di'anwelcome! Sekh-net is an enSekharu site, but since the internet is so vast, there's a decent chance you're a foreigner. if so, you might be wondering how to read some of the words on this site. they're written in our native language, kemharSekharu (khS for short)! this page serves as a quick guide to understanding khS — although if you really want to learn it, you should come visit!

letters from the International Phonetic Alphabet are used throughout this page to illustrate khS's pronunciation. the IPA site just linked has more information on how the letters are pronounced.

pronunciation

standard khS has seven vowel sounds:

• /ɑ/, written with the letter "a". it's the "ah" sound in "cot".
• /i/, written with the letter "i". it's the "ee" sound in "teen".
• /u/, written with the letter "u". it's the "oo" sound in "cool".
• /ɛ/, written with the letter "e". it's the "eh" sound in "check".
• /o/, written with the letter "o". it's the "oh" sound in "bold".
• /eɪ/, written with the letters "ei". it's the "ey" sound in "chase".
• /ʊ/, which is not written (put a pin in that). it's the "uh" sound in "push".

standard khS has 22 consonants:

• /m/, /b/, /p/, /w/, /f/, /v/, /n/, /t/, /d/, /s/, /k/, /g/, and /h/. these letters are pronounced the same as they would be in English.
• /θ/, written with the letters "th". it's the unvoiced "th" sound in "thin".
• /ɾ/, written with the letter "r". it's the "r" sound in Spanish "pero".
• /ʃ/, written with the letters "sh". it's the "sh" sound in "shush".
• /ʒ/, written with the letters "dj". it's the "zh" sound in "vision".
• /j/, written with the letter "y". it's the "y" sound in "yes".
• /q/, written with the letter "q". it's the uvular "quh" sound in Modern Standard Arabic "qiṭṭ".
• /χ/, written with the letters "kh". it's the uvular "kh" sound in Arabic "Khalil".
• /ħ/, written with the letter "ħ". it's an "h"-like sound but produced higher up, like in Egyptian Arabic "hob".
• /ʔ/, written with a single apostrophe (') symbol. it's a glottal stop, like the pause in "uh-oh".

you might've noticed some overlap with Arabic's sounds. this is because khS and Arabic are both Afro-Asiatic languages, as khS is descended from Ancient Egyptian. if you speak Arabic or any similar Afro-Asiatic languages, you should have no problem pronouncing khS sounds.

when khS is spoken aloud, stress usually goes on the second syllable. for three-plus syllable words, where the stress is placed depends on how the word is formed (khS has a lot of affixes and portmanteaus).

spelling

the djuharSekharukhS's alphabet (dhS) has 28 letters: a, b, ch, d, dj, e, f, g, h, ħ, i, j, k, kh, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, sh, t, th, u, v, w, and y. its spelling is very straightforward, but there is one major quirk: the /ʊ/ sound is never written. thankfully, it only appears in certain situations. words with an "rs", "ts", "rsh", or "tsh" have a hidden /ʊ/ between the consonants. for example, the "rso" in "rso'akheipat" is pronounced "ruhso".

capitalization

romanized khS has some unique capitalization rules to reflect how dhS doesn't have upper- or lowercase letters.

• the first letter in a sentence is not capitalized unless it's a proper noun. proper nouns are capitalized even if they're in the middle of a portmanteau (e.g. the "S" in kemharSekharu).
• the pronoun "i" is not capitalized.
• acronyms may be capitalized. abbreviations are lowercase, but if they're short for words with a capital letter in the middle of them that letter should stay capitalized (e.g. the capital "S" in "dhS").
• honorific adjectives like Duwa'e (compare "sama" in Japanese or "xiansheng" in Mandarin) are always capitalized.

glossary

if we defined every khS word used on Sekh-net we'd be here all day, but we did take the time to list some common words used throughout the site.

1. arsvek (adjective): possessing the characteristics of a garden
2. di'an (pronoun): here
3. djen (pronoun): who
4. djuharSekharu (noun): the khS alphabet
5. en- (prefix): affixed to personal names, location names, and demonyms to indicate that they are from or are an inhabitant of a location
6. Feset (noun): first month of the Agirasib (enSekharu calendar)
7. geija (interjection): apology used when you know something isn't your fault, but you want to apologize anyway to show sympathy
8. iri (verb): to make
9. khajaħu (noun): diary
10. makenhotep (verb): to feel at peace
11. nawe (adjective): mellow
12. nini (interjection): hello
13. renip (noun): year
14. rso'akheipat (noun): news station
15. su'invib (noun): a place where haunting occurs
16. u'atsakikh (noun): bay
17. un- (prefix): of, belonging to
18. upata (noun): first day of the month
19. yek- (prefix): affixed to nouns indicate that an action or event took place in the past