The Classical Slith language, like Greek and to some extent Latin, is awash with words that defied an easy characterization, together classed as "particles." These words function somewhat as conjunctions, somewhat as adverbs, and sometimes even rather as adjectives: they connect ideas, serve grammatical functions, and stress or modify sense in the clause or sentence.
More specifically, they serve essentially three functions. First, the connectives link clauses, phrases, or words and indicate their relationship, much like conjunctions, although they often have adverbial senses as well. Second, the clause classifiers mark the type of clause (contrary-to-fact, general, etc.). Third, the word modifiers place emphasis or shade the meaning of individual words in the sentence, and they differ from adjectives and adverbs in their generality: they can modify any part of speech, whereas adjectives can only apply to nouns and pronouns, and adverbs only to verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.
The connectives very nearly always come first in the clause, except in the highest poetry: hessas, mīn pefeiresit means You speak, but you will be destroyed. Clause classifiers come early in the clause, sometimes first and sometimes not. Word modifiers tend to follow the word they describe: hessas thō ge means You, at least, speak (the ge modifies the thō).
Almost all connectives have long and short forms. The long forms are used to emphasize the exact relationship being expressed. The short forms, which are almost always more common, can also be used with short vowels.
The particle āleth is a very strong contrastative. It is used when two ideas are quite distinct and virtually contradictory: Hōrath nū, aleth pefeireth means She kisses you now, but she will destroy you. The short form is āl.
The particle keten is a strong contrastative, less than aleth. It is used when two ideas are different but not joltingly contrary: Hessam nū, keten nākh hessītham means I speak now, but I have not spoken before. The short form is kēn.
The particle meshin is a weak contrastative. It is used when two ideas differ in details but are not truly opposed: Bainom, meshin dēghot ithkhos means I walked, but you came on a dragon. The short form is mīn.
The particle de (which lacks a long form) is a very weak contrastative. It is the mildest of the particles, indicating simply that a new idea is coming: Bainom mōrāni, de thōthi hessom means I walked on the mountain, and I spoke to you.
The particle kotan is a copulative conjunction. It is used when two ideas agree mildly: Rhegathoss hessath kotan dōkhath means The king speaks and leads. The short form is kōt.
The particle ritan denotes strong agreement. It is used when two ideas are almost re-statements of each other: Rhegathoss bitam, ritan dōkham means I am king, and accordingly I lead. The short form is rīt.
The particle stagam is a causal conjunction. It is used to indicate that the following idea explains the preceding: Dōkham, stagam rhegathoss bitam means I lead, for I am king. The short form is stām.
The particle ghitorh is an inferential conjunction. It is used to indicate that the following idea is the logical consequence of the preceding: Rhegathoss bitam, ghitorh dōkham means I am king, so I lead. The short form is ghōrh.
The particle kapith is a concessive conjunction. It is used to indicate its clause is in contrast to the main point of the sentence. It normally functions as a subordinating conjunction, making its use very near the English although: Kapith rhegathoss nākh bitam, dōkham means Although I am not king, I lead. The short form is kaith.
The particle velor is a disjunctive. It is used to indicate that one thing is the case or another other is or possibly both: Mōm pefeires velor khthōres means You will destroy or kill me (or both). The short form is vēl.
The particle danor is a disjunctive. It is used to indicate that one thing is the case or another other is, but not both: Ferhektet danor fālaktet rōm khthōrem means With a sword or a spear (but not both) I will kill him. The short form is nār.
The particle gatho is a contrastative. It is used to indicate that a contrast is continuing, whether introduced by aleth, aghen, meshin, de (infrequently), or even kapith: Hessam nū, aghen nākh hessītham, gatho nākh dōkham means I speak now, but I have not spoken before, and I do not even lead. The short form is gā.
The particle ita is frequently a positive response, "yes." Shē hessam? Ita means Do I speak? Yes. It can also be an inferential, used to indicate that its clause logically follows from the preceding statements. In this use, it typically functions like a word modifier: Rhegathoss bitam, rit mō ita dōkham means I am the king, and I am therefore the one who leads. The short form is tā.
The particle nākh is often negative response, "no." Shē hessam? Nākh means Do I speak? No. It can also simply negate: Nākh hessam means I do not speak. The short form is simply nakh.
The particle shē marks a question, frequently equivalent to English's sentence-initial form of the verb to do: Shē hessam? means Do I speak?. It is used whenever a question would not otherwise begin with a question word, such as khō, the interrogative pronoun. Like all question words, it tends to come first or sometimes second.
The particle nārh marks a negative question expecting a positive response: Nārh hessam? means Don't I speak?. It has its own pair of yes and no words: Nita means Yes, you do speak, and Ninakh means No, you don't speak. Like all question words, it tends to come first or sometimes second.
The particle nāsh marks a negative question expecting a negative response: Nāsh hessam? means I don't speak, do I?. As above, it has its own pair of yes and no words: Nita means Yes, you do speak, and Ninakh means No, you don't speak. Like all question words, it tends to come first or sometimes second.
The particle kān marks a generalization: Ithkhatathōthi rōthi kān kairatometh hessathoi means Whenever he came, we were happy to speak to him (literally, "To him coming, whenever, we made ourselves happy speaking").
There is a slight meaning difference if the oblique moods are used: in the indicative, he definitely came, and every single time, they were happy to see him, but Ithkhatathōthi rōthi kān kairatōmeth hessathoi (in the subjunctive) means Whenever he came (if he did), we were happy to speak to him, making no claim either way about whether he actually came or not: Ithkhatathōthi rōthi kān kairatoimeth hessathoi (in the optative) means Whenever he came (although I don't think that he did), we were happy to speak to him, indicating that he probably didn't actually come. The difference in meaning is subtle.
The particle tends to stand as the second unit in the sentence (after the subject, a participial phrase, a preposition, or the like), with the main verb coming not too long after, although it can wander about the sentence quite a bit.
The particle sōr marks a contrary-to-fact protasis (if-clause) or a participle standing in for a protasis: Hessakhaithōs sōr mō kei khthōroigh means Had I been the one speaking, I would have been killed. The particle tends to come early in the sentence, though not first, and tends to be near the verb (dragging the verb earlier if necessary).
The particle kei marks a contrary-to-fact apodosis (then-clause) or a participle standing in for a apodosis: Hessakhaithōs sōr mō kei khthōroigh means Had I been the one speaking, I would have been killed. The particle tends to come early in the sentence, though not first, and tends to be near the verb (dragging the verb earlier if necessary).
The particle ge limits the application or breadth of a word or statement: Mō ge kairamin means I, at least, am happy (even if no one else is). It tends to come right after the word that it is limiting, so Kairamin ge means I am happy, at least (even if I am nothing else).
The particle tō (sometimes to) conveys preciseness and definiteness: Thōm tō khthōrem means I will kill you, for sure. It tends to come right after the word that it is marking, so Thōm khthōrem tō means I will kill you, for sure.
The particle sikoi is an asseverative. It is used when the speaker wants to express utter certainty in the statement being made, often a personal conviction, but sometimes more general than that: Bitath kālōs sikoi means He is noble, indeed. It typically gravitates towards the most important word in the sentence. The short form is koi.
The particle toi is an asseverative. It is used to express the obvious or inherent truth of the statement, or sometimes more generally just the certainty of the statement: Bitath kālōs toi means He is noble, plainly. It typically gravitates towards the most important word in the sentence.
| Particle | Short form (if existing) | Meaning |
| Aleth | Āl | But (strong) |
| Keten | Kēn | But |
| Meshin | Mīn | But |
| De | * | But/and |
| Kotan | Kōt | And |
| Ritan | Rīt | And (strong) |
| Stagam | Stām | For/because |
| Ghitorh | Ghōrh | So/thus/therefore |
| Kapith | Kaith | Although |
| Velor | Vēl | Or (inclusive) |
| Danor | Nār | Or (exclusive) |
| Gatho | Gā | And (contrast) |
| Ita | Tā | Yes/thus |
| Nākh | Nakh | No/not |
| Shē | * | Do/does/did (question) |
| Nārh | * | Don't (question, positive) |
| Nāsh | * | Don't (question, negative) |
| Kān | * | (Generalization) |
| Sōr | * | (Contrary-to-fact protasis) |
| Kei | * | (Contrary-to-fact apodosis) |
| Ge | * | (Limiting) |
| Tō | To | (Exactness) |
| Sikoi | Koi | (Personal certainty) |
| Toi | * | (Obvious truth) |