Salem doesn’t talk?!

Salem talks like the droids in Star Wars. The audience can't understand, but Sabrina does. I think the familiars are only supposed to be heard by their own witches. In a couple of instances he was able to communicate with other members of the family but doesn't make a habit of it.

how are cats supposed to talk
miew miew miew

According to imdb trivia Kiernan Shipka is allergic to cats so they downplayed him on the show for less interaction. It looks they gave a lot of his backstory to Ambrose. At one point Salem was going to be a dog. I am glad they didn't go that route.

They should definitely do an episode where he talks and he's hilarious like on the sitcom. That would be some good character development for a cat.

I think it was a smart choice. By having him not talk, and being able to shapeshift into some kind of ghoul to protect her, the show further distinguishes itself from the previous one and invites less direct comparison.

You never know... we could see him chatting it up in the future.

Nonetheless, I say not having him talk in this incarnation was for the best.