Mi'kmaq language/Phonology
The Mi'kmaq language's phonology consists of 6 short vowels and 5 long vowels as well as 11 consonants. In Mi'kmaq, each letter represents a sound.
The tables below show the Mi'kmaq characters in Francis-Smith and Listuguj orthographies (see Chapter 3 for more details) and their pronunciation using the symbols from the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).
Vowels
editFrancis-Smith | Listuguj | IPA |
---|---|---|
a | a | ɑ |
a' | a' | ɑː |
e | e | e |
e' | e' | eː |
i | i | i |
i' | i' | iː |
ɨ | ' | ə |
o | o | o |
o' | o' | oː |
u | u | u |
u' | u' | uː |
Diphthongs
editFrancis-Smith | Listuguj | IPA |
---|---|---|
aw | aw | au |
ay | ay | aj |
ew | ew | eu |
ey | ey | ej |
iw | iw | iu |
Consonants
editFrancis-Smith | Listuguj | IPA |
---|---|---|
j | j | tʃ or dʒ |
k | g | k or g |
kw | gw | kw or kʷ |
l | l | l |
m | m | m |
n | n | n |
p | p | p or b |
q | q | x or ɣ |
qw | qw | xw or xʷ |
s | s | s or z |
t | t | t or d |
w | w | w |
y | y | j |
When consonants are doubled, they must be pronounced with double length, as if there were a word break between the two consonants. Also note that in Mi'kmaq, the consonants l, m and n can also form syllabic peaks like vowels. As such, words don't need to have a vowel, as it is the case with "kmtm" (or "gmtm" depending on the orthography) meaning "mountain" for example.