Appendix:Mi'kmaq pronunciation
The Mi'kmaq language is an Eastern Algonquian language spoken by nearly 11,000 Mi'kmaq in Canada and the United States out of a total ethnic Mi'kmaq population of roughly 20,000. Its phonemic inventory of Mi'kmaq is shown below. The language is written using various orthographies, examples of which are shown in the tables.
Mi'kmaq vowels
[edit]| IPA | Listuguj | Francis-Smith | Lexicon |
|---|---|---|---|
| /a/ | a | a | a |
| /aː/ | a' | a'/á | a: |
| /e/ | e | e | e |
| /eː/ | e' | e'/é | e: |
| ə | ɨ | ɨ | ɨ |
| /i/ | i | i | i |
| /iː/ | i' | i'/í | i: |
| /o/ | o | o | o |
| /oː/ | o' | o'/ó | o: |
| /u/ | u | u | u |
| /uː/ | u' | u'/ú | u: |
The vowel /ə/ also occurs after long consonants which precede other consonants, e.g. ennmit /en.nə.mit/, and before word-initial consonant clusters, e.g. gta'n /ək.taːn/.
Mi'kmaq consonants
[edit]| IPA | Listuguj | Francis-Smith | Lexicon |
|---|---|---|---|
| /j/ | y | y | y |
| /k/ | g | k | k |
| /kʷ/ | gw | kw | kw |
| /l/ | l | l | l |
| /m/ | m | m | m |
| /n/ | n | n | n |
| /p/ | p | p | p |
| /t/ | t | t | t |
| /t͡ʃ/ | j | j | j |
| /s/ | s | s | s |
| /x/ | q | q | q |
| /xʷ/ | qw | qw | qw |
| /w/ | w | w | w |
The consonants may also be long, written as double letters in the Listuguj orthography, e.g. gesigawweg /ke.si.kaw.wek/.
The Mi'kmaq obstruents /p, t, k, kʷ, t͡ʃ, s, x, xʷ/ are realised as voiceless word-initially or next to another obstruent: [p, t, k, kʷ, t͡ʃ, s, x, xʷ] and voiced between sonorants: [b, d, g, ɡʷ, d͡ʒ, z, ɣ, ɣʷ]. In addition, word-final plosives and the affricate may be aspirated as [pʰ, tʰ, kʰ, kʷʰ, tʃʰ]. Examples include:
| ti'am | /tiː.am/ | [tiːam] |
| Mi'kmaq | /miːk.max/ | [miːɡmax] |
| sqolj | /əs.xolt͡ʃ/ | [əsxolt͡ʃʰ] |