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.
| 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/.
| 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: and voiced between sonorants: . In addition, word-final plosives and the affricate may be aspirated as . Examples include:
| ti'am | /tiː.am/ | |
| Mi'kmaq | /miːk.max/ | |
| sqolj | /əs.xolt͡ʃ/ |