Editing Mi'kmaq language (section)

==Writing system==
[[File:MiKmaqStopSign.jpg|thumb|left|180px|Miꞌkmaq-language stop sign in [[Elsipogtog First Nation]]]]
Miꞌkmaq is written using a number of [[Latin script|Latin alphabets]] based on ones devised by [[missionaries]] in the 19th century. Previously, the language was written in [[Miꞌkmaq hieroglyphic writing]], a script of partially native origin. The Francis-Smith orthography used here was developed in 1974 and was adopted as the official orthography of the [[Mi'kmaq Nation|Míkmaq Nation]] in 1980. It is the most widely used orthography and is that used by Nova Scotian Mikmaq and by the Míkmaq Grand Council. It is quite similar to the "Lexicon" orthography, differing from it only in its use of the straight [[apostrophe]] {{angle bracket|ꞌ}} or [[acute accent]] {{angle bracket|´}} instead of the [[Colon (punctuation)|colon]] {{angle bracket|:}} to mark vowel length.

When the Francis-Smith orthography was first developed, the straight apostrophe (often called a "tick") was the designated symbol for vowel length, but since software applications incorrectly autocorrected the tick to a [[curly apostrophe]], a secondary means of indicating vowel length was formally accepted, the acute accent. The barred-i {{angle bracket|ɨ}} for schwa is sometimes replaced by the more common circumflex-i {{angle bracket|î}}.

In Listuguj orthography, an apostrophe marks long vowels as well as schwa, and the letter {{angle bracket|g}} is used instead of the letter {{angle bracket|k}}.

The 19th-century Pacifique orthography omits {{angle bracket|w}} and {{angle bracket|y}}, using {{angle bracket|o}} and {{angle bracket|i}} for these. It also ignores vowel length. The 19th-century orthography of [[Silas Tertius Rand]], using characters from [[Isaac Pitman]]'s [[English Phonotypic Alphabet|Phonotypic Alphabet]], is also given in the table below; this orthography is more complex than the table suggests, particularly as far as vowel quantity and quality is concerned, employing various letters such as &lang;<span style="display:inline-block;top:0.5em;transform:matrix(-1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0);">a</span>&rang; (backwards {{angle bracket|a}}), &lang;<span style="display:inline-block;top:0.5em;transform:matrix(-1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0);">à</span>&rang; (backwards {{angle bracket|a}} with acute accent), {{angle bracket|ɛ}}, {{angle bracket|ɛ́}}, {{angle bracket|ɯ}}, {{angle bracket|ɯ́}}, {{angle bracket|ɹ̇}}, {{angle bracket|ɹ́}}, {{angle bracket|ơ}}, &lang;<span style="display:inline-block;top:0.5em;transform:matrix(-1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0);">u</span>&rang; (backwards {{angle bracket|u}}), etc.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Miꞌkmaq orthographies
|-
! align="center"|'''IPA'''
! align="center"|{{IPA|a}}
! align="center"|{{IPA|aː}}
! align="center"|{{IPA|e}}
! align="center"|{{IPA|eː}}
! align="center"|{{IPA|i}}
! align="center"|{{IPA|iː}}
! align="center"|{{IPA|ə}}
! align="center"|{{IPA|tʃ}}
! align="center"|{{IPA|k}}
! align="center"|{{IPA|l}}
! align="center"|{{IPA|m}}
! align="center"|{{IPA|n}}
! align="center"|{{IPA|o}}
! align="center"|{{IPA|oː}}
! align="center"|{{IPA|p}}
! align="center"|{{IPA|x}}
! align="center"|{{IPA|s}}
! align="center"|{{IPA|t}}
! align="center"|{{IPA|u}}
! align="center"|{{IPA|uː}}
! align="center"|{{IPA|w}}
! align="center"|{{IPA|j}}
|-
! '''Francis-Smith'''
| align="center"|a
| align="center"|aꞌ/á
| align="center"|e
| align="center"|eꞌ/é
| align="center"|i
| align="center"|iꞌ/í
| align="center"|ɨ
| align="center"|j
| align="center"|k
| align="center"|l
| align="center"|m
| align="center"|n
| align="center"|o
| align="center"|oꞌ/ó
| align="center"|p
| align="center"|q
| align="center"|s
| align="center"|t
| align="center"|u
| align="center"|uꞌ/ú
| align="center"|w
| align="center"|y
|-
! '''Listuguj'''
| align="center"|a
| align="center"|aꞌ
| align="center"|e
| align="center"|eꞌ
| align="center"|i
| align="center"|iꞌ
| align="center"|ꞌ
| align="center"|j
| align="center"|g
| align="center"|l
| align="center"|m
| align="center"|n
| align="center"|o
| align="center"|oꞌ
| align="center"|p
| align="center"|q
| align="center"|s
| align="center"|t
| align="center"|u
| align="center"|uꞌ
| align="center"|w
| align="center"|y
|-
! '''Lexicon'''
| align="center"|a
| align="center"|a:
| align="center"|e
| align="center"|e:
| align="center"|i
| align="center"|i:
| align="center"|ɨ
| align="center"|j
| align="center"|k
| align="center"|l
| align="center"|m
| align="center"|n
| align="center"|o
| align="center"|o:
| align="center"|p
| align="center"|q
| align="center"|s
| align="center"|t
| align="center"|u
| align="center"|u:
| align="center"|w
| align="center"|y
|-
! '''Pacifique'''
| colspan=2 align="center"|a
| colspan=2 align="center"|e
| colspan=2 align="center"|i
| align="center"|
| align="center"|tj
| align="center"|g
| align="center"|l
| align="center"|m
| align="center"|n
| colspan=2 align="center"|ô
| align="center"|p
| align="center"|
| align="center"|s
| align="center"|t
| colspan=3 align="center"|o
| align="center"|i
|-
! '''Rand'''
| align="center"|ă
| align="center"|a â
| align="center"|ĕ
| align="center"|ā
| align="center"|ĭ
| align="center"|e
| align="center"|ŭ
| align="center"|dj tc̡
| align="center"|g k
| align="center"|l
| align="center"|m
| align="center"|n
| align="center"|ŏ
| align="center"|o ō
| align="center"|b p
| align="center"|h
| align="center"|s
| align="center"|d t
| align="center"|ŏ
| align="center"|oo u
| align="center"|w
| align="center"|y
|}
<!--
==Grammar==

{{Expand-section|date=June 2008}}-->