Chapter 3 – Mi’kmaw Glides
Glides are consonant-consonant combinations that sound different when the letters are together. Imagine there are small and subtle vowels in each. Pay close attention to the videos to hear some examples. The glides are organized by the ending letter: L, M, or N. There are also some exceptions to these rules, which are discussed later in this chapter.
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Watch the Video: Level 1 Mi'kmaw: Video 03 - Glides - L and M Source: Video produced by Captive Expression for No'kmaq Village / Flat Bay Band, Inc., Jun 12, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neOOfjKCnC8 |
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What the Video: Level 1 Mi'kmaw: Video04 - N Glides & Exceptions Source: Video produced by Captive Expression for No'kmaq Village / Flat Bay Band, Inc., Jun 12, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YJgAUyYppE |
| L Glides | M Glides | N Glides |
|---|---|---|
| TƗL A'tlai Sounds like DIL |
TƗM Tmi'kn Sounds like DIM |
TƗN Kwitn Sounds like DIN |
| KƗL Nankl Sounsd like GUL |
KƗM Km'tn Sounds like GUM |
KƗN Kna'jij Sounds like GIN |
| SƗL Wkwisl Sounds like SIL |
SƗM Lisma'si Sounds like SIM |
SƗN Wju'sn Sounds like SIN |
| PƗL Witapl Sounds like BUL |
PƗM Pmkopites Sounds like PIM |
PƗN Wapna'ki Sounds like BIN |
| QƗL Wjiaql Sounds like HUL |
QƗM No'qm Sounds like HUM |
QƗN Ka'qn Sounds like HUN |
| JƗL Wujjl Sounds like JIL |
JƗM Nto'jm Sounds like JIM |
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| MƗL Mlakej Sounds like MUL |
MƗN Mn'tu Sounds like MIN |
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| NƗL Su'nl Sounds like NIL |
NƗM Ji'nm Sounds like NIM |
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| WƗL Wla Sounds like WUL |
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| LƗM Klmuej Sounds like LUM |
Exceptions to the Glide Rules
The following words are exceptions that fall outside of the regular rules for glides. Sometimes you will get a P, T, K, L, M, N, or W at the front of a word followed by another consonant. This letter combination will not form a glide. When this happens, the single consonant in front takes on a different sound, as if there was an invisible schwa before the consonant. Refer to Level 1, Video 4 to hear examples. You will also hear more in Level 2, Video 1, which deals with Ownership & Possessive nouns.
Today, you will hear many younger speakers drop the first letter entirely, but this is not correct and is often mentioned by Elders and fluent speakers.
| Kjikan Ktinin |
in the city/in town your body |
Ksin Ksinuk |
last winter next winter |
| Lmiey Lkwetuk |
I'm going home female cow |
Lketu Lpa'tuj |
mushroom boy |
| Ntaqo'qn Nsukwi' |
shame aunty |
Ntuksuinu Ns'tnaqn |
hunter orphan |
| Mkikn Msit |
fish hook all |
Msamu Mte'skm |
shad snake |
| Pkuman Pse'sis |
blueberries onion |
P'kaw Pjila'si |
clay welcome |
| Tkɨsn Tkuk |
west wavy waters |
Tknu Tqoq |
sweat last fall |
| Wjipnuk | east |
The glossary terms for the glides were recorded by Doris Googoo and inspired by the Mi'gmaq/Mi'kmaq Online Talking Dictionary which is is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license.
