Consonants
Basic short series
| bilabial | labio-dental | alveolar | postalveolar | palatal | velar | glottal |
stop | pʰ, p | | tʰ, t | | | kʰ, k | |
tap | | | ɾ | | | | |
fricative | | f, v | s | ʃ | ç | x, ɣ | h |
nasal | m | | n | | | | |
approximant | | | | | j | | |
lateral approximant | | | l | | | | |
Short palatalised series
| bilabial | labio-dental | dental | alveolar | velar |
stop | pʰʲ, pʲ | | | tʰʲ, tʲ | kʰʲ, kʲ |
fricative | | fʲ | ðʲ | | ɣʲ |
nasal | | | | nʲ | |
lateral approximant | | | | lʲ | |
Short velarised series
| alveolar |
tap | ɾˠ |
nasal | nˠ |
lateral approximant | lˠ |
Vowels
Basic short series
| front | central | back |
close | i | | u, ɯ |
close-mid | e | | o, ɤ |
open-mid | ɛ | | ɔ |
open | | a | |
Long series
| front | central | back |
close | iː | | uː, ɯː |
close-mid | eː | | oː, ɤː |
open-mid | ɛː | | ɔː |
open | | aː | |
Short nasalised series
| front | central | back |
close | | | ũ |
near-close | ɪ̃ | | |
open-mid | ɛ̃ | | ɔ̃ |
open | | ã | |
Long nasalised series
| front | central | back |
close | | | ũː, ɯ̃ː |
near-close | ɪ̃ː | | |
open-mid | ɛ̃ː | | ɔ̃ː |
open | | ãː | |
Diphthongs
/ai/, /ɛi/, /ei/, /ui/, /ɤi/, /au/, /ɔu/, /iə/, /ia/, /iɛ/, /uə/, /ua/, /uɛ/, /ii/, /u̠u/, /ɛ̃ũ/, /ẽɪ̃/, /ãũ/, /ũã/, /ɪ̃ə̃/
Source: Ladefoged, Peter et al. 1998. Phonetic Structures of Scottish Gaelic. Journal of the International Phonetic Association 28: 1-41.