Southern Quechua
Encyclopedia
Southern Quechua or only Quechua, is the most widely spoken of the major regional groupings of mutually intelligible
dialect
s within the Quechua language family, with about 5 million speakers. The term 'Southern Quechua' refers to the forms of Quechua
spoken in regions of the Andes
south of a line roughly east-west between the cities of Huancayo
and Huancavelica
in central Peru
. It includes the Quechua varieties spoken in the regions of Ayacucho
, Cuzco and Puno
in Peru, in much of Bolivia
and parts of north-west Argentina
.
In the traditional classification of the Quechua language family by Alfredo Torero
, Southern Quechua is equivalent to Torero's 'Quechua IIc' (or just 'QIIc'). It thus stands in contrast to its many sister varieties within the wider Quechua family that are spoken in areas north of the Huancayo-Huancavelica line: Central Quechua (Torero's QI) spoken from Huancayo northwards to Ancash; North Peruvian Quechua around Cajamarca
and Inkawasi (Torero's IIa, but whose classification is problematic); and Ecuador Quechua (locally known as 'Quichua', part of Torero's Quechua IIb).
The Peruvian linguist Rodolfo Cerrón-Palomino has devised a standard orthography
intended to be viable for all the different regional forms of Quechua that fall under the umbrella term Southern Quechua. This orthography is a compromise of conservative features in the pronunciations of the various regions that speak forms of Southern Quechua. It has been accepted by many institutions in Peru and Bolivia, and is also used on Wikipedia Quechua pages, and by Microsoft in its translations of software into Quechua.
Some examples of regional spellings verses the standard orthography:
In Bolivia, the same standard is used, except for "j", which is used instead of "h" for the sound [h] (like in Spanish
).
The following letters are used for the inherited Quechua vocabulary and for loanword
s from Aymara
:
a, ch, chh, ch', h, i, k, kh, k', l, ll, m, n, ñ, p, ph, p', q, qh, q', r, s, t, th, t', u, w, y.
Instead of "sh" (appearing in the northern and central Quechua varieties), "s" is used.
Instead of "ĉ" (appearing in the Quechua varieties of Junín, Cajamarca, and Lambayeque), "ch" is used.
The following letters are used in loanwords from Spanish and other languages (not from Aymara):
b, d, e, f, g, o.
The letters e and o are not used for native Quechua words, because the corresponding sounds are simply allophone
s of i and u that appear predictably next to q, qh, and q'. This rule applies to the official Quechua orthography for all varieties in general. Thus the spellings and are pronounced [qo] and [qe].
These letters appear only in proper names or words adopted directly from Spanish:
c, v, x, z;
j (in Peru; in Bolivia, it is used instead of h).
Mutual intelligibility
In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is recognized as a relationship between languages or dialects in which speakers of different but related languages can readily understand each other without intentional study or extraordinary effort...
dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
s within the Quechua language family, with about 5 million speakers. The term 'Southern Quechua' refers to the forms of Quechua
Quechua languages
Quechua is a Native South American language family and dialect cluster spoken primarily in the Andes of South America, derived from an original common ancestor language, Proto-Quechua. It is the most widely spoken language family of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a total of probably...
spoken in regions of the Andes
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
south of a line roughly east-west between the cities of Huancayo
Huancayo
Huancayo with a rock') is the capital of the Junín Region, in the central highlands of Peru. It is located in Junín Province, of which it is also capital. Situated near the Mantaro Valley at an altitude of 3,271 meters, it has a population of 377,000 and is the fifth most populous city of the...
and Huancavelica
Huancavelica
Huancavelica is a city in Peru. It is the capital of the Huancavelica region and has a population of approximately 40,000. Indigenous peoples represent a major percentage of the population. It has an approximate altitude of 3,600 meters; the climate is cold and dry between the months of February...
in central Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
. It includes the Quechua varieties spoken in the regions of Ayacucho
Ayacucho
Ayacucho is the capital city of Huamanga Province, Ayacucho Region, Peru.Ayacucho is famous for its 33 churches, which represent one for each year of Jesus's life. Ayacucho has large religious celebrations, especially during the Holy Week of Easter...
, Cuzco and Puno
Puno
Puno is a city in southeastern Peru, located on the shore of Lake Titicaca. It is the capital city of the Puno Region and the Puno Province with a population of approximately 100,000. The city was established in 1668 by viceroy Pedro Antonio Fernández de Castro as capital of the province of...
in Peru, in much of Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
and parts of north-west Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
.
In the traditional classification of the Quechua language family by Alfredo Torero
Alfredo Torero
Alfredo Augusto Torero Fernández de Córdova was a Peruvian anthropologist and linguist....
, Southern Quechua is equivalent to Torero's 'Quechua IIc' (or just 'QIIc'). It thus stands in contrast to its many sister varieties within the wider Quechua family that are spoken in areas north of the Huancayo-Huancavelica line: Central Quechua (Torero's QI) spoken from Huancayo northwards to Ancash; North Peruvian Quechua around Cajamarca
Cajamarca
Cajamarca may refer to:Colombia*Cajamarca, Tolima a town and municipality in Tolima DepartmentPeru* Cajamarca, city in Peru.* Cajamarca District, district in the Cajamarca province.* Cajamarca Province, province in the Cajamarca region....
and Inkawasi (Torero's IIa, but whose classification is problematic); and Ecuador Quechua (locally known as 'Quichua', part of Torero's Quechua IIb).
The Peruvian linguist Rodolfo Cerrón-Palomino has devised a standard orthography
Orthography
The orthography of a language specifies a standardized way of using a specific writing system to write the language. Where more than one writing system is used for a language, for example Kurdish, Uyghur, Serbian or Inuktitut, there can be more than one orthography...
intended to be viable for all the different regional forms of Quechua that fall under the umbrella term Southern Quechua. This orthography is a compromise of conservative features in the pronunciations of the various regions that speak forms of Southern Quechua. It has been accepted by many institutions in Peru and Bolivia, and is also used on Wikipedia Quechua pages, and by Microsoft in its translations of software into Quechua.
Some examples of regional spellings verses the standard orthography:
| Ayacucho | Cuzco | Southern Quechua | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| upyay | uhay | upyay | "to drink" |
| utqa | usqha | utqha | "fast" |
| llamkay | llank'ay | llamk'ay | "to work" |
| ñuqanchik | nuqanchis | ñuqanchik | "we (inclusive)" |
| -chka- | -sha- | -chka- | (progressive suffix) |
| punchaw | p'unchay | p'unchaw | "day" |
In Bolivia, the same standard is used, except for "j", which is used instead of "h" for the sound [h] (like in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
).
The following letters are used for the inherited Quechua vocabulary and for loanword
Loanword
A loanword is a word borrowed from a donor language and incorporated into a recipient language. By contrast, a calque or loan translation is a related concept where the meaning or idiom is borrowed rather than the lexical item itself. The word loanword is itself a calque of the German Lehnwort,...
s from Aymara
Aymara language
Aymara is an Aymaran language spoken by the Aymara people of the Andes. It is one of only a handful of Native American languages with over three million speakers. Aymara, along with Quechua and Spanish, is an official language of Peru and Bolivia...
:
a, ch, chh, ch', h, i, k, kh, k', l, ll, m, n, ñ, p, ph, p', q, qh, q', r, s, t, th, t', u, w, y.
Instead of "sh" (appearing in the northern and central Quechua varieties), "s" is used.
Instead of "ĉ" (appearing in the Quechua varieties of Junín, Cajamarca, and Lambayeque), "ch" is used.
The following letters are used in loanwords from Spanish and other languages (not from Aymara):
b, d, e, f, g, o.
The letters e and o are not used for native Quechua words, because the corresponding sounds are simply allophone
Allophone
In phonology, an allophone is one of a set of multiple possible spoken sounds used to pronounce a single phoneme. For example, and are allophones for the phoneme in the English language...
s of i and u that appear predictably next to q, qh, and q'. This rule applies to the official Quechua orthography for all varieties in general. Thus the spellings
These letters appear only in proper names or words adopted directly from Spanish:
c, v, x, z;
j (in Peru; in Bolivia, it is used instead of h).
External links
- Vocabulario de la lengva general de todo el Perv llamada lengva Qquichua o del Inca The Quechua language spoken by the Inca nobility in Cusco, 1608 Diego González HolguínDiego González HolguínDiego González Holguín was a Spanish Jesuit priest, researcher of the Quechua language during the times of the Viceroyalty of Peru....
- Iskay Simipi yuyayk'ancha Standarized Southern Quechua of Bolivia, 2007. The only difference in orthography is that Bolivians use a J instead of a H.
- Official Quechua Alphabet for Cusco
- Quechua Orthography
- Quechua Spelling and Pronunciation Explanation of some of the key issues in unified Southern Quechua spelling