Contents

Kichwa language

Quechuan language of Ecuador and Colombia

Kichwa
Kichwa Shimi, Runa Shimi
Native to	Ecuador, Colombia, Peru
Ethnicity	Quechua
Native speakers	450,000 (2008–2012)[1]
Language family	Quechuan Quechua II Northern Kichwa
Official status
Recognised minority language in	Ecuador
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Variously: inb – Inga inj – Jungle Inga qvo – Napo Lowland qup – Southern Pastaza qud – Calderón Highland qxr – Cañar Highland qug – Chimborazo Highland qvi – Imbabura Highland qvj – Loja Highland qvz – Northern Pastaza qxl – Salasaca Highland quw – Tena Lowland
Glottolog	colo1257
ELP	Lowland Ecuadorian Quichua Loja Quichua
Distribution of the Kichwa language.
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Kichwa (Kichwa shimi, Runashimi, also Spanish Quichua) is a Quechuan language that includes all Quechua varieties of Ecuador and Colombia (Inga), as well as extensions into Peru. It has an estimated half million speakers.

The most widely spoken dialects are Chimborazo, Imbabura and Cañar Highland Quechua, with most of the speakers. Kichwa belongs to the Northern Quechua group of Quechua II, according to linguist Alfredo Torero.

Overview[edit]

Kichwa syntax has undergone some grammatical simplification compared to Southern Quechua, perhaps because of partial creolization with the pre-Inca languages of Ecuador.

A standardized language, with a unified orthography (Kichwa Unificado, Shukyachiska Kichwa), has been developed. It is similar to Chimborazo but lacks some of the phonological peculiarities of that dialect.

The earliest grammatical description of Kichwa was written in the 17th century by Jesuit priest Hernando de Alcocer.^[2]

First efforts for language standardization and bilingual education[edit]

According to linguist Arturo Muyulema, the first steps to teach Kichwa in public schools dates to the 1940s, when Dolores Cacuango founded several indigenous schools in Cayambe. Later, indigenous organizations initiated self-governed schools to provide education in Kichwa in the 1970s and 1980s (Muyulema 2011:234).

Muyulema says that the creation of literary works such as Caimi Ñucanchic Shimuyu-Panca, Ñucanchic Llactapac Shimi, Ñucanchic Causaimanta Yachaicuna, and Antisuyu-Punasuyu provided the catalysts for the standardization of Kichwa. This was initiated by DINEIB (National Board of Intercultural Bilingual Education).^[3]

Afterward a new alphabet was created by ALKI (Kichwan Language Academy). It comprises 21 characters; including three vowels (a, i, u); two semi-vowels (w, y); and 16 consonants (ch, h, k, l, ll, m, n, ñ, p, r, s, sh, t, ts, z, zh), according to Muyulema's article『Presente y Futuro de la lengua Quichua desde la perspectiva de la experiencia vasca (Kichwa sisariy ñan)』(Muyulema 2011:234).

Later, the bigger and much more comprehensive dictionary Kichwa Yachakukkunapa Shimiyuk Kamu was published in 2009 by the linguist Fabián Potosí, together with other scholars sponsored by the Ministry of Education of Ecuador.^[4]

Characteristics[edit]

In contrast to other regional varieties of Quechua, Kichwa does not distinguish between the original (Proto-Quechuan) /k/ and /q/, which are both pronounced [k]. [e] and [o], the allophones of the vowels /i/ and /u/ near /q/, do not exist. Kiru can mean both "tooth" (kiruinSouthern Quechua) and "wood" (qiru [qero] in Southern Quechua), and killa can mean both "moon" (killa) and "lazy" (qilla [qeʎa]).

Additionally, Kichwa in both Ecuador and Colombia has lost possessive and bidirectional suffixes (verbal suffixes indicating both subject and object), as well as the distinction between the exclusive and inclusive first person plural:

• Instead of yayayku / taytayku ("Our Father", the Lord's Prayer) Kichwa people say ñukanchik yaya / ñukanchik tayta.
• In Kichwa, you do not say suyayki ("I wait for you"), but kanta shuyani.

On the other hand, other particularities of Quechua have been preserved. As in all Quechuan languages, the words for 'brother' and 'sister' differ depending on to whom they refer. There are four different words for siblings: ñaña (sister of a woman), turi (brother of a woman), pani (sister of a man), and wawki (brother of a man). A woman reading『Ñuka wawki Pedromi kan』would read aloud Ñuka turi Pedromi kan (if she referred to her brother). If Pedro has a brother Manuel and the sisters Sisa and Elena, their mother could refer to Pedro as Manuelpak wawkiorSisapaj turi. And to Sisa as Manuelpak pani or as Elenapak ñaña.

Phonology[edit]

Consonants[edit]

• /z/ only occurs rarely phonemically, and is mostly an allophone of /s/.
• Affricate sounds /ts, tʃ/, are often voiced after nasal sounds as [dz, dʒ].
• /ɸ/ is often heard as [f] before a front vowel /i/.
• Sounds /ɾ, w/, are heard in free variation as fricatives [ʐ, β]. A combination /nɾ/ can be heard as [ɳɖʐ].

• /n/ is heard as [ŋ] before a velar consonant.
• /k/ can be heard as fricatives [x] before a voiceless obstruent, and [ɣ] before a voiced obstruent.

Vowels[edit]

• /a, i, u/ can become lax as [ə, ɪ, ʊ] in free variation.
• In the Chimborazo dialect, /a/ is heard as a central [ä], and can also be heard as a back [ɑ] in lax form.

Dialects[edit]

The missionary organization FEDEPI (2006) lists eight dialects of Quechua in Ecuador, which it illustrates with "The men will come in two days." Ethnologue 16 (2009) lists nine, distinguishing Cañar from Loja Highland Quechua. Below are the comparisons, along with Standard (Ecuadorian) Kichwa and Standard (Southern) Quechua:

Music[edit]

A band from Ecuador, "Los Nin", which raps in Kichwa and Spanish, has toured internationally. The band hails from the town of Otavalo, which is known for its traditional music.^[7]

The Ecuadorian band "Yarina", which sings in Kichwa and Spanish, won Best World Music Recording with their album "Nawi" in the 2005 Native American Music Awards.^[8]

In the Ecuadorian diaspora, the radio station Kichwa Hatari works to revive use of the Kichwa language, music, and culture in the United States.^[9]

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

• Ciucci, Luca & Pieter C. Muysken 2011. Hernando de Alcocer y la Breve declaración del Arte de la lengua del Ynga. El más antiguo manuscrito de quichua de Ecuador. Indiana 28: 359–393.
• Conejo Muyulema, Arturo. “Presente y futuro de la lengua quichua desde la perspectiva de la experiencia vasca (Kichwa sisariy ñan)” Voces E Imagenes De Las Lenguas En Peligro. Ed. Marleen Haboud and Nicholas Ostler. 1st ed. Abya-Yala, 2014. 234-5.

Further reading[edit]

• O'Rourke, Erin and Swanson, Tod D. (2013). "Tena Quichua". Illustrations of the IPA. Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 43 (1): 107–120. doi:10.1017/S0025100312000266{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link), with supplementary sound recordings.

• Masaquiza, Fanny Chango and Marlett, Stephen A. (2008). "Salasaca Quichua". Illustrations of the IPA. Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 38 (2): 223–227. doi:10.1017/S0025100308003332{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link), with supplementary sound recordings.

External links[edit]

Kichwa language testofKichwaatWikimedia Incubator

• https://quechuarealwords.byu.edu/ Quechua Real Words is a video dictionary of Amazonian Kichwa ideophones (performative, imitative utterances) constructed by Professor Janis Nuckolls of BYU.
• Imbabura Quechua Vocabulary List (from the World Loanword Database)
• Map of the regional varieties of Kichwa in Ecuador (quichua.net / FEDEPI.org)
• Kichwa-English-Spanish Dictionary, 2nd Edition (PDF)
• Yachakukkunapa Shimiyuk Kamu, Runa Shimi – Mishu Shimi, Mishu Shimi – Runa Shimi. Kichwa – Spanish, Spanish – Kichwa Dictionary (Education Ministry of Ecuador) (PDF, 7,4 MB)
• Otavalos Online: Basic Kichwa Course for Beginners, in Spanish (PDF)
• Kansas University: Quichua Open Educational Resources (by Nina Kinti-Moss)
• Pieter Muysken: Semantic transparency in Lowland Ecuadorian Quechua morphosyntax (PDF file)^{[permanent dead link]}
• Openoffice v3.2+ Kichwa Spellchecker
• Free Quichua audiocourse in Spanish offered by public radio of Ecuador (36 of 110 audio lesson files available via website)
• Kichwa internet radio, New York Times, 16 August 2014
• ELAR archive of Lower Napo Kichwa language documentation materials