Some Intriguing Aspects of Quechua

 

details on a number of particularly intriguing aspects of Quechua’s sound and grammatical systems,
and its relationships with other languages (Spanish and Aymara)

 

This page is intended primarily for linguists, so if you’re not familiar with linguistic terminology you may find it gets a bit technical in certain parts.  If so, instead you might like to try these other pages, which are a bit more layman-friendly than this one:

 

•   my general webpage on an Introduction to the Indigenous Language of Latin America, including a fair amount on Quechua.

•   a more general introduction to the language, its geographical, social and historical context, here

•   the presentation of Quechua (Ayacucho dialect) on Mark Rosenfelder's webpage at http://www.zompist.com/quechua.html.

 

This presentation discusses in detail mainly the Cuzco-Bolivian dialect of Quechua, but covers also many general features common to all dialects.

In places on this page I have had to use the symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), and wherever I have, the symbols appear as text in this shade of green, and within square brackets [like this].  These are in the Arial Unicode font, which most computers already have installed.

 

 

Contents

What is Quechua Like?  A First Impression

Sound System  (Phonetics and Phonology)

Grammatical System  (‘Morphology’ and Syntax)

Quechua’s ‘Agglutinating’ Structure

    Quechua Word Structure – Sample Quechua Texts    
separate page with full analysis of the Quechua words

The Modal System

Relationships with Other Languages

 

Back to Homepage

 

 

Back to Contents   –   Skip to Next Section:  Sound System (Phonetics and Phonology)

 

1. What is Quechua Like?

To start with, a first impression of what Quechua looks and sounds like:  two samples.  Both are in the Cuzco-Bolivian dialect, which is also the dialect discussed in the whole of this presentation, except where explicitly stated otherwise.

 

1.1.  An Old Quechua Play

The first sample of Quechua is from a rare old play, most likely composed in the first or second century after the Spanish conquest, Atau Wallpay P’uchukakuyninpa Wankan – “Tragedy of the End of Atahualpa”, the last Inca ‘Emperor’ captured by the Spaniards and then imprisoned, ostensibly for ransom (see also my bibliography page). This was to have his prison cell filled up once with solid gold and twice with silver, which his people duly did;  the conquistadores then put him to death anyway.  What follows are his opening lines in the play.

In the published version the text is spelt according to just one of the competing orthographical norms for Quechua:  the Bolivian version of one author’s interpretation of the five-vowel (‘pentavocalic’) spelling system (back to this later), very ill-suited to native Quechua, but popular among bilinguals in Spanish.  Here the text has been standardised to the now official spelling system in Peru and Bolivia (using the Peruvian norm h).

 

Pronunciation Key:

•   <h> after a consonant (except <c>) is a so-called ‘aspirated’ consonant, pronounced somewhat like that consonant with a forceful English [h] sound immediately after it.

•   apostrophes after consonants denote ‘ejective’ pronunciations of those consonants, an even more forceful sound, unusual for European languages

•   <ch> is pronounced as in English and Spanish = [tS] – though note that this too can be aspirated:  <chh> = [tSH]

•   the rest of the spelling is pronounced as is Spanish, i.e.: <j> = [h], <ll> = [´],  <ń> = [ř]

•   <i> is pronounced more like [e], and <u> more like [o], where they occur in contact with <q> or <j>.   Click here for more details.

 

Sinchiq munasqaykuna,

My dearly beloved

Wamra ńust’akunallay,

Young princesses,

nanaq llakiypimim sunquy,

My heart is in grievous pain,

ukhuymim llaqllapayasqa,

My inside gnawed away,

yuyayniymim chinkasqanńa.

My reason fled.

Uk llakiytamim paqarini.

I have woken to suffering.

Imarayku kunan tuta

For this night past

muspayniypi yananchani

In my sleep I was racked

llaki phutillatataqmi,

By grievous affliction,

musquyniypiri rikuni

In my dreaming I have seen

Inti, maylliq Taytanchikta

The Sun, our purifying Father,

yana q’ushńinpi pakasqata,

Hidden in black cloud,

llapa hanaqpachatari

While all the heavens,

llapa urqukunatawanri

All the mountains,

puka puka rawrasqaqta

Blazed so red

pillkukunaq qhaqunta hina.

Like the red in the breasts of the Pillkus.

 

1.2.  Modern Colloquial Quechua

This second example is a modern one, from broadly the same dialect.  It is a transcription from an ‘interview’, taken from the Autobiography of Gregorio Condori Mamani.  Borrowings from Spanish appear in bold. Again, the spelling has been adapted to the reformed and now official alphabet – for more details click here.

Chhaynam vida kachkan. Ignoranciallaypim nini: chay Taytachap llagankunataq chhaynaniraq nak’ariypaq causa, tawa p’unchay vidapaq … chayqa, imanaptinmi mana maskhapachu hampirunku? Ńa watakunańa chhaynata warmiyta nirani, paytaqmi niran:

– Chaypaqsi extranjero mama Killata rin.

Chaypaq hinataqmi chay p’unchaykuna lliw callekunapi rimay kan, gringokunas avionpi semanantin purispa mama Killaman chayanku, nispa. Ńuqamanta rimayllachu si no kanman.

 

My (fairly literal) translation:

Such is life. In my ignorance I say:  if the wounds of this God are the cause of so much suffering, for four days of life… Why don’t we look for him and treat him? That’s what I said to my wife years ago, and she replied:

– They say that’s why the foreigners went to the Mother Moon.

In fact, just in those days, in all the streets there was talk of how the gringos, travelling for a week in a plane, had reached the Mother Moon. All that sounds like just tall stories to me though.

 

Phonemic Transcription

The phonemic transcription matches very closely with the official standard orthography used, the only exceptions are the suffixes which have a morphemic spelling in order to ensure a consistent spelling is possible over all dialects of southern Quechua:  in this text these are:  progressive <chka> Cuzco [Sa];  direct evidence <m>, in Cuzco [n];  genitive <p>, in Cuzco [X].

Allophonic variation in of course not shown in this phoneMic transcription, but see the phoneTic one below for this.  The main allophonic variants to be aware of is that syllable‑final stops are fricativised, and /n/ before velars is [N] like English <ng>. Also, [e] and [o] are best analysed in native Quechua as allophones of /i/ and /u/ respectively, and there are fierce (often not very informed) arguments about how they should best be written (for more details, click here).  The only occurrences of [e] and [o] in this text are in borrowings from Spanish, except in the pronoun I <ńuqa> (official standardised spelling), which in this Cuzco dialect is pronounced /‌nuqa/‌ [nŤqa], where the context that conditions lowering of [u] to [Ť], namely contact with the uvular stop [q], is clearly present.  For a fairly close phonetic transcription with main allophones, see below.

 

The Spanish loanwords are transcribed here in their original Spanish forms as conceived of by a fluent bilingual, with no adaptation to Quechua pronunciation.  In reality, non-fluent speakers would tend to a greater or lesser extent to convert Spanish [e] to [i], and [o] to [u] in all the cases below, and for Quechua-speaking monolinguals [e] and [o] lose phonemic status entirely.

 

The phonemic transcription below in green is in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).  First the image file so that everyone can see it, then the text in case people want to copy and paste it.  The text symbols can only be viewed properly with the SILDoulosIPA font (to see how to get this to work on your computer, click here).

 

 

/ČtSHajnan Čbida ČkaSan.  ignoransjaČ´ajpin Čnini tSaj tajČtatSaq ´agankuČnataq
ČtSHajna Čniraq nak'aČrijpaq Čkawsa, Čtawa Čp'untSaj biČdapaq.  
ČtSajqa, imanaqČtinmi Čmana maskHaČpatSu hampiČrunku.  
řa watakuČnařa tSajČnata warmČijta niČrani, pajČtaqmi Čniran

tSajČpaqsi istranČxiru Čmama kiČ´ata rin

ČtSajpaq hinaČtaqmi tSaj p'untSajČkuna ´iw ka´ekuČnapi Črimaj kan,
gringuČkunas Čavjunpi simaČnantin puČrispa Čmama kiČ´aman tSaČjanku, Čnispa.  
nuqaČmanta rimajČ´ atSu si nu Čkanman/

 

Below is a phonetic transcription showing major allophones.  Allophones of /‌i/‌ and /‌u/‌ often show finer distinctions than those transcribed here, though with considerable variation.  Again, first the image file, then the text. 

 

 

[ČtSHajnaN Čbida ČkaSaN.  ignoRansjaČ´ajpiN Čnini tSaj tajČtatSAX ´agaNkuČnatAX
ČtSHajna ČniRAX nak'aČRijpAX Čkawsa, Čtawa Čp'untSaj biČdapAX.
ČtSaeqa, imanAXČtiNmi Čmana maskHaČpatSu hampiČRuNku.  
řa watakuČnařa tSajČnata waRČmijta niČRani, pajČtAXmi ČniRaN

tSajČpAXsi estRanČXeRo Čmama kiČ´ata RiN

ČtSajpAX hinaČtAXmi tSaj p'untSajČkuna ´iw ka´ekuČnapi ČRimaj kaN,
gRingoČkunas Čavjompi semaČnantiN puČRispa Čmama kiČ´amaN tSaČjaNku, Čnispa.  
noqaČmanta RimajČ´atSu si no ČkammaN]

 

 

A Full Breakdown of Morphological Structure of this text, with English Translation

is available now on a separate webpage, together with another two Quechua texts broken down for detailed analysis of their word structure. 
The text transcribed here above is text three on the new page.

 

Now you’ve had a look at what Quechua looks like, I’ll try to give you a closer look into what it sounds like, and how its grammatical system works.  Things will inevitably now get a bit technical for the non-linguists, but I hope you can follow a bit, at least!

I’ll try to run through some of the more unusual and interesting aspects of Quechua. There are quite a lot of them but I hope this will give an overview of them useful for you to get an idea of what the language is like.

 

 

Back to Contents   –   Skip to Next Section:  Sketch of Grammatical System

 

2. Sound System  (Phonetics and Phonology)

2.1.  Phonemic Inventory

The table below shows the phonemic inventory for Cuzco/Bolivian Quechua (for non-linguists this means, roughly speaking, the range of sounds used distinctively in the language).  Notes on differences in other regional varieties of Quechua are given below.

Again, text in green is in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), in the Arial Unicode font (which most computers should now have).

 

 

 

 

bilabial

dental

postalv.

palatal

velar

uvular

glottal

STOPS
and
AFFRICATES

voiceless

p

t

tʃ

 

k

q

 

ejective

p’

t’

tʃ ’

 

k’

q’

 

aspirated

pʰ

tʰ

tʃʰ

 

kʰ

qʰ

 

FRICATIVES

voiceless

 

s

( ʃ ) ?

 

x

 

h

NASALS

 

m

n

 

ɲ

 

 

 

LATERALS

 

 

l

 

ʎ

 

 

 

FLAP

 

 

r

 

 

 

 

 

GLIDES

 

w*

 

 

j

*

 

 

 

VOWELS

3 short:  i,  u,  a 
Cuzco Quechua does not have phonemic length, although some central Peruvian dialects (e.g. Ancash) do, giving long i:, u: and a:

 

* Technically of course, [w] is a labial-velar approximant, a double articulation.

 

The question of whether [ʃ] has phonemic status or not in Cuzco Quechua is a rather open one.  The official alphabet for Southern Quechua does not actually require a separate symbol for [ʃ].  In principle in all cases it can be seen either as a contextual allophone of /tʃ/ in syllable-final position, and elsewhere an allophone of /s/ in free variation with the principal allophone [s].

 

Note:  a problem with terminology and symbols:

Traditionally in Andean linguistics no terminological distinction is made between:

•   the obstruents [ʃ] and [tʃ], most typically articulated at the postalveolar location of stricture, and

•   the true palatal continuants, the nasal [ɲ] and lateral [ʎ]).

All of these tend to get lumped together under the term ‘palatal’.  Yet the location of stricture of [ʃ], for example, is clearly not palatal (as it is in German Kirche, church), and much closer to the cross-linguistically normal post-alveolar location of stricture (as in German Kirsche cherry or in English ship).  One possible ‘excuse’ for this is that the postalveolar affricates often also have an alternative phonetic realisation as a palatal stop [c] instead.  One could therefore argue for ‘palatal’ as a phonemic cover-term.  It also simplifies the representation of the language in phonological tables, by allowing two columns to be conflated into one.  Nonetheless, there seems little good argument for lumping these sounds together as a single class, and it remains far more accurate phonetically and indeed in terms of a phonological system, to distinguish them as I do here.

Part of the problem seems to be in the symbols used:  in the tradition of Andean linguistics, the symbols used are not the ipa ones [ʃ] and [tʃ], but ‘Americanist’ [š] and [č].

 

Differences in Other Regional Varieties of Quechua 
  (intended for linguists:  this part is a bit technical!)

All other Quechua regional varieties have no ejectives, and barring some in Ecuador, no aspirated stops either.  One pretty convincing theory, given that they only occur in varieties of Quechua in clear contact with Aymara, is that these series were borrowed from Aymara, where they occur with fewer restrictions than in Quechua.

Some other ‘Quechua I’ dialects of central Peru have (phonemically distinctive) long vowels, presumed not to have been present originally in proto-Quechua, and to have originated from sequences of vowel + y.  They are used in some lexemes, and for the 1st person possessive and verb endings, for instance (marked in various other dialects by the suffix ‑y).

Many ‘Quechua I’ dialects of central Peru also have a (phonemically distinctive) sixth member of the series of stops and affricates, a retroflex stop.  They also maintain a clear phonemic opposition between two fricatives other than the glottal one:  various combinations of a ‘normal’ [s] and a retroflex or apical version.  The retroflex, or at least a sixth stop of some sort and a corresponding fricative, appear to have been native to proto-Quechua, lost now in southern Quechua, but probably responsible indirectly, for example, for the <z> in the traditional spelling Cuzco, which the Spanish used instead of <s> to distinguish the two.  The phonemic opposition has largely disappeared in southern Quechua – see the note below on the status of ‘sh’.

Other varieties still have introduced voiced stops and fricatives, sometimes just as allophones of the voiceless ones (as in parts of Ecuador), sometimes only for the uvular stop (as in Cochabamba, Bolivia), sometimes as full-blown distinctive phonemes (as in San Martin and some Amazonian varieties of Quechua, I think).  Many speakers bilingual in Spanish also use voiced stops in words borrowed from Spanish.

For more details on the sound system of Quechua, aimed particularly at linguis