Kichwa language

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.

Kichwa
Kichwa Shimi, Runa Shimi
Native to	Ecuador, Colombia, Peru
Ethnicity	Quechua
Native speakers	450,000 (2008–2012)
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.

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

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.

First efforts for language standardization and bilingual education

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).

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.

Characteristics

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" (kiru in Southern 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 wawki or Sisapaj turi. And to Sisa as Manuelpak pani or as Elenapak ñaña.

Phonology

Consonants

Imbabura Kichwa consonants

		Bilabial	Alveolar	Post-alv./ Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n	ɲ	(ŋ)
Stop	voiceless	p	t		k
	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ		kʰ
	voiced				ɡ
Affricate			ts	tʃ
Fricative	voiceless	ɸ	s	ʃ		h
	voiced		(z)	ʒ
Approximant	central			j	w
	lateral		l
Rhotic			ɾ

• /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].

Chimborazo Kichwa consonants

		Bilabial	Dental/ Alveolar	Post-alv./ Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n		ɲ	(ŋ)
Stop	voiceless	p	t			k
	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ			kʰ
	voiced	b	d			ɡ
Affricate	voiceless		ts	tʃ
	aspirated			tʃʰ
	voiced			dʒ
Fricative	voiceless	ɸ	s	ʃ		x	h
	voiced		z	ʒ
	retroflex			ʐ
Rhotic			ɾ
Approximant	central				j	w
	lateral		l

• /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

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i iː		u uː
Open	a aː

• /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

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:

Dialect	ISO code	Speakers per SIL (FEDEPI)	Orthography (SIL or official) + Pronunciation	Notes
Imbabura	[qvi]	300,000 (1,000,000)	Chai tʃay jaricunaca xarikunaka ishcai iʃkay punllapillami punʒapiʒami shamunga. ʃamuŋga Chai jaricunaca ishcai punllapillami shamunga. tʃay xarikunaka iʃkay punʒapiʒami ʃamuŋga	⟨ll⟩ = [ʒ]
Calderón (Pichincha)	[qud]	25,000	Chai tʃay jaricunaca xarikunaka ishcai iʃkay punllapillami punʒapiʒami shamunga. ʃamuŋga Chai jaricunaca ishcai punllapillami shamunga. tʃay xarikunaka iʃkay punʒapiʒami ʃamuŋga	⟨ll⟩ = [ʒ]
Salasaca	[qxl]	15,000	Chi tʃi c'arigunaga kʰarigunaga ishqui iʃki p'unllallabimi pʰunʒaʒabimi shamunga. ʃamuŋga Chi c'arigunaga ishqui p'unllallabimi shamunga. tʃi kʰarigunaga iʃki pʰunʒaʒabimi ʃamuŋga	⟨ll⟩ = [ʒ]
Chimborazo	[qug]	1,000,000 (2,500,000)	Chai tʃay c'aricunaca kʰarikunaka ishqui iʃki punllallapimi punʒaʒapimi shamunga. ʃamuŋga Chai c'aricunaca ishqui punllallapimi shamunga. tʃay kʰarikunaka iʃki punʒaʒapimi ʃamuŋga	⟨ll⟩ = [ʒ]
Cañar–Loja	[qxr] [qvj]	(200,000) qxr: 100,000 qxl: 15,000	Chai tʃay c'aricunaca kʰarikunaka ishcai iʃkay punzhallapimi punʒaλapimi shamunga. ʃamuŋga Chai c'aricunaca ishcai punzhallapimi shamunga. tʃay kʰarikunaka iʃkay punʒaλapimi ʃamuŋga
Tena Lowland	[quw]	5,000 (10,000)	Chi tʃi cariunaga kariunaga ishqui iʃki punzhallaimi punʒaλaimi shamunga. ʃamuŋga Chi cariunaga ishqui punzhallaimi shamunga. tʃi kariunaga iʃki punʒaλaimi ʃamuŋga
Napo Lowland	[qvo]	4,000 Ecu. & 8,000 Peru (15,000)	Chi tʃi carigunaga karigunaga ishcai iʃkay punchallaimi puntʃaλaimi shamunga. ʃamunga. Chi carigunaga ishcai punchallaimi shamunga. tʃi karigunaga iʃkay puntʃaλaimi ʃamunga.
Northern Pastaza	[qvz]	4,000 Ecu. & 2,000 Peru (10,000)	Chi tʃi carigunaga karigunaga ishcai iʃkay punzhallaimi punʒallaimi shamunga. ʃamunga. Chi carigunaga ishcai punzhallaimi shamunga. tʃi karigunaga iʃkay punʒallaimi ʃamunga.
Standard Kichwa	—		Chay karikunaka ishkay punllallapimi shamunka.
Standard Southern Quechua (Qhichwa)	—		Chay tʃæy qharikunaqa qʰarikunaqa iskay iskæy p'unchawllapim p'untʃawllapim hamunqa. hamunqa. Chay qharikunaqa iskay p'unchawllapim hamunqa. tʃæy qʰarikunaqa iskæy p'untʃawllapim hamunqa.

Music

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.

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.

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

Bibliography

• 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

• 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

• 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)
• 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