Quechuan languages
The most widely spoken pre-Columbian language family of the Americas, originating in central Peru.
Quechua, also known as Runa simi in its Southern variety, is a language family whose origins lie in central Peru, from where it spread across the Andean region. Descended from a common ancestral tongue called Proto-Quechua, it is the most widely spoken indigenous language family in the Americas, with an estimated 8 to 10 million speakers in 2004 and nearly 7 million according to census data up to 2011. In Peru, roughly 13.9% of the population—about 3.7 million people—speak a Quechua language.
The family’s expansion began long before the Inca Empire, and it was already the primary language family within Inca domains. The Inca themselves, based in the Cuzco region, spoke a form of Quechua that had been heavily influenced by Aymara, which accounts for distinctive features of that dialect. Regional dialects and languages had already developed, shaped by contact with local languages, before the Inca promoted Quechua as the empire’s official language. After the Spanish conquest, Quechua remained widely used as a common language among indigenous peoples. The Spanish administration officially recognized it, and many Spaniards learned it for communication. Catholic clergy adopted Quechua for evangelization, producing the oldest written records, such as Domingo de Santo Tomás’s 1560 grammar. Missionary use helped Quechua continue expanding in some areas. However, in the late 18th century, colonial authorities banned its administrative and religious use following the Túpac Amaru II rebellion, also prohibiting loyal Catholic texts in Quechua. After independence, the language saw a brief revival but then declined in prestige, becoming primarily spoken in isolated rural areas. Today, roughly 7 million people speak Quechua across South America, more than any other indigenous language family in the Americas. In Chile, Inca expansion led to bilingual Quechua-Mapuche communities, and Quechua is the indigenous language that has most influenced Chilean Spanish. Quechua toponymy extends as far south as Osorno Province in Chile. Recent milestones include the first thesis defense in Quechua in Europe (2017) and the first novel written in Quechua without a Spanish translation that same year. In 2019, a Peruvian student completed the first thesis in the language group at the University of San Marcos. Peru recognized Quechua as an official language in 1975, followed by Ecuador in 20
- speakers_2004
- 8–10 million
- speakers_2011
- just under 7 million
- origin
- central Peru
- major_varieties
- Quechua I (central) and Quechua II (peripheral, including Kichwa in Ecuador)
- notable_feature
- Most widely spoken pre-Columbian language family in the Americas
Lore & Background
The Quechua linguistic homeland may have been Central Peru. It has been speculated that it may have been used in the Chavín and Wari civilizations. Quechua had already expanded across wide ranges of the central Andes long before the expansion of the Inca Empire. The Inca were one among many peoples in present-day Peru who already spoke a form of Quechua, which in the Cuzco region particularly has been heavily influenced by Aymara. After the Spanish conquest of Peru in the 16th century, Quechua continued to be used widely by the indigenous peoples as the "common language." It was officially recognized by the Spanish administration. The oldest written records of the language are by missionary Domingo de Santo Tomás, who arrived in Peru in 1538 and learned the language from 1540. He published his Grammatica o arte de la lengua general de los indios de los reynos del Perú in 1560. In the late 18th century, colonial officials ended the administrative and religious use of Quechua. They banned it from public use in Peru after the Túpac Amaru II rebellion. Despite a brief revival after independence in the 19th century, the prestige of Quechua had decreased sharply. In the 21st century, Quechua language speakers number roughly 7 million people across South America.
Reader's Guide
There are significant differences among the varieties of Quechua spoken in the central Peruvian highlands and the peripheral varieties of Ecuador, as well as those of southern Peru and Bolivia. They can be labeled Quechua I (or Quechua B, central) and Quechua II (or Quechua A, peripheral). Within the two groups, there are few sharp boundaries, making them dialect continua. There is a secondary division in Quechua II between the grammatically simplified northern varieties of Ecuador, Quechua II-B, known there as Kichwa, and the generally more conservative varieties of the southern highlands, Quechua II-C, which include the old Inca capital of Cusco. Speakers from different points within any of the three regions can generally understand one another reasonably well.
Did You Know?
- Quechua is the most widely spoken pre-Columbian language family of the Americas.
- The first thesis defense done in Quechua in Europe was in 2017 by Peruvian Carmen Escalante Gutiérrez at Pablo de Olavide University in Sevilla.
- In 2017 Pablo Landeo wrote the first novel in Quechua without a Spanish translation.
- In 1975, Peru became the first country to recognize Quechua as one of its official languages.
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