Runasimi

Quechua

Quechuan

FamilyQuechuan Speakers~8M ScriptLatin CountriesPeru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina, Chile Official inPeru, Bolivia, Ecuador (co-official) Vitalitysafe ISO 639-3que

Quechua (Runa Simi, "human speech") is a Quechuan language family with ~8M speakers across the Andes — co-official in Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador. Inca imperial lingua franca; Cuzco-Bolivian Southern Quechua is most prestigious. Latin orthography standardized by Peru 1985, Bolivia 1984. SOV agglutinative with extensive evidentiality and verbal morphology.

Where it is spoken

20 core words in Quechua

Water

yaku

/jaku/

Fire

nina

/nina/

Sun

inti

/inti/

Moon

killa

/kiʎa/

Mother

mama

/mama/

Father

tayta

/tajta/

Eat

mikhuy

/mikʰuj/

Drink

upyay

/upjaj/

Love

munay

/munaj/

Heart

sunqu

/suŋqu/

Tree

sacha

/satʃa/

House

wasi

/wasi/

Dog

allqu

/aʎqu/

Cat

misi

/misi/

Hand

maki

/maki/

Eye

ñawi

/ɲawi/

Hello

allillanchu

/aʎiʎantʃu/

Thank you

sulpayki

/sulpajki/

One

huk

/huk/

Good

allin

/aʎin/

Sources

Words compared

Compared with related Quechuan languages

Meaning QuechuaClassical QuechuaCusco QuechuaAyacucho QuechuaAymaraMisakPapiamento
Water yaku /jaku/ yaku /jaku/ unu /unu/ yaku /jaku/ uma /uma/ unø /unø/ awa /awa/
Fire nina /nina/ nina /nina/ nina /nina/ nina /nina/ nina /nina/ nipi /nipi/ kandela /kandela/
Sun inti /inti/ inti /inti/ inti /inti/ inti /inti/ inti /inti/ shi /ʃi/ solo /solo/
Moon killa /kiʎa/ killa /kiʎa/ killa /kiʎa/ killa /kiʎa/ phaxsi /pʰaχsi/ atru /atɾu/ luna /luna/
Mother mama /mama/ mama /mama/ mama /mama/ mama /mama/ mama /mama/ mama /mama/ mama /mama/
Father tayta /tajta/ tayta /tajta/ tayta /tajta/ tayta /tajta/ tata /tata/ tata /tata/ tata /tata/
Eat mikhuy /mikʰuj/ mikhuy /mikʰuj/ mikhuy /mikʰuj/ mikuy /mikuj/ manqʼaña /manqʼaɲa/ /mɵ/ kome /kome/
Drink upyay /upjaj/ upyay /upjaj/ upyay /upjaj/ upyay /upjaj/ umaña /umaɲa/ ushi /uʃi/ bebe /bebe/
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Word order compared

Compare with major world languages

Quechua
Ñuqa hotelpa chimpanpi tindapi rikurqani trajiyta churakuyta munani
أنا أريد أن أجرب بدلة رأيتها في محل مقابل الفندق
试穿 酒店 对面的 商店 看到的 那套西装
I want to try on a suit I saw ‌in a shop across from the hotel
Ich möchte einen Anzug anprobieren den ich in einem Geschäft gegenüber vom Hotel gesehen habe
मैं होटल के सामने एक दुकान में देखा सूट को पहनकर देखना चाहता हूँ
私は ホテルの 向かいの お店 見た スーツを 試着 したいです
Я хочу примерить костюм который я увидел в магазине напротив отеля

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