Kichwa

Kichwa
Native to	Ecuador, Colombia, Peru
Native speakers	(1.2 million cited 1991–2010)
Language family	Quechuan Quechua II Northern Kichwa
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
Distribution of Quechua sub-groups. Kichwa is shown in light blue (II B).
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters.

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 1,000,000 speakers.

The most widely spoken dialects are Chimborazo Highland and Imbabura Highland Kichwa, with 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 speakers. Cañar Highland Quecha has 100,000–200,000 speakers; the other dialects have from 10,000 to 20,000 speakers each. Kichwa belongs to the Northern Quechua group of Quechua II, according to linguist Alfredo Torero.

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.

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 pieces such as "Caimi Ňucanchic Shimuyu-Panca", "Ňucanchic Llactapac Shimi," "Ňucanchic Causaimanta Yachaicuna," and " Antisuyu-Punasuyu" provided the catalysts for the standardization of Kichwa language. This was initiated by DINEIB (National Board of Intercultural Bilingual Education).

Afterward a new alphabet was created by ALKI (Kichwan Language Academy). It comprises 20 characters; including three vowels (a, i, u); two semi-vowels (w, y); and 15 consonants (ch, h, k, l, ll, m, n, ñ, p, r, s, sh, t, ts, z), according to Muyulema's article "Presente y Futuro de la lengua Quichua desde la perspectiva de la experiencia vasca (Kichwa sisariy ňan)" (Muyulema 2011:234).

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