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Quichua language

Quechua
Kechua
Qhichwa simi
Runa simi
Native to Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
Region Central Andes
Ethnicity Quechua
Native speakers
8.9 million (2007)
Quechuan languages
  • Quechua
Dialects
Latin
Official status
Official language in
Peru
Bolivia
Ecuador
Language codes
ISO 639-1 qu
ISO 639-2
ISO 639-3
Glottolog quec1387
Quechua (grupos).svg
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Quechua /ˈkɛwə/, also known as runa simi ("people's language"), is an indigenous language family, with variations spoken by the Quechua peoples, primarily living in the Andes and highlands of South America. Derived from a common ancestral language, it is the most widely spoken language family of indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a total of probably some 8–10 million speakers. Approximately 13% of Peruvians speak Quechua. It is perhaps most widely known for being the main language of the Inca Empire, and was disseminated by the colonizers throughout their reign.

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 forms of Quechua. In the Cusco region, Quechua was influenced by local languages such as Aymara. The Cuzco variety of Quechua developed as quite distinct. In similar ways, diverse dialects developed in different areas, related to existing local languages, when the Inca Empire ruled and imposed Quechua as the official language.

After the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire 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 and many Spanish learned it in order to communicate with the local peoples. Clergy of the Catholic Church adopted Quechua to use as the language of evangelization. Given its use by the Catholic missionaries, the range of Quechua continued to expand in some areas.

In the late 18th century, colonial officials ended administrative and religious use of Quechua, banning it from public use in Peru after the Túpac Amaru II rebellion of indigenous peoples. The Crown banned even "loyal" pro-Catholic texts in Quechua, such as Garcilaso de la Vega's Comentarios Reales.


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