WikiLang/Quechua languages
The Quechua languages are a native South American language family spoken mostly around the Andes, all from a common proto-language. Together, they are sometimes considered as one language, and under such a definition they are the most spoken language of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, with probably between 8 and 10 million speakers. It well known as the language of the Incas, and Quechua variants have official status in Bolivia and Peru. The most spoken variant of Quechua is Southern Quechua, which includes Bolivian Quechua and Cuzco Quechua. Northern Quechua is spoken in northern Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador, where it has a significant number of speakers.
Although Quechua was spread further in the Incan Empire, it had already spread far before that. It was also thrived after the Spanish conquest of the 16th century as a kind of general language for communication between the Spanish and the indigenous population, including being used by the Catholic Church for evangelization efforts. However, use by the church ended in the 18th century when it was banned from public use in Peru in response to the Tupac Amaru II rebellion. Today it is mostly spoken in rural areas.
The oldest written records of the language are the writings of Fray Domingo de Santo Tomás, who arrived in Peru in 1538 and learned the language from 1540, and published his book Grammatica o arte de la lengua general de los indios de los reynos del Perú in 1560.
Today, even though it is a co-official language with Spanish in Peru and Bolivia, there is relatively little written material, meaning that it is mostly an oral language. Recently, Quechua has been introduced as part of intercultural bilingual education in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru, which is only reaching parts of the Quechua-speaking population. Quechua continues to decline in usage, being replaced by Spanish for the purpose of social advancement.
Influences
editIn the time of the Empire of the Incas, Southern Quechua's grammar, vocabulary, and possibly phobology were heavily influenced by Aymara.
Quechua has borrowed several hundred, at least, words from Spanish, even borrowing some grammatically important common words. Spanish, in turn, has also borrowed a notable number of words from Quechua, some of which have found their way into English, for example "llama" and "viscacha".
Many native American languages have been significantly influenced by Quechua