Quechua II
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| Quechua II | |
|---|---|
| Name | Quechua II |
| Altname | QII |
| Region | Andes |
| Familycolor | American |
| Fam1 | Quechuan languages |
| Fam2 | Quechua |
Quechua II Quechua II is a major branch of the Quechuan languages spoken across the central and southern Andes, forming a diverse grouping that includes some of the most widely used Andean varieties. It has extensive contacts with languages and polities such as Aymara, Spanish, Inca administrative centers, and modern nation-states including Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina. Scholars such as Julio C. Tello, Ruth Shady, Ciro Alegría, Gary Parker, and Fernando Márquez Miranda have contributed to classification and descriptive work on its varieties.
Classification and Nomenclature
Scholars classify Quechua II within the broader Quechuan languages family alongside Quechua I, with influential frameworks advanced by linguists like Alfredo Torero, John Rowe, Adelaar, Robert and Muysken, Pieter. Debates over internal taxonomy link to fieldwork in regions such as Cusco, Puno, Ayacucho, Huancavelica, and Cuzco Province, and involve reference to corpora collected by institutions including the Instituto Nacional de Cultura and universities such as Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos and Universidad de San Antonio Abad del Cusco. Nomenclature varies: some authors use regional labels like South Bolivian Quechua or Central Quechua, while others prefer numbered branches; this aligns with typologies utilized in works by Claude Hagège and Michael Walsh.
Geographic Distribution and Demographics
Quechua II varieties dominate highland zones across Peru, Bolivia, northwestern Argentina, and parts of Chile. Major urban and rural centers with significant speaker populations include Cusco, Arequipa, La Paz, Potosí, Sucre, Huancayo, and Jujuy. Census and sociolinguistic surveys by agencies such as the Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática and the Instituto Nacional de Estadística report millions of speakers distributed unevenly among varieties; ethnolinguistic vitality varies between regions like Ayacucho and Altiplano. Historical migrations and labor movements tied to events such as the Guano era and the War of the Pacific affected speaker distribution, as did contemporary urbanization toward cities like Lima and Santa Cruz de la Sierra.
Phonology and Orthography
Phonological features distinguishing Quechua II include vowel inventories, consonant contrasts, and stress patterns documented in descriptive grammars from researchers such as Gustavo A. Mendoza and Thelma M. Carrasco. Varieties often show a three-vowel system influenced by neighboring Aymara and Spanish phonology, with allophonic variations in highland centers like Cusco and Puno. Consonant systems may include aspirated and ejective series in some highland varieties recorded in fieldwork by Rodrigo Montoya and Catherine Key. Orthographies have been standardized variably by authorities like the Peruvian Ministry of Education and advocacy groups such as rondas campesinas and cultural organizations in Qullasuyu-area communities; proposals draw on work by Norma McFarland and orthography committees in Bolivia.
Morphology and Syntax
Quechua II exhibits agglutinative morphology with extensive suffixation for person, aspect, mood, evidentiality, and nominal case, analyzed in detail by linguists including Juan de la Cruz, Rodrigo Matos, Osvaldo Chong and Mauro Luján. Verbal paradigms mark subject and object relations, benefactive constructions, and evidential distinctions relevant in regions like Ayacucho and Cusco. Case marking for nominal roles uses suffixes for ergative/absolutive alignment in many descriptions produced at institutions such as Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and Universidad Mayor de San Andrés. Word order is generally SOV, with postpositional phrases and relative clause formation patterns that have been compared to constructions in Aymara and documented in comparative grammars by Catherine A. Fowler and Briana Peterson.
Dialectal Variation and Subgroups
Quechua II encompasses multiple subgroups often labeled southern, central, and northern branches; prominent named varieties include Cusco Quechua, Ayacucho Quechua, Bolivian Quechua, and Wanka Quechua. Dialect continua span regions such as the Andes, connecting linguistic communities in provinces like La Convención and Chumbivilcas. Comparative research by Paul Heggarty, Luis Enrique López, and Katharine Beals maps isoglosses for phonological changes, lexical retention, and morphological innovations; mutual intelligibility varies, and some varieties have been the focus of language planning in municipalities like Sicuani and Oruro.
Historical Development and Relationships
Historical linguistics situates Quechua II within models of Andean prehistory involving interactions among societies such as Wari, Tiwanaku, and the Inca State. Reconstructions of Proto-Quechuan by scholars including Adelaar, Robert and Cerrón-Palominos, Rodolfo trace sound changes and lexical innovations that differentiate Quechua II from other branches and illuminate contact-induced change with Aymara and Spanish. Archaeolinguistic correlations reference sites like Machu Picchu, Saksaywaman, and Tiwanaku and texts examined in colonial archives such as those of Francisco Pizarro and Bishop Jerónimo de Loayza for early Quechua documentation.
Sociolinguistic Status and Language Policy
Quechua II varieties occupy varied sociolinguistic positions within nation-states: official recognition and bilingual education policies have been advanced in legislatures like the Congress of Peru and administrations of Bolivia and Ecuador. Institutions such as the Ministry of Culture and NGOs including Yanapai and Asociación Interétnica de Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana engage in revitalization, literacy, and media projects targeting urban centers like Lima and rural districts in Puno. Language rights and policy debates intersect with movements led by figures like Túpac Amaru II in historical memory and contemporary indigenous organizations such as the Confederación Campesina del Perú and the National Council of Ayllus and Markas of Qullasuyu. Sociodemographic research by UNESCO and national census bodies informs planning, while challenges persist due to prestige competition with Spanish and migration patterns involving cities such as Arequipa and Cochabamba.