Quechua at UGA. Prof. Chad Howe Department of Romance Languages and the Linguis8cs Program

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1 Quechua at UGA Prof. Chad Howe Department of Romance Languages and the Linguis8cs Program

2 Course Overview Spoken by over 10 million people in the Andean Region of South America, Quechua (Quichua or Runasimi) was the official language of the Incan Empire, whose influence across countries such as Bolivia, Ecuador, and Perú is s8ll observed today in the culture and speech of the inhabitants of this region. This course is envisioned as a general introduc8on to the cultural and linguis8c contribu8ons of the Quechua people, who con8nue to play an important role in social fabric of South America. The Quechua language has been par8cularly important for students in Anthropology, Linguis8cs, and Sociology. Even Google has taken note of its importance with its Google Quechua site. Students in this course will not only learn about Quechuan society but will also learn the basic ingredients of the language i.e., grammar, pronuncia8on, and vocabulary. By the end of the course, students will be able to conduct basic conversa8ons in Quechua.

3 Quechua fact sheet: Runasimi is the indigenous word for the language (or rather family of languages) that is commonly known as Quechua: runa = people, simi = mouth. Among its various dialects, Quechua has one of the largest popula8ons of speakers of any indigenous language spoken in La8n America. The largest popula8ons of Quechua speakers are located in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Perú, with smaller (though s8ll substan8al) popula8ons in Argen8na, Chile, and Colombia. There are are numerous words in Spanish that come from Quechua and some that are found in English as well, e.g., condor, llama, mate, vicuña. Quechua is what linguists call an agglu:na;ve language, which means that words are ozen formed by stringing together various gramma8cal items: urpi- kuna- cha- yku- paq bird- PL- li]le- our- DAT For our li]le birds

4 Why study Quechua? 1. A knowledge of Quechua is beneficial (and perhaps required) for students, faculty, and workers in the areas of sociolology, anthropology, La>n American Studies, linguis>cs, among others. 2. The Quechua sequence at UGA (1001, 1002, 2001, 2002) will sa8sfy all (or at least most of) the same foreign language requirements as do Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, etc. 3. Rela8vely speaking, Quechua is not as exo8c a language as you might think: a. no irregular verbs b. no irregular nouns c. no irregular adjec8ves d. no gender (i.e. masculine, feminine, neuter) e. no adjec8ve agreement f. no ar8cles (e.g. a, the) 4. Quechua is a gateway language, meaning that you will inevitably find yourself wan8ng to learn more about other indigenous languages.

5 Informa>on about QUEC 1001 COURSE TITLE: Elementary Quechua Language and Culture (QUEC 1001) CALL NUMBER: CREDIT HOURS: 4 SCHEDULE: T / R, 9:30-10:45 Face- to- face mee8ngs W 9:00-5:00 Online instruc8on* ROOM (Tenta>ve): 210 Pharmacy South * This course will have three days of in- class instruc8on with an addi8onal day for online instruc8on. The hours listed for the online component are intended to represent the 8mes during which materials and assignments will be available for students to complete.

6 Course Objec>ves for QUEC 1001 Upon comple8on of the course, students will be able to: 1. Recognize and understand different features of Andean culture specific to Quechua speaking communi8es. 2. Recognize basic differences between varie8es (i.e. dialects) of Quechua and their geographic distribu8on. 3. Understand and apply basic rules of pronuncia8on of the Cusco- Collao variety of Quechua. 4. Understand and apply basic rules of word forma8on including noun and verb suffixes. 5. Understand and apply basic rules of sentence forma8on. 6. Produce and understand basic dialogues in Quechua using a variety of vocabulary.

7 Topical outline for QUEC 1001 History and Cultural Topics 1. Language and Culture in the Andes 2. History of Quechua languages and dialectal distribu8on 3. Watuchiykuna riddles Language Topics 1. Spelling conven8ons 2. Pronuncia8on of vowel and consonant inventory 3. Basic conversa8onal devices in Quechua- - e.g., gree8ngs, leave taking, personal introduc8ons, etc. 4. Conjuga8ng verbs in present tense 5. Sentence forma8on: Subject Object Verb 6. Noun suffixes 7. Numbers Vocabulary: Family, home life, work, school 9. Nega8on

8 Watuchiykuna In class we will look at various aspects of the oral tradi8on of Quechuan people, including the popular watuchiykuna or riddles. These word games are used both as a form of entertainment and interac8on as well as a means of passing along cultural knowledge. Below are two examples the watuchiykuna that we will be studying in class: Imasmari, imasmari. Imataq kanman? Ñanpa uranpi, ñanpa hawanpi pi; waskacha. Imasmari, imasmari. Imataq kanman? Huk yana sunquyuq piña puka turu qawakamuchkan. (Please feel free to send the answers if you know them.)

9 Links for Quechua Resources 1. Quechua: A thorough overview of different aspects of Quechua language and linguis8cs prepared by Paul Haggerty at the University of Cambridge. [Link] 2. Center for La8n American and Caribbean Studies at NYU, Quechua Language Study [Link] 3. UCLA s Digital Resources for the Study of Quechua [Link] 4. Online Quechua Radio sponsored by the Asociación Pukllasunchis [Link] 5. Yachakuqkunapa Simi Qullqa: A free online dic8onary of Quechua [Link]

10 Runasimita rimasunchis! Let s speak Quechua! For more informa8on, please contact Prof. Chad Howe chowe@uga.edu