# Introduction to Quechua/Pronunciation

Introduction to Quechua
Introduction: this is an introductory lesson. It should teach students how to pronounce Quechua and how to write Quechua. Near the end of this lecture, you will find a dictionary and place for global discussions.
Alphabet
The Quechua alphabet is the following :
a, ch, e, f, q, i, j, k, l, ll, m, n, ñ, o, p, r, s, t, u, w, y
Some letters are not used to write Quechua : b, c, d, g, v, x, z
Pronunciation
Pronunciation rules
A simplified notation of the International Phonetic Alphabet is used, accordingly to the one chosen in "Grammaire Quechuane" from Roparz Hemon (Al Liamm - 1984).
Quechua pronunciation
Simplified IPAQuechua spellingEnglish spellingOther
a
a
a (car)
ch
ch
sh (shield)
e
e
e (red)
f
f
f (foot)
k
q
k (keel)
i
i
i (engine)
j
j
y (yatagan)
k
k
k (keel)
l
l
l (long)
l'
ll
None
ll (Spanish : llano)
m
m
m (more)
n
n
n (night)
n'
ñ
None
gn (French : gagne)
o
o
o (pot)
p
p
p (park)
r
r
None
r (French: rire)
s
s
s (son)
t
t
t (tea)
u
u
oo (pool)
ou (French: tout)
w
w
w (twin)
y
y
y (yatagan)
Here write down your own explanation of the pronunciation if you feel it different from that one up:
Because Quechua was only recently transcribed into a Latin alphabet, it does not suffer from non-phonetic spellings like English; instead, what you see is what you say. In this course we will use the Quechua writing system as approved by the Peruvian government in 1985.
Vowels
There are only three vowel phonemes in Quechua: /i/ (front close unrounded), /a/ (central open unrounded), /u/ (back close rounded), forming a triangular system with two degrees of openness (open and close). In contrast, Spanish has a 5-vowel triangular system (i, e, a, o, u), with three degrees of openness (open, mid and close).
Note this means that e and o are phonemic in Spanish but not in Quechua where they are merely allophonic variants of /i/ and /u/; this is because those vowels contrast and distinguish words in Spanish, so in Spanish it makes sense to spell them differently, but this is not true for Quechua, where the choice of [i]/[e] and of [u]/[o] is determined purely by the phonetic environment in which the phonemes /i/ and /u/ appear and not by meaning.
Strange as it may seem to Westerners to have so few vowels and to not distinguish e and o as independent vowels, Quechua vowel system is far from rare or unique, as several other languages from different parts of the world, such as Classical Arabic and Inuktitut, feature analogous 3-vowel systems.
Phoneme
Spelling
Sound
Example
IPA
X-SAMPA
Similar to English
/a/
a
[a] [ɑ] (*)
[a] [A] (*)
ah; a as in father o as in (American) hot
akupana (sunset) qatiq (descendant)
/i/
i
[i] [e] (*)
[i] [e] (*)
ee, as in bee e as in met
isanka (basket) qatiq (descendant)
/u/
u
[u] [o] (*)
[u] [o] (*)
oo as in boot aw as in saw
trawu (alcohol) waylluq (lover)
(*) When in the vicinity of uvular consonants (q, q', qh)
Consonants
Most Quechuan consonants are similar to their English conterparts, however some people may have trouble with glottal stops.
IPA
X-SAMPA
Sound
English
Quechua
Example
Translation
p
p
p
p, as in pot
p
Puka
Red
t
t
t
t, as in stamp
t
Taki
Song
tʃ
tS
ch
ch, as in chat
ch
Machu
Old
k
k
k
k, as in king
k
Mallki Mallki
Forest
s
s
s
s, as in sit
s
Sunqu
Heart
q
q
similar to a k but further down the throat
(no English equivalent)
q
Qillqay
To write
h
h
h
h, as in hug
h
Harawi
Poem
m
m
m
m, as in mate
m
K'allma
Branch
n
n
n
n, as in band
n
Manka
Pot
ɲ
J
similar to ny
ny, as in canyon
ñ
Ñaqch'a
Comb
l
l
l
l, as in live
l
Lawa
Soup
ʎ
L
similar to ly
lli, as in million
ll
Llank'a
Job
r
r
r
r
Rap'a
Page
w
w
w
w, as in wing
w
Wanp'u
Boat
j
j
y
y, as in yes
y
Yaykuy
To get up
For loanwords, Quechua can use b,c (as in jam), d, f, g, x (as in khan) and z (as in throw).
Basic dictionary
Yupay -- Counting -- Contar
Listen to the sounds by down loading the files (size shown in Kilo Bytes) --
Escuche a la sonida (indicamos el tamaño en KB)
1 Juq (Juk, hoq)
2 Iskay (iskai)
3 Kinsa (Kimsa)
4 Tawa
5 Pichq'a (pisqa)
6 Soqta
7 K'anchis (qanchis)
8 Pusac (pusaq)
9 Isqon (isk'un)
10 Chunka
L L i m p i k u n a -- Colors -- Colores
yellow ballK'ello (q'ellu) = Yellow, Amarillo.
blue ballAnqas (Anjas) = Blue, Azul.
white ballYuraq = White, Blanco.
black ballYana = Black, Negro.
gray ballKosñi (q'osñi) = smoke-Gray, Gris.
light gray (oqe) (light gray)
red ballPuka = Red, Rojo.
green ballQ'omer = Green, Verde.
purple ballKulli = Purple, Morado.
brown ballCh'umpi = Brown, Marrón.
Pronunciation for English Speakers
Vowels Sounds
They are similar to:
ay = eye
aw = ou t
ey = ei ght
iy = ea t
oy = Oi nk
uy = whea t
Consonants Sounds
Are hard to learn without hearing Quechua. If you sound like a German, making hard consonant sounds while clearing your throat, you're getting close. "ll" and ñ are special letters from the Spanish alphabet; "ll" has an ly sound as in William; ñ sounds like the first n in onion.
The Accented syllable is similar to Spanish, (with the stress on the second to last syllable, unless there is an accent mark), except for words that end with "Y".
The pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and spelling varies between different Quechua dialects. Native Quechua speakers from different countries or even different provinces are sometimes suprised when they talk with each other, and find how varied their language is. :
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