Tradicionalmente, el quechua descrito por Domingo de Santo Tomás en 1560 se ha contrastado con el quechua cuzqueño por la ausencia de una representación ortográfica para oclusivas complejas y por la presencia de sonorización posnasal de oclusivas escrita como <b>, <d> y <g>. Previamente no ha sido posible explicar por qué el autor escribe estas letras con aparente irregularidad, usándolas en algunos casos, pero usando <p>, <t> y <c> en otros. Este estudio demuestra que dicha alternancia no es irregular, sino que el uso de <bdg> versus <ptc> corresponde regularmente a la distinción de oclusivas simples versus complejas en quechuas modernos que cuentan con estos sonidos, como el quechua cuzqueño-boliviano. Este resultado de alta significancia estadística sugiere que el quechua descrito por Santo Tomás sí tenía contrastes entre co...

If the practice of referring to a single “Quechua language” is incorrect because it does not acknowledge the many distinct “Quechuan languages” spoken in the Andean countries, then how many are there? In this study we propose an approximate number based on an application of the most relevant criteria for the distinction between languages/dialects to the Quechuanist literature: (1) degree of mutual intelligibility, (2) phonological-morphosyntactic similarity, (3) lexical correspondence, (4) sociolinguistic perspectives, and (5) geographic fragmentation. Adding up each region individually, we arrive at a total of approximately 12~17 languages. This result highlights the diversity of the Quechuan family as much for linguistics as for public and community policies, which would be more successful if instead of promoting standardization, they valued this diversity.

If the practice of referring to a single “Quechua language” is incorrect because it does not acknowledge the many distinct “Quechuan languages” spoken in the Andean countries, then how many are there? In this study we propose an approximate number based on an application of the most relevant criteria for the distinction between languages/dialects to the Quechuanist literature: (1) degree of mutual intelligibility, (2) phonological-morphosyntactic similarity, (3) lexical correspondence, (4) sociolinguistic perspectives, and (5) geographic fragmentation. Adding up each region individually, we arrive at a total of approximately 12~17 languages. This result highlights the diversity of the Quechuan family as much for linguistics as for public and community policies, which would be more successful if instead of promoting standardization, they valued this diversity.

If the practice of referring to a single “Quechua language” is incorrect because it does not acknowledge the many distinct “Quechuan languages” spoken in the Andean countries, then how many are there? In this study we propose an approximate number based on an application of the most relevant criteria for the distinction between languages/dialects to the Quechuanist literature: (1) degree of mutual intelligibility, (2) phonological-morphosyntactic similarity, (3) lexical correspondence, (4) sociolinguistic perspectives, and (5) geographic fragmentation. Adding up each region individually, we arrive at a total of approximately 12~17 languages. This result highlights the diversity of the Quechuan family as much for linguistics as for public and community policies, which would be more successful if instead of promoting standardization, they valued this diversity.