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Quechua

Indigenous Languages of the Americas

Quechua, also called Runa Simi in Southern Quechua, is an indigenous language family that originated in central Peru and thereafter spread to other countries of the Andes.

Facts
ISO 639-3 Code
que 1
Speaker Count
7,200,000 1
Native speakers, family-wide estimate; other estimates run 8-10 million (2004).
Status
Living 1
Region
Central Andes: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru 1
Partially Attested
Attested From (Year)
from 1560 1
Domingo de Santo Tomas learned Quechua from 1540 and published the first grammar in 1560; the article calls his work the oldest written records of the language.
Classification
Official Status
Co-Official Language 1
Connections

In Family

Source Wikipedia: Quechuan Languages

Written In

Latin Script, Scripts

Quechua is standardly written in the Latin alphabet.

In the Other Atlases

Cases Where Used

Also in Divinity Atlas: used in this subject.

Also in Society and Culture Atlas: used in this subject.

Source Wikipedia: QuechuaLead paragraph of the cited Wikipedia articletier 3
Quote, Lead paragraph of the cited Wikipedia article
The Quechua people (, US also ; Spanish: [ˈketʃwa] ) , Quichua people or Kichwa people are indigenous peoples of South America who speak the Quechuan languages, which originated among the Indigenous people of Peru.

Found In

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Sources
1. Wikipedia: Quechuan Languages
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Lead section
    Quechua (; Spanish: [ˈketʃwa]), also called Runa simi in Southern Quechua (pronounced [ˈɾʊna ˈsɪmɪ], 'people's language'), is an indigenous language family that originated in central Peru and thereafter spread to other countries of the Andes.
  • Infobox, ISO 639-3
    que
  • Infobox, Speakers (Total)
    7.2 million native speakers
  • Official status
    In 1975, Peru became the first country to recognize Quechua as one of its official languages.
  • Infobox, Region
    Throughout the central Andes Mountains including Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
  • History, first written records
    He published his Grammatica o arte de la lengua general de los indios de los reynos del Perú (Grammar or Art of the General Language of the Indians of the Kingdoms of Peru) in 1560.
  • Lead section, official status
    the most-spoken or co-official language in many others
  • In Family: Quechuan, Lead
    Quechua (; Spanish: [ˈketʃwa]), also called Runa simi in Southern Quechua (pronounced [ˈɾʊna ˈsɪmɪ], 'people's language'), is an indigenous language family that originated in central Peru and thereafter spread to other countries of the Andes.
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