Quechua Lesson 7
Lesson
7 (qanchis ñiqin yachay)
Suffixes
and infixes.
As stated in the introduction, Quechua uses
morphemes to change the meaning of words (aso much as 300). These morphemes are
glued to the stem of a word, be it a noun, a verb or an adverb, and with each
addition the meaning changes. Also with these morphemes in Quechua one can make
a noun into a verb and vice versa.
The list of such morphemes is dauntingly long.
Many are not often used, however, and trying to master them all is unnecessary
for learning the language on the first level.
To simplify matters, I will try to use a
classification.
There are suffixes and infixes that:
A. change a verb, like the conjugations and
tenses. We already covered much of this.
There are others:
That make a noun out of a verb: llamka-y is to
work.
Llamka-y: the work
Llamka-q: the worker, -q meaning the there is a
doer.
Llamka-na: the tool and also the future work.
Llamka-sqa: What was worked on, the result of
working and also the place
Other examples that I have often heard:
Ranti-q: the buyer
Hamu-q: the one that comes
Puklla-q: the player
Many verbs can be changed in this way: Mikhu-y
is to eat
Mikhu-y: the food
Mikhu-q: the one that eats
Mikhu-na: the meal.
Kuchu-y is to cut. Kuchu-na is a knife.
Wata-y is to tie (with a rope); inti watana is
an observatory (literally, place to tie the sun; the place where the sun is
observed to measure, for example, time).
That makes a verb reflexive: -ku-. -ku can be
translated as: self
Yachay means to know. When you learn yourself
it becomes yacha-ku-y. Yacha-ku-ni runa-simi-ta: I learn Quechua, or
yachakusani runasimita: I am learning Quecha.
Mayllay is to wash. Mayllakuy is to wash
oneself. Mayllakuyta munasani: I want to wash myself. So: I want a bath!
Uyariy is to hear, uyarikuy is to hear oneself.
Mana uyarikuyta atinichu!: I can’t hear myself!
That give a direction: The infix –mu gives the
meaning of a direction (mostly to where the speaker is). It is often used in
verbs with weather conditions.
Paray is to rain. But when you will say that it
is raining here: para-mu-sa-n. (literally, rain-to here-ing. form-it);
R’itimusan: it snows; r’íti is snow. (Also:
literally, snow-to here-ing. form-it)
When it rains elsewhere, the verb para-y is
also used. So: para-n, means: it rains over there (not here).
B. Change a noun or an adjective like the
possessive suffixes. These have already been mentioned.
That make a verb out of a noun.
The most common and most important is –cha or
–chi, which means to make of: wasi-cha-y is to make a house. Wasichasani means
I am building a house. The main difference between -cha and -chi is that -cha
mens to make and -chi most of the time means to do make. Wasichiy is to have
make a house, in the way that you are causing others to to thing mentioned in
the stem of the word.
If you know a noun you can make it into a verb
by adding –cha or -chi.
If the verb para-cha-y existed, it would mean
to make rain (para is rain).
Nina-cha-y: to make a fire. Nina is fire.
Tanta-cha-y: to make bread. Tanta is bread
T’uru-cha-y: to make mud. T’uru is mud
Muspha-chi-y: to confuse, to bewilder.
Yacha-chi-y: to teach. Yacha-y is knowledge or
lesson (but also to know as a verb).
Note: The verb yacha-y also can mean: to live:
llaqtapi yachani, I live in a town.
Note that –cha also has the diminutive meaning
as stated just below.
But also a different meaning can derive: Qura
is grass, qurachay is to weed.
C. There are morphemes, attached to a noun that give a restriction:
C. There are morphemes, attached to a noun that give a restriction:
-cha: is diminutive: wasi – wasicha, a small
house
allqo – allqocha, a small dog
warmi-cha-lla-y-paq-mi: for my dear little
wife/woman. This form conveys the meaning of intimacy and love. (literally,
woman-diminutive-just-my-for-certainty)
-lla is limitative: wasi – wasilla, just a
house
allqolla – just a dog.
These are often combined: allqochalla or as
stated above: warmichallaypaqmi
-lla is also used limitative in: noqalla, just
me
Qamkunalla, just you (pl)
Limitative in space: kayllam Cuscu: Cusco is
near
Or in time: paqarillan: just tomorrow, or: only
tomorrow
Or that augment: -su
Wasi-su: a big house
Karu-su: very far
That makes plural: wasi-kuna: houses
That give the position of possessor (already
spoken of) with –yuq.
Wasikunayuq: someone who owns houses.
Llaqtakamayuq: the Major (literally,
town-authority-with)
Or state that there are many of them: -sapa
Wasisapa: with may houses
Rumisapa: stony (area) Rumi means stone.
Phuyusapa: with may clouds. Phuyu means cloud.
Note: These examples can also be expressed by
duplication of the word: rumi-rumi and phuyu-phuyu.
That connects: -wan
That connects: -wan
Mariawan, Marcelinawan, tayta Husiymi llaqtaman
risanku: Maria, Marcelina and father José are going to town.
As I said before, the list of suffixes and
infixes is very long and most interesting, in accordance to experts more than
300. But for learning the basics the list is only confusingly long. With the
few examples that are stated here, you can manage, without making too many
mistakes.
Quechua Lesson 8
Lesson
8 (pusaq ñiqin yachay)
Complex
sentences
As we grew up, more and more complex became the
language we used. Till now in this course very little complex sentences have
been used. But also in Quecha complex sentences may be built.
In this lesson I will cover the construction:
if (when) ………then, ….. in different forms.
In Quechua the basic construction depends on
the following traits:
the subjects of both parts of the complex
sentence.
the cause-effect relation, or concurrence in time.
the cause-effect relation, or concurrence in time.
The primary forms are –pti, -spa and –stin.
I. -pti is used when the subject is different
and there is a cause-effect relation. If (when) you want, I will come back
here: munaptiyki, kutimusaq. Kuti-y is to come back and –mu gives the meaning
“to here”. The form –pti is always used with a personal suffix. Kuti-mu-pti-nku
ri-saq, means: I will go when they come back here. The form with –pti comes
first in the sentence. So, there is the condition up front and the consequence
or effect of the condition behind. I earlier used as a model sentence: utkayta
rimaptiyki, mana hapiyta yachanichu, means: When you speak fast, I cannot
understand. So –pti can also be understood as an –ing form: you “speaking”
fast, et cetera.
Another example: rimaptiyku runasimita, Cuscopi
runakuna kusikunku, people in Cusco are glad when we speak Quechua, (litt.
Speak-ing-we(excl), Cusco-in men glad-self-they).
Waqa-sa-pti-n llaki-ku-rqa-ni, I became sad,
when she/he was weeping. Waqa-y means to weep and waqe is a tear. Llaki-ku-y
means to be sad. –ku, meaning self, making the verb reflexive.
Wañu-pti-y, pitaq waqanqa? Who will weep when I
die? Wañu-y is to die and waqa-y is to weep. (So litt. die-ing-I, who
weep-future form-he?)
II. -spa is used when the subject of both
sentences is the same. Because of that a personal suffix is optional. One of
the sentences already indicates the subject. Rimaspa(y) runasimita kusikuni: I
am glad when I speak Quechua. Or: Runasimita yachaspa(yki), imatataq ruwanki? ,
what will you do (for a living) when you know Quechua? Note that ruwanki is the
present tense, but also the future tense.
III. -stin expresses the concurrence in time of
the actions in both sentences expressed, without any cause-effect relation. For
instance: puristin takisani, I am walking while singing. With –stin no personal
suffix is used. Because of the simultaneousness, the infix –sa, the ing form,
is often used. Waqastin mikusarqaniku, while weeping we were eating.
IV. Of these forms also exist a more complex
form explicitly expressing a condition for the cause-effect relation: In case
you want, I will do (it): qam munapti-yki-qa, ruwasaq. -qa, giving the meaning
of the condition. Runasimita yachakusqa tukuspaqa, imatataq ruwasaq, What will
I do, when I have learned Quechua? Tuku-y means to have ended, so when
something is done. (lit. Quechua learned done-ing, what-and do-will-I).
V. Combined with –m or –mi, the form gets the
meaning of because: ni-pti-n-mi, ruwasaq, because he/she said (it), I will do
it. Ni-y is to say. Or: Ni-spa-m ruwa-nqa, because he says so, he will do it.
Ni-pti-n-mi mana-chu ruwa-nki-man?, would you not do it, because he says (it)?
(lit. say-ing form-he, not (rhetorical) do-you-would?
VI. Combined with –pas, the form gets the
meaning of although: ni-pti-y-pas, mana ruwa-nki-chu, although I say (it), you
will not do (it), or ni-spa-pas, ruwa-nqa, although he says it, he will do it.
There are some other forms to build complex
sentences:
VII. The form –na-personal suffix-kama has the
same meaning as –stin, so at the same time. Taki-ku-saq sama-na-n-kama I will
sing while he is resting.
VII. This form can also mean: until.
Taki-ku-sa-n-kama tia-ku-saq, means: until he sings, I will sit here.
VIII. The form –na-personal suffix-rayku means
to express the purpose. This is expressed with verbs that have motion
incorporated in itself: ashka yacha-ku-na-n-rayku Lima-ta ri-rqa, to learn
much, he went to Lima.
Hamu-ra-ni willa-wa-na-yki-rayku: I have come
so you can inform me. Willay is to inform –wa to me, lit: come-did-I inform-to
me-(na=untranslatable)you-because.
IX. With other verbs the form to express the
purpose is: –na-persnal suffix-paq.
Rima-sa-nku taki-na-nku-paq: they are talking
(about) what they will sing.
Taki-sa-ni kawsa-na-y-paq: I sing to live. (I
sing so I have a living). I am a singer.
Yacha-ku-sa-ni rima-na-y-paq runa-simi-ta: I am
studying so (with the purpose) I will be able to speak Quechua.
Llamkasani yachanaykipaq runasimita: I am
working so that you can learn Quechua.
Mana llamkasanichu samanaykipaq punchawnintin:
I do not work so you can be lazy (to rest) all day long.
Asisani kusikunaykipaq: I am laughing so that
you will be glad.
With these forms one can build most complex
sentences.
Ending (simikuna tukunaypaq)
This is my version of a simplified course in Quechua. I stated before that this course is by no means complete, but with the accompanying exercises, I believe that in one month and one hour a day, you should get on your feet in this language. Thereafter it is up to you to either take classes or buy some books.
This is my version of a simplified course in Quechua. I stated before that this course is by no means complete, but with the accompanying exercises, I believe that in one month and one hour a day, you should get on your feet in this language. Thereafter it is up to you to either take classes or buy some books.
This course will be updated and improved in
time. So you might visit my site again to see where improvements are made.
To end I will give a list of some useful books,
along with my commentary.
Introduction to Quechua, Language of the Andes,
by Judith Noble and Jaime Lacasa; Passport Books, Lincolnwood (Illinois), 1999.
Comment: This is the first book that I got to
learn Quechua. The section on grammar is insufficient, but the model sentences
are, when learned by heart, for a beginner a great help. I recorded this book
into my iPod to listen to it whenever I could and wherever I was. The book
comes with 1 cassette that is useful for proper pronunciation. My critique
afterwards is that it contains much “spanquech”. It mixes Spanish and Quechua
in a way that is not always helpful for learning the language proper. (The book
is written in 5-vowel)
Quechua, manual de enseñanza, Clodoaldo Soto
Ruiz, 3era ed. Lima IEP, 2006. (Lengua y Sociedad 4).
Comment: The book is in Spanish and comes with
2 MP3 discs of in total about 10 hours of spoken texts and exercises. The
grammar is presented rather casual. The book is mainly practical. My critique
is also that the spoken texts and exercises are spoken too fast for a beginner.
The rather poor sound quality does not help either. The big advantage of this
book are its endless exercises, boring in the beginning, very rewarding in the
end! (The book is written in 3-vowel)
PS: the problem of the CD’s that the language
is spoken to fast can be cured by downloading from the internet an audiobook
maker program. with such a program one may listen to the exercises (on the same
pitch) but they are played slower.
Rimaykullayki. Unterrichtsmaterialien zum Quechua Ayacuchano, Sabine Dedenback-Salazar Sáenz. Utta von Gleich, Roswith Hartmann, Peter Masson, Clodoaldo Soto Ruiz, Dietrich Reimer Verlag Berlin, 4e Aflage 2002.
Rimaykullayki. Unterrichtsmaterialien zum Quechua Ayacuchano, Sabine Dedenback-Salazar Sáenz. Utta von Gleich, Roswith Hartmann, Peter Masson, Clodoaldo Soto Ruiz, Dietrich Reimer Verlag Berlin, 4e Aflage 2002.
Comment: This book is in German. It is
essentially the same as the book of Ruiz mentioned before, but with one big and
important exception: It is very structured and has some exercises in it. To
learn the language properly if you want the material in a structured way, this
is the book. An English translation would be very welcome! (The book is written
in 5-vowel). Compared with the Manual de Enseñanza, the latter is the better
book because of the exercises and the first is the better book because of the
explanation of the grammar.
Curso de Quechua, 40 lecciones, Mario Mejía
Huamán, Universidad Ricardo Palma, Lima 2007, 2e.ed.
Commentary: This book is in Spanish and comes
with a CD. Mixed parts of grammar and exercises. Good perhaps for beginners,
but in the end just too little for full understanding. (The book is written
5-vowel)
Lonely Planet, Quechua Phrasebook, the language
of the Andes, Serafin. M. Coronel-Molina, Lonely Planet Publications, Footscray
Victoria 3011, Australia, 2002
Commentary: Small, handy phrasebook with some
grammar notes and lots of model sentences that often are not translated
literally. This book is for travelling, not for study. All Quechua sentences
are phonetically transcribed, which I find very annoying. If you cannot obtain
the dictionary mentioned next, you could make use of this book as a handy
dictionary as well. But do not expect to learn the language proper from this
book.
In a new edition of this book the 3-vowel
method of writing Quechua is used.
Diccionario Trilingüe Quechua de Cusco, Esteban
Hornberger S, Nancy H. Hornberger, Centro Bartolomé de Las Casas, CBC, Cusco,
2008.
Commentary: Dictionary Quechua > English and
Spanish, English > Quechua and Spanish > Quechua. Very handy book. Not
complete, but good enough for the mentioned first level and far beyond. But the
book has a lousy binding! This book uses also the 3 vowel method of writing
Quechua. (The book is written 3-vowel)
Interesting Links:
Interesting Links:
The site www.quechua.org.uk.co is edited by the
English linguist Paul Haggarty and holds very interesting information on the
language, the debate on 3- or 5-vowel writing and lots of other Quechua related
topics.
Tukuspa (ending)
Everybody has his/her own approach to learning
a language. My approach is that when the material is offered in a highly
structured way, like in Rimaykullayki, my results improve. But for learning to
talk and for pronunciation the Introduction to Quechua is good enough to begin
with and later on Quechua manual de Enseñanza is indispensable for practice.
Note: all books that I mentioned put little
effort in proper pronunciation. It is taken for granted that once told this is
enough. Westerners are not used to the Quechua way of pronunciation, i.e. that
one word through the glued infixes and suffixes is pronounced differently, so
that it is very easy, unless you are in class, to miss that point altogether.
Although I did my very best to put together a
faultless text, by no means I will state that there will be no flaws, errors
or/and omissions. I you feel that something is wrong or should be added or
changed, please mail me. I will not take offence. It can only lead to
improvement.
This is the end of this course.
This is the end of this course.
Introduction Quechua
Language 4 and 5 lessons
I have prepared a simple grammar course of 8 lessons.
Remember that in coming to Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and other places where
this language is spoken, people are extremely pleased if you can talk with them
in their own language, be it even on a simple level.
If you have any comments titqaq@gmail.com
Bonus: Quechua PDF https://bit.ly/2tFwZ5x
