Introduction Quechua Language 2;3

Introduction Quechua Language 2;3

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

Quechua, Simplified Language Courses 2 and 3.

Quechua Lesson 2

Lesson 2 (iskay ñiqin yachay)

I am afraid that some rules and words have to be learned. But there is an escape. If you are willing to speak these lessons on a tape and put them into your Ipod, cell phone or another device, you can listen to and replay them in your car or in bed, you will learn faster and far more easily.

We go on.

I	noqa
you	qan of qam
He/she	pay
We (excl)	noqa-yku
We (incl)	noqa-nchis
You (plural)	qan-kuna
They	pay-kuna

This is the normal arrangement every language uses on the basis of Latin Grammar. But for Quechua a better arrangement is the following:

I	noqa
we (excl)	noqa–yku
we (incl)	noqa-nchis
you	qan or qam
you (plural)	qam-kuna
he/she/it	pay
they	pay-kuna

The reason to put it this way is that lateron the logic of the conjugation of verbs is much easier to understand and thus to remember.

The Quechua language has two words for “we.” The first (excl: noqa-yku) is used when the speaker talks about We and is excluding the person(s) addressed. The second (incl: noqa-nchis), is when the speaker talks about We and includes the person(s) addressed. The Lord’s Prayer, Our Father who et cetera in Quechua begins with: Tayta-nchis, (literally, father-our (incl)), Our (inclusive, so of all beings) Father. It is also the name of the initiation Creator Rites called Taytanchis.

Here we see the plural marker –kuna. In Quechua -s as a plural marker is used like in Spanish and most other languages. This –s as plural marker is what I call Spanquech, often used with words that are borrowed from Spanish. The original plural marker in Quechua is -kuna. For example runa means man, runa-kuna means men. Warmi means woman, warmi-kuna means women. Warma means child, warma-kuna means children, et cetera.

but: uh runa, iskay runa, kimsa runa, et cetera is also possible, or:

Uh warmi, iskay warmi, kimsa warmi, et cetera. In cases like these the number indicates the plural. Also the verb does not have to be conjugated in plural then: for instance: Iskay warmikuna takisanku (two women are singing), but also iskay warmi takisan is good. This form is very often used. But to say iskay warmi takisanku is not right.

Note: The influence of Spanish on Quechua makes plural forms with –s quite common. So in the city you might hear runas as a plural for runa (man). In proper Quechua, however, the suffix –s has nothing to do with plural; it is a suffix that means that what is said is based on hearsay. So runa-s wasi-n-man ri-n, would mean: it is said that the man, or they say that the man goes to his house (literally, man-is-said-of, house-his-to go-he).

Model sentence: Are you married? This question will be asked early in the conversation. In Quechua this will be: to a male: warmi-yuq kankichu?

To a female: qhusa-yuq ka-nki-chu?

Qhusa is husband. Here a characteristic of Quechua comes to the fore. The sentence translated literally says: husband-with be-you (chu marks this as a question). This is further elaborated on in Lesson 3.

Here we encounter the very important verb ka-y or kasa-y. Both mean to be and they are used mostly interchangeable. There is a difference however. Kay is used for a more permanent situation and kasay for impermanence. For instance: Unqusqa runa kani means that I am a man that is always sick. Unqusqa runa kasani, would mean that I am being sick only now.

We also encounter the question marker –chu. –chu is always used to mark that the sentence holds a question. An exception to this rule is when question words are used: what, how, when etc. (More about this later.)

Ka-nki, means you are. So ka-nki-chu: are you?

All verbs in Quechua are regular. There are no exceptions like in most other languages. If you know one, you know them all! This is a great help to learn the language.

I demonstrate this with the verb ka-y, to be and ka-sa-y, also to be. The present tense is:

I am	Ka-ni	Ka-sa-ni
We excl are	Ka-niku*	Ka-sa-niku*
We incl are	Ka-nchis	Ka-sa–nchis
You are	Ka-nki	Ka-sa–nki
You pl. are	Ka-nkichis	Ka-sa-nkichis
He is	Ka-n	Ka-sa-n
They are	Ka-nku	Ka-sa–nku

*Note Ka-sa-niku (ka-niku) is “we are,” but also in some dialects the form ka-sa-yku (ka-yku) exists.

Note: remember that the emphasis of a two-syllable word is always is on the first syllable. In a word with three syllables, it is always on the middle syllable.

Note again that the emphasis in pronunciation has nothing to do with the building of the word. The spoken syllables do not coincide with the building blocks!

Note that in the spoken form of Quechua words as ka-yku, ka-sa-yku, and always when there is a form with …..ay…… it is spoken as ay. But I mentioned that sometimes the original form is more or less kept by prolonging the vowels a little bit so they still can be discerned as separate.

The infix –sa, has the meaning that things are in the course 

of happening. It is the equivalent of –ing in the progressive form of the English language. Whenever in English one would use the form with –ing, in Qechua it is save to use the infix –sa. It can be used in almost every verb. The pronunciation of -sa is as -sha or -sia. So kasani phonetically is pronounced as “kasiani”. Some Quechua speakers also write it in this way. In the several dialects the infix -sa is written quite different, like in the Ayacucho form: -chka, then kasani is written as kachkani.

The use of the infix -sa is very common. For example: the verb muna-y. This seems the most versatile verb that exists in Quechua. It can have the meaning of to want, to like, to love. If you want to say that you like to do something, one can use a construction with muna-sa-ni, I want, like, love et cetera.

Sama-y-ta muna-sa-ni: I want to rest. Mikhu-y-ta muna-sa-ni: I like to eat. The construction is: stem-infinitive marker-object marker and then the verb form of what is wanted. Do you want to eat: mikhu-y-ta muna-nki-chu? If you speak too fast, I can(lit. know) not understand you: utkayta rima-pti-yki, mana hapi-y-ta yacha-ni-chu. (literally, Fast speak-ing form(for complex sentences)-you, not hold-inf. marker-object marker know-I-negative marker. Rima-y is to speak, Hapi-y is to hold, to grab and to understand). Yacha-y is to know, often used in the sense of to be able to. To be able, can, is ati-y

The suffix -ta is an object marker. It is used to delineate the object of a sentence or as an adverb marker. Yacha-ku-sa-ni runa-simi-ta means I am learning Quechua, (lit. know-self-ing,form-I man-tongue-object marker) runasimita is the object of the sentence. This also applies to adverbs: Runasimita ancha sumaqta rimasanki, you speak very beautiful Quechua. Sumaq is beautiful and to make it an adverb the suffix –ta is added.

The form kan, (he/she/it is) is never used in affirmative statements. For example, if you want to say that a person is tall, one would say: pay-qa suni and never payqa suni kan. This applies only to the third person singular in the present tense. If another tense, past or future is applied, the third person form of the verb is used. In the third person plural the use of this form: kanku is optional, pay-kuna-qa hatun (ka-nku), they are big, the form ka-nku is optional, but in a negative statement or with the question marker –chu, kanku needs to be used: are they tall?: pay-kuna-qa suni ka-nku-chu?

I wrote: pay-qa suni. –qa is an emphatic particle, a sort of filler, without meaning in itself, but stressing the topic. For proper Quechua it should be used, but everyone will understand you when you would say: pay suni.

In sentences with questions the form kan is always used: unu ka-n-chu? means: Is there water? Or kuñi unu kan-chu? Is there hot water? Or unu timpu-sqa ka-n-chu, is there boiled water?

Words related to location

The main words are:

Kay: here, this

Chay: there, that

Hakay: over there (further away), also wakay.

Kay-neh-pi: here around (-pi: in)

Examples: Kay runa Pidru-m: This man is Pedro. Note that kan (he is) is omitted.

In cases like this the official Quechua form is: Kay runa-qa Pedru-m. The euphonic particles, that also stres the amount of security of the speaker are -qa and -m or -mi. It is –m after a vowel or –mi after a consonant. Chay runaqa Raulmi. That man is Raoul. But everybody will understand as you say Kay runa Raul, even though it is not quite correct.

Kay-nih-pi huk mikhu-y wasi ka-n-chu? Is there a restaurant around here?

(literally, here-around one infinitive marker house  is-it-Q marker).

These are often used in combination with interrogative particles as shown below.

The most common interrogative particles are:

Ima: what

Imay: what?

Imayna: how?

Imaynapi: how much?

Imanasqa: why?

May- where? (along with other suffixes that point out direction)

Maylaw: Which side?

Maylawpi: at which side?

Mayna: how big?

Maychika: how much? (with general attribution see examples*

Mayqen/Mayqan: which?

Hayka: how many?

Haykapi: When, at what time?

Pi: who?

Note that -pi is “in” and “who?” The actual meaning is derived from the context. Wasi-pi: in the house. Holanda-pi: in Holland. But: Pi-taq kay runa? Who is this man?

These question words are in sentence always used with –taq.

Some other less common interrogative particles:

Imamantataq: because of what?

Imapaq: what for?

Imaynapikama: for how much?

Mayna: how big?

Mayninta: through what? Maynintataq chay ñan rin? Through what goes this road?

These interrogative particles are used with the suffixes –taq (and) or –m or mi (-m stresses more, but in itself it is untranslatable)

Examples: Imataq kay? What is this?

Imataq chay? What is that?

Imataq hakay? What is that over there?

Imay urataq hamun? When does he come?

Pitaq Pidro? Who is Pedro?

Maychika sibulla? How much onions?

Haykataq sulis? How much money? (Sol being the name of the Peruvian currency).

Note: When an interrogative particle is used, the question marker –chu cannot be used.

Someone and something are also composed with ima:

Someone: pipas and no one: mana pipas

Something: imapas and nothing: mana imapas. (-chu is omitted here)

Quechua Lesson 3

Lesson 3 (Kimsa ñiqin Yachay)

Singularities of the Quechua language

In this lesson I will cover some singularities of the Quechua Language. This was also the reason to pick up learning it. I was wondering if the language itself has any impact on the thinking and perceiving the world of the Q’ero. You cannot ask them of course. This lesson contains some of the findings on my question.

The Verb to have

In Quechua there is no verb for “to have.” If one wants to say that one has something, other constructions are used. They all have one characteristic trait: The subject who has something is made the object with whom something (that is had) is. Instead of having things, in Quechua, things are “with you”. Quechua is not unique in this way of expressing possession, because I was told that other languages, as f.i. Tibetan and Hungarian, have it also. But nevertheless!

Some people may find this too far off, but it is my opinion that our way of expressing a possessive relation also has shaped our thinking about the meaning of possession itself. This means that in Quechua the way of expressing a relationship that we, shaped by our way of thinking, call a possessive relation, need not have the same feeling going with it for the native Quechua speaker.

Warmi-yuq ka-nki-chu? Means wife-with be-you?, so: Are you married (spoken to a man). The answer can be Yes: Arí, warmi-yuq ka-ni. Wife-with be-I. Or: Mana warmi-yuq ka-ni-chu: no wife-with be-I-(negation marker), (a man speaking).

Warma-kuna-yuq ka-nki-chu? Do you have children?

You can do this with children, cars, books, etc. Everything a person can possess in our way of thinking, fits in this construction, even something like authority. Are you the boss: kama-yuq ka-nki-chu? Kama means authority, power. Llaqta means town, so Llaqta-kama-yuq ka-nki-chu: Town-authority-with be-you?, addresses the major.

A second way to say that one has something is to use the preposition –paq, which means: for. For me: noqa-paq, for your: qan-paq, etc., for them: pay-kuna-paq, wich is understood by us as: Mine, yours and theirs. This way is to say that someone has something literally says that the thing one has is there for him. “I have a house” in Quechua is in this way noqa-paq wasi-y ka-sa-n, which literally means: I-for house-I be-ing. form-it. Here the original subject has really become the object of the “being” of the house. Although this seems a little bit strange, I believe that this is a basic and most important characteristic of Quechua. If one is not the subject having things, but the object things are with, the thinking about having things changes completely. This provides insight into Andean and Q’ero sense of reality. The only way I can explain this for our understanding is how the owner of an fine old Italian violin like a Stradivari or Guarneri talks about his instrument: he does not have it, he feels more like a passing person in the life of the violin. Violin players often talk this way of their instrument. The Quechua language expresses this kind feeling for all objects or things, that we say that we have.

In what is a more or less animistic tradition everything has spirit, even a house or things acquired, like riches. All the things you “have” in a Western frame of mind, are simply “with you” (or not with you) to the speaker of Quechua. Essentially this means that nothing is yours altogether. You are the steward of things, not the owner!

There is another, third way to express the possessive connection, namely with the suffix –pa, which means of. Noqa-pa wasi-y, (lit. I-of house-I), so my house. This is very much alike the second construction, but uses a different suffix. The suffixes –pa and -paq are different, meaning of and for, but here they are used in almost the same sense.

Articles

Another typical feature of Quechua is that there are no articles. “The” and “a (an)” do not exist. Sometimes huk (one) is used to express the meaning that an undefined someone has done something, or that something exists as a general example.

So, in Quechua you cannot say “The Apu.” In a way Apu is not individualized. Apu is more a concept than a thing; the name is like a pointer that gives the idea of Apu. Of course Apu’s are named, like Apu Ausangate and Apu Salkantay. But it would miss the whole point to speak of “The” Apu Salkantay.

This applies to all nouns in Quechua. Runa means man and the word conveys the idea of man rather than the individualized person. Of course words can have what is called a possessive suffix like mesa-yki, your mesa, but still it conveys the idea of mesa, that is “with-you” as pointed out before. The so called possessive suffix for I, you, etcetera in Quechua is better seen as stating a relationship between the person and the object.

In Quechua, “I have a mesa” would be mesa-y ka-pu-wa-n (literally, mesa-I be-for-me-it), or more stressed: mesa-yki kan-chu? Do you have a mesa? (mesa-you be-it?) Arí, mesa-y ka-pu-wa-n. (Yes. mesa-I be-for-me-it), or mesa-y kasan, (mesa-I is) This is also the fourth way to say that someone has something. By the way, if you are beleagered by offensive sellers, the best way to serve them off is to say: kapuwan. I have it, litterally: it is there for me (already).

Gender

A last characteristic that I will mention here is that in Quechua words are not put into categories based on gender, as they are for instance in many other languages, like Spanish and German, and even English. But in English it is more difficult to discern the gender of a word and nowadays many people do not even know of the gender of a word anymore. Of course a word can have a meaning that is only pointing to a male or female subject, like man or woman. If you want to attach the special quality of female, for example to animals, male is urqu and female is china. A china wallpa is a hen and an urqu wallpa is a cock. (Note that the street meaning for cock in Quechua is pisco (bird). Quechua is not unique in not assigning gender to words. In Chinese it is the same. But in a way this is very important. In languages with strong emphasis on the gender of words, like Spanish and German, all kind of masculine and feminine qualities get attached to the subtle meaning of the words, according to the gender. This is not the case in Quechua. The Quechua language is quite neutral in this respect.

That does not mean that Quechua is in any way an unsophisticated language. Through the use of the many suffixes and infixes (around 300 in Inca age)Quechua is able to express very subtle meanings that in other languages only can be expressed by using voice modulation. I already used the example of the word rimaykullayki (I greet you in a friendly way). In the word itself is incorporated meaning that in other languages would have to be expressed either by a subordinated sentence or through voice modulation, as in the friendly, diminutive way you greet someone else. This is expressed in this case through –yku-lla-. -yku in this case meaning an intensive form, but in itself untranslatable and -lla, conveying the idea of something dear, like in allqoychalla, my dear little dog, or munasqaylla, my dear loved one, my beloved. Sometimes (in fact very often) these morphemes are untranslatable and only the subtle meaning is conveyed. For beginners it may be hazardous to use this if you do not know exactly what feeling should be conveyed by the infix or suffix.

This also means that Quechua can be spoken in a rather “dull” way, not using frequent voice modulations, as we do, while in the meantime often more meaning than in English is “packed” into the words themselves.

If you have any comments titqaq@gmail.com

Bonus: Quechua PDF  https://bit.ly/2tFwZ5x