Qusqu-Qullaw
Encyclopedia
Qusqu-Qullaw is a variety of the Quechua language family
, spoken throughout southern Peru
(departments of Cusco
and Puno
), Bolivia
, and northern Argentina
, including the prestige dialect
of Cusco Quechua
. With about four million speakers, it is one of the largest dialects, along with Ayacucho Quechua
. The literary standard of Southern Quechua
is based on these two closely related Quechua varieties.
Quechua languages
Quechua is a Native South American language family and dialect cluster spoken primarily in the Andes of South America, derived from an original common ancestor language, Proto-Quechua. It is the most widely spoken language family of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a total of probably...
, spoken throughout southern Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
(departments of Cusco
Cusco Region
Cusco is a region in Peru. It is bordered by the Ucayali Region on the north; the Madre de Dios and Puno regions on the east; the Arequipa Region on the south; and the Apurímac, Ayacucho and Junín regions on the west...
and Puno
Puno Region
Puno is a region in southeastern Peru. It is bordered by Bolivia on the east, the Madre de Dios Region on the north, the Cusco and Arequipa regions on the west, the Moquegua Region on the southwest, and the Tacna Region on the south...
), Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
, and northern Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, including the prestige dialect
Prestige dialect
In sociolinguistics, prestige describes the level of respect accorded to a language or dialect as compared to that of other languages or dialects in a speech community. The concept of prestige in sociolinguistics is closely related to that of prestige or class within a society...
of Cusco Quechua
Cusco Quechua
Cusco Quechua is a dialect of the Southern Quechua language, more specifically Qusqu-Qullaw Quechua, spoken in city and the department of Cusco....
. With about four million speakers, it is one of the largest dialects, along with Ayacucho Quechua
Ayacucho Quechua
Ayacucho is one dialect of the Quechua language, spoken in the Ayacucho region of Peru, as well as by immigrants from Ayacucho in Lima. With roughly a million speakers, it is one of the largest dialects of the language along with Cusco Quechua...
. The literary standard of Southern Quechua
Southern Quechua
Southern Quechua , or only Quechua, is the most widely spoken of the major regional groupings of mutually intelligible dialects within the Quechua language family, with about 5 million speakers...
is based on these two closely related Quechua varieties.