Quechua alphabet

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The Quechua alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet. It is used to write Quechua languages.

Current orthography

For native words

The number of letters employed in the Quechua alphabet highly depends on the Quechua dialect. However, in general, the following are the core letters used:

Uppercase A Ch H I K L Ll M N Ñ P Q S T U W Y
lowercase a ch h i k l ll m n ñ p q s t u w y
IPA æ ɑ h ɪ ɛ k l ʎ m n ɲ p q s t ʊ ɔ w j

In Ecuador and Bolivia, though, J(j) is used instead of H(h), as ⟨h⟩ and ⟨ʼ⟩ are used to express affricate and ejective sounds:

Uppercase Chh Ch' Kh K' Ph P' Qh Q' Sh Sh' Th T'
lowercase chh ch' kh k' ph p' qh q' sh sh' th t'
IPA tʃʰ tʃʼ ʃ ʂ

In some dialects, the [ɪ ɛ] and [ʊ ɔ] variations are distinguished with the use of ⟨e⟩ and ⟨o⟩, respectively, resulting in the use of five vowel letters instead of three. In some dialects, the vowel lengths are distinguished by doubling the vowel letter to indicate it as a long vowel:

Uppercase Aa Ii Uu Ee Oo
lowercase aa ii uu ee oo
IPA æː ɑː ɪː ɛː ʊː ɔː ɛː ɔː

In yet other dialects, with additional sounds, additional letters are employed:

Uppercase Tr' Ts Z
lowercase tr' ts z
IPA ts z

For loanwords

Quechua employs additional letters to write loanwords, mainly originating from Spanish. In careful speech, the letters may represent a Spanish sound, but generally are substituted with a native sound.

Uppercase B D Ø[citation needed] E F Ph G I Kw O R Rr Tr U V W Y
lowercase b d Ø e f ph g i kw o r rr tr u v w y
IPA /b/ /d/ /d/ // [ɛ] [ɪ] /f/ /f/ /ɡ/ /i/ /ɪ/ /kw/ // [ɔ] [ʊ] /d/~/ɾ/ /r/ /tɾ/ /u/ /ʊ/ /b/~/w/ /b/ /ɡ/

For phonetic transcription

For phonetic transcription, four additional letters are used:

Uppercase Č Ĉ Š Ž
lowercase č ĉ š ž
IPA ʃ ʒ

See also

External links