An accessible text version of this interactive map follows below, with a table of contents for navigating to a specific language.
Table of Contents
- Quechua, South Bolivian
- Inga
- Kichwa, Cañar Highland
- Quechua, Huamalíes-Huánuco
- Quechua, Pastaza
- Quechua, Cuzco
- Quechua, Yauyos
- Quechua, Ancash Huayllas
- Quechua, Chachapoyas
- Additional Languages
Quechua Languages in the AILLA Archive
A chronological journey through the documentation of Quechua languages in the Archive of the Indigenous Languages of Latin America (AILLA) at the University of Texas at Austin.
This map features 9 languages with detailed slides, covering the Andes (Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru). An additional 6 languages are listed in the closing summary.
Slides are ordered chronologically by the start of dedicated documentation for each language in AILLA’s holdings.
Quechua, South Bolivian
South Bolivian Quechua is a Quechuan language spoken by approximately 1,616,000 people in Bolivia and Argentina. AILLA holds 302 items related to South Bolivian Quechua with only 140 publicly accessible, with the earliest dedicated documentation from 1969. The holdings include interviews, narratives, and ethnographic materials, with contributions from Gladys Camacho Rios’s Bolivian Quechua collection, Rosaleen Howard’s Quechua Languages Collection, and collections documenting verbal art and children’s speech in Chuquisaca.
- Also known as: Central Bolivian Quechua, Quechua Boliviano
- Countries: Argentina; Bolivia
- AILLA holdings: 307 items (145 publicly accessible), 11 collections
- Dates created: 1959-2021
- Dates deposited: 2009-2022
- ISO 639-3: quh
Inga
Inga is a Quechuan language spoken by approximately 22,000 people in the Putumayo and Nariño departments of Colombia. AILLA holds 58 items related to Inga, with the earliest dedicated documentation from 1975. The holdings are drawn from John McDowell’s Colombian Languages Collection, featuring songs, narratives, and conversations with transcriptions and translations into English.
- Countries: Colombia
- AILLA holdings: 60 items (59 publicly accessible), 2 collections
- Dates created: 1975-2003
- Dates deposited: 2002-2021
- ISO 639-3: inb
Kichwa, Cañar Highland
Cañar Highland Kichwa is a Quechuan language spoken by approximately 170,000 people in the Cañar, Azuay, and Chimborazo provinces of Ecuador. AILLA holds 85 items related to Cañar Highland Kichwa, with the earliest dedicated documentation from 1976. The holdings include narratives, music, photographs, and ethnographic materials, with contributions from Allison Adrian’s Cañari Music and Culture Collection, Rosaleen Howard’s oral narrative recordings, Judy Blankenship’s documentary photography, and Niels Fock and Eva Krener’s anthropological fieldwork from a Cañari village.
- Indigenous name: Kichwa Shimi
- Also known as: Quichua de la provincia de Cañar, Runa Shimi
- Countries: Ecuador
- AILLA holdings: 155 items (152 publicly accessible), 6 collections
- Dates created: 1967-2021
- Dates deposited: 2019-2022
- ISO 639-3: qxr
Quechua, Huamalíes-Huánuco
Huamalies-Huanuco Quechua is a Quechuan language spoken by approximately 44,900 people in the Huanuco region of Peru. AILLA holds 71 items related to Huamalies-Huanuco Quechua, with the earliest dedicated documentation from 1982. The entire collection comes from Rosaleen Howard’s Quechua Languages Collection, featuring oral narratives, field notes, conversations, and songs.
- Countries: Peru
- AILLA holdings: 71 items (66 publicly accessible), 1 collection
- Dates created: 1982-2011
- ISO 639-3: qvh
Quechua, Pastaza
Pastaza Quechua is a Quechuan language spoken by approximately 13,000 people in the Pastaza province of eastern Ecuador. AILLA holds 233 items related to Pastaza Quechua, with the earliest dedicated documentation from 1988. The holdings are predominantly narratives, drawn largely from Janis B. Nuckolls’s collection, which includes research on ideophones. Alexander Rice’s collection contributes recordings of Ecuadorian Lowland Quechua dialects.
- Also known as: Sarayucu Quichua, Alama, Bobonaza Quichua, Canelos Quichua, Pastaza Quichua
- Countries: Ecuador; Peru
- AILLA holdings: 236 items (217 publicly accessible), 3 collections
- Dates created: 1980-2019
- Dates deposited: 2002-2019
- ISO 639-3: qvz
Quechua, Cuzco
Cuzco Quechua is a Quechuan language spoken by approximately 668,000 people across several regions of southern Peru. AILLA holds 77 items related to Cuzco Quechua, with the earliest dedicated documentation from 1997. The holdings include interviews and elicitation materials drawn from Rosaleen Howard’s Quechua Languages Collection and The Speech of Children from Cusco and Chuquisaca collection.
- Also known as: Runasimi Qusqu Qullaw, Cuzco Quechua, Qheswa, Qheswasimi, Quechua de Cuzco-Collao, Quechua Qosqo-Qollaw, Runasimi
- Countries: Peru
- AILLA holdings: 83 items (81 publicly accessible), 5 collections
- Dates created: 1997-2013
- Dates deposited: 2005-2022
- ISO 639-3: quz
Quechua, Yauyos
Yauyos Quechua is a Quechuan language cluster spoken by approximately 600 people in the Yauyos province of Lima department, Peru. AILLA holds 222 items related to Yauyos Quechua, with the earliest dedicated documentation from 2010. The entire collection comes from Aviva Shimelman’s fieldwork, which documents multiple dialect varieties across communities including Viñac, Hongos, Lincha, Liscay, and Huangáscar. The holdings include narratives, interviews, conversations, and songs.
- Countries: Peru
- AILLA holdings: 226 items (220 publicly accessible), 1 collection
- Dates created: 2001-2014
- Dates deposited: 2010-2017
- ISO 639-3: qux
Quechua, Ancash Huayllas
Ancash Huayllas Quechua is a Central Quechuan language spoken by approximately 173,000 people in the Ancash region of Peru. AILLA holds 33 items related to Ancash Huayllas Quechua, with the earliest dedicated documentation from 2014. The holdings consist of ecological oral histories documenting climate change and glacier recession in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca mountains.
- Indigenous name: Ancash Qichwachaw
- Also known as: Quechua, Huaraz, Quechua
- Countries: Peru
- AILLA holdings: 33 items, 2 collections
- Dates created: 2014
- Dates deposited: 2007-2021
- ISO 639-3: qwh
Quechua, Chachapoyas
Chachapoyas Quechua is a Quechuan language spoken by approximately 840 people in the Amazonas region of Peru. AILLA holds 10 items related to Chachapoyas Quechua, with the earliest dedicated documentation from 2018. The holdings consist of the Chachapoyas Quechua Flora and Fauna collection, documenting over 600 unique terms collected across 8 villages in the provinces of Chachapoyas and Luya.
- Indigenous name: Llakwash
- Also known as: Amazonas
- Countries: Peru
- AILLA holdings: 10 items, 1 collection
- Dates created: 2018
- Dates deposited: 2019
- ISO 639-3: quk
Additional Languages
The following language has significant holdings in AILLA, but public materials account for fewer than 5 items:
Quichua, Tena Lowland (80 items, 3 public)
The following 5 languages in the Quechua family have fewer than 5 items in AILLA’s current holdings. As AILLA’s collections grow, these languages may be featured in future updates to this map.
Napo Quichua (1 item)
Quechua, Ayacucho (2 items, 1 public)
Quechua, Huallaga (1 item)
Quechua, Puno (2 items)
Quichua, Imbabura (1 item)
AI tools (Claude Code) were used for the collection and analysis of AILLA data, within the construction of the StoryMaps, and for translation (Google Cloud Translation API).