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    Georges Simenon

    The chart below shows the ways in which IPA represents the pronunciations of Quechuan languages in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see Template:IPA and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

    A superscript flag Cusco signals a sound or spelling found specifically in the Cuzco-Collao varieties, Department of Ayacucho is for Ayacucho Quechua, Ancash is for Ancash Quechua, c is for Chachapoyas Quechua and Department of Junín is for Wanka Quechua.

    Consonants
    IPA Orthography Examples English approximation
    dʒ llc llusha[1] job
    h h huñuy, muhu house
    j y yana, paya, ayni, kay yes
    k k kuntur, puka, chakra, wanka, wak[2][3] scat
    kʰ kh Cusco khuyay, ukhu cat
    kʼ k' Cusco k'ispa, nak'ay like scat, but with a restriction of air
    l l layu, q'ala lamp
    ʎ ll llapa, allin, allqu, chunchull[4] similar to billion; equal to Italian figlio
    m m marka, ama, pampa, qam map
    n n nina, nanay, anta, ancha[5] none
    ɲ ñ ñit'iy, wiñay, qiñwa similar to canyon
    ŋ n anka, purin, pampa[5][6] sing
    ɴ n anqas[5] similar to sing, but further back
    p p pirqa, papa, sapsa[2][3] spat
    pʰ ph Cusco phiña, iphu pan
    pʼ p' Cusco p'unchaw, sip'u, hamp'atu like spat, but with a restriction of air
    q q qullqi, ñuqa, waqra, kamayuq[2][7][8] similar to scud, but deeper in the throat
    χ Department of Ayacucho similar to loch, but further back
    ʔ ~ h ~ x ~ ∅ Department of Junín either like the stop between uh-oh or happy
    qʰ qh Cusco qhapaq, aqha similar to scud, but deeper in the throat
    qʼ q' Cusco q'isa, suq'u, hamanq'ay similar to scud, but with a restriction of air
    ɾ r runtu, uray, turpay, yawar like atom in American English
    s s sunqu, wasi, iskay, añas son
    s̠ ~ s̺ Department of Junín[9] sh shunqu between son and shave
    ʃ Ancash shave
    ʃ Cusco chka / sha kachkanki / kashanki, qhichwa[9]
    t t tinku, pata, utkhu[2][3] stop
    tʰ th Cusco thamay top
    tʼ t' Cusco t'utura, t'uqyay like stunt, but with a restriction of air
    ts ts Ancash tsiqtsi, patsa, atska[10] tsunami
    tʃ ch chunka, pacha, achka[2] eschew
    tʃʰ chh Cusco chhalla child
    tʃʼ ch' Cusco ch'aska like eschew, but with a restriction of air
    tʂ ćh / tr Department of Junín ćhaki / traki like eschew, but with a retracted tongue
    w w wañuy, away, kawsay, alalaw water
    ʒ llc killa, kullki, sallka[1] measure
    Non-native consonants
    b b binsiy, kabra bet
    d d dusi, radyu dice
    ɡ g gustay, iigus guts
    f f familya fern
    ʐ rr irriru like pleasure, but with a retracted tongue
    Stress
    ˈ sometimes ◌́ manam [ˈmanam], mamalláy [mamaˈʎaj] London [ˈlʌndən]
    Syllable break
    . chakra [ˈtʃak.ɾa] flower /ˈflaʊ.ər/(contrasting with flour /ˈflaʊər/)
    Vowels
    IPA Orthography Examples English approximation
    a a karu, yuraq trap
    aː aa qaara similar to father
    i i nina[11] lip
    iː ii miitu see
    uy Ancashc llumtsuy, luychu[12]
    eː ay Ancashc tayta say in Northern British English
    ɛ i irqi[13] pet
    oː aw Ancashc chawpi no in Northern British English
    ɔ u Qusqu, urqu[14] similar to off
    u u kusi[15] hook
    uː uu puukay cool
    Reduced vowels
    ə uc -kuna comma

    Notes

    1. ^ a b In all Chachapoyas Quechua varieties, except the Granada-Olleros one, /ʎ/ is realised as [dʒ] word-initially, but simply as [ʒ] word-internally: killa [kiʒa], kullki [kuʒki].
    2. ^ a b c d e In the Cuzco-Collao varieties, the stops /p, t, k, q/ and the affricate /t͡ʃ/ are spirantised as [ɸ, s, x, χ] and [s ~ ʃ] at the end of the syllable.
    3. ^ a b c In the Chachapoyas Quechua varieties, the stops /p, t, k/ are voiced after nasals, becoming [b, d, ɡ]: shunku [ʃuŋɡu].
    4. ^ In the Cuzco-Collao varieties, the lateral approximant /ʎ/ becomes [l] at the end of the syllable.
    5. ^ a b c Syllable-final /n/ is realised as [ŋ], except before homorganic consonants. Other allophones of /n/ include [ŋ] in front of /k/ and [ɴ] in front of /q/.
    6. ^ In the Cuzco-Collao varieties, /m/ is pronounced as [ŋ] at the end of the syllable. Moreover, in Ayacucho Quechua, syllable-final /m/ turns into [ŋ] whenever it is in front of /m, tʃ, w/*. In the eastern varieties of Ayacucho Quechua, /m/ also turns into [ŋ] only before /p/.
    7. ^ In Ancash Quechua, /q/ is pronounced as [q] in all positions for the Callejón de Huaylas variety, and sometimes it gets spirantised [χ] at the end of the syllable. In most other places, it is realised as [ʁ], keeping its spirantisation process in syllable-final position. The Corongo variety also realises it as [χ] syllable-initially.
    8. ^ The way /q/ is realised depends on the variety of Wanka Quechua one speaks. Jauja Quechua usually pronounces it as [x ~ h], except after fricatives, where it normally disappears. In the rest of varieties—such as those of Concepción and Huancayo—/q/ is normally realised as zero [∅] at the beginnings of words, and [ʔ] mostly everywhere else, except at the end of syllables, where it turns into compensatory lengthening [(V)ː] of the previous vowel.
    9. ^ a b In the Cuzco-Collao varieties, and to some extent all Southern Quechua varieties, the morpheme -chka- 'progressive' is realised as [ʃa], to the point that it also gets written ⟨sh⟩. Other than that, the grapheme ⟨sh⟩ has been used to represent Cuzco-Collao's /tʃʰ/, which should not be taken to mean that there is a realisation of */tʃʰ/ as [ʃ] (Cerrón-Palomino 1997). As mentioned in Note 1, syllable-final /tʃ/ also turns into [ʃ ~ s].
    10. ^ In Sihuas (except Sicsibamba) and some districts within Bolognesi, /ts/ is realised as [tʃ] or [s].
    11. ^ /i/ is realised as [ɪ] in some contexts, especially word-finally.
    12. ^ In Ancash Quechua, the monophthongisation of /uj/ into [iː] is very restricted, and only occurs when the segment /y/ belongs to a different morpheme (e.g. -y, -yki, -yku, -ykaa) and is not present in all sub-varieties, such as the Northern Huaylas one. Julca Guerrero (2010) has only found it in two lexemes, the ones presented as examples in this table.
    13. ^ In all Quechua varieties, /i/ is realised as [e ~ ɛ] when in direct or indirect contact (with a meddling obstruent) with uvular /q/. The allophone [e] normally occurs in closed syllables, and [ɛ] everywhere else.
    14. ^ In all Quechua varieties, /u/ is realised as [o ~ ɔ] when in direct or indirect contact (with a meddling obstruent) with uvular /q/. The allophone [o] normally occurs in closed syllables, and [ɔ] everywhere else.
    15. ^ /u/ is realised as [ʊ] in some contexts, especially word-finally.

    Bibliography

    • Adelaar, Willem F. H. 1977. Tarma Quechua: grammar, texts, dictionary. Amsterdam: The Peter de Ridder Press.
    • Bendezú Araujo, Raúl & Jorge Acurio Palma. 2025. "Cuzco Quechua". In Matthias Urban (ed.), The Oxford guide to the languages of the Central Andes, 196–218. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    • Cerrón-Palomino, Rudolfo. 1976. Diccionario quechua: Junín-huanca (Diccionarios de consulta de la lengua quechua). Lima: Ministerio de Educación del Perú.
    • Cerrón-Palomino, Rodolfo. 1976. Gramática quechua: Junín-huanca (Gramáticas referenciales de la lengua quechua). Lima: Ministerio de Educación del Perú.
    • Cerrón-Palomino, Rodolfo. 1997. "El Diccionario quechua de los académicos: cuestiones lexicográficas, normativas y etimológicas". Revista andina 15(1), 151–205.
    • Cerrón-Palomino, Rodolfo. [1987] 2003. Lingüística quechua. 2nd ed. Cuzco: Centro de Estudios Regionales Andinos Bartolomé de Las Casas.
    • Chuquimamani Valer, Nonato Rufino, Óscar Chávez Gonzales, Félix Alaín Riveros Paravicino, César Jara Luna, Moisés Cárdenas Guzmán & Melquíades Quintasi Mamani. 2021. Urin qichwa qillqay yachana mayt'u / Manual de escritura quechua sureño. Lima: Ministerio de Educación del Perú.
    • Cusihuamán Gutiérrez, Antonio. [1976] 2001. Gramática quechua: Cuzco-Collao (Gramáticas referenciales de la lengua quechua). 2nd ed. Lima: Ministerio de Educación del Perú.
    • Espinoza Bustamante, Franklin. 2021. Chawpin qichwata alli qillqanapaq maytu / Manual de escritura quechua central. Lima: Ministerio de Educación del Perú.
    • Itier, César. 2017. Diccionario quechua sureño-castellano (con un índice castellano-quechua). Lima: Editorial Commentarios.
    • Itier, César & Zenobia Ortiz Cárdenas. 2019. Runasimita yachasun: método de quechua (variedad ayachuchana). Lima: Editorial Comentarios SAC / Instituto Francés de Estudios Andinos.
    • Julca Guerrero, Félix Claudio. 2010. Variación dialectal del quechua en el Callejón de Huaylas desde las perspectivas de la lingüística y de los hablantes. PhD dissertation: University of Texas at
    • Molina Vital, Carlos. 2025. "Huaylas (Ancash) Quechua". In Matthias Urban (ed.), The Oxford guide to the languages of the Central Andes, 85–138. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    • Parker, Gary. 1969. Ayacucho Quechua grammar and dictionary. The Hague / Paris: Mouton.
    • Parker, Gary. 1976. Gramática quechua: Áncash-Huailas (Gramáticas referenciales de la lengua quechua). Lima: Ministerio de Educación del Perú.
    • Propaganda Fide del Perú. 1905. Vocabulario políglota incaico. Lima.
    • Shimelman, Aviva. 2025. "Southern Yauyos Quechua". In Matthias Urban (ed.), The Oxford guide to the languages of the Central Andes, 139–166. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    • Shimelman, Aviva & Jairo Valqui. 2025. "Chachapoyas Quechua". In Matthias Urban (ed.), The Oxford guide to the languages of the Central Andes, 167–195. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    • Soto Ruiz, Clodoaldo. 2010. Quechua, manual de enseñanza. 4th ed. Lima: Instituto de Estudios Peruanos.

    See also

    Credit: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Quechua

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