25 Examples of Quechuismos

Quechuismos

The quechuisms They are words that come from the Quechua language and are used (with or without any modification) in Spanish. For example: chango, achira, ojota. They are an example of language loan, that is, the use of words from another language in the speakers of a certain language.

The Quechua peoples (also called Quichua or Kechua) are original indigenous groups that migrated to the territories of what is currently Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. These towns were related to the Inca empire.

In the 15th century, Quechua was the official language of the Inca state and the language spread throughout much of the cordilleran region of South America. At the beginning of this century, censuses showed that the countries with the highest number of Quechua speakers were Peru (with more than three million) and Bolivia (with more than two million).
Anthropologists believe that Quechua originated in the central and western region of what is now Peru. The Spanish colonizers also adopted Quechua to transmit religious knowledge to populations that did not speak Spanish, which in colonial times were the majority. Quechuismos are also spread in populations where they do not speak Quechua, but rather Spanish, but which adopt words and their meaning in daily speech.

It is important to note that there is no single Quechua language but rather a family of languages, that is, languages ​​that have the same historical origin and that, therefore, they share many words or have similar words with the same etymological origin (cognates).

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Examples of Quechuisms

Note: In parentheses, it is indicated how the word is written in current Quechua.

1. Achira (achira). Plant whose scientific name is Canna indica or Canna ascendens. Its leaves are used to make lhumitas and tamales, typical Andean dishes.
2. Alpaca (allpaqa). Camel-like animal, whose scientific name is Lama pacos Linneo. The wool of the alpaca is fine and soft and is used to make warm clothes.
3. meat brochette (antikuchu). Grilled beef, usually prepared on a skewer. The term "anticucho" is used especially for skewers of cow heart.
4. Calato (q'ara, qarashtu, qalla). The term means "hairless" and is used in Spanish as a synonym for discovered, unkept, or figuratively as a synonym for poor.
5. Calincha (qharincha). Manly woman, that is, a woman who has characteristics that were traditionally attributed to men.
6. Basketball court (kancha). This word so used in Spanish comes from Quechua, which referred to a delimited space of land. In Spanish we use it to designate the designated terrain for a sports game.
7. Basketball court or little field (kamtsa). Gastronomic preparation based on toasted corn. It is usually served as a garnish.
8. Large tent (karpa). Word used in various Spanish-speaking countries to refer to a tent.
9. Ranch (chakra). Farm or a portion of arable land where a dwelling is also usually located.
10. Chala (chhalla). Name given to corn husks.
11. Monkey. In many places in Latin America it is the way in which children or boys are named.
12. Corn. Name given to the cob.
13. Chunchule or chinchulín. Grilled cow intestines (barbecue).
14. Condor (kuntur). Large scavenger bird that lives in the Andes Mountains.
15. Gaucho (wakcha). In Quechua it means poor and orphan, but it was used in Argentina and Uruguay to refer to countrymen, usually mestizos. At first the name was given to them because they were the children of indigenous women who had had children with Creoles (descendants of Spaniards) and that, therefore, their father was absent.
16. Bus (wawa). Very young babies.
17. Call. A type of camelid that exists only in America.
18. Mate. Drink that is made by infusing the leaves of a plant of the same name. Custom that continues to this day in various Latin American countries.
19. Morocho (muruch’u). Person with dark hair and / or complexion.
20. Nanay. In Quechua it means “wound”, but today the word is used to designate a caress that is done to calm pain, mainly in children.
21. Flip flop (ushuta). Type of footwear similar to a sandal. Although it was used by peasants, it is currently used in plastic versions, mainly as footwear for the beach and summer areas.
22. Avocado. Name given to avocado in various countries.
23. Pampas. It is a plain without vegetation. In Argentina there is a province with this name.
24. Dad. Tuber that elsewhere is called potato.
25. Beans Edible seed also called bean or beans.

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