Certain aspects in the current state of the Quechua language (1994—2019)

Abstract

Quechua is the most widely spoken indigenous language in the Americas today. Out of some 30-40 million speakers of Amerindian languages, some 8-10 million speak Quechua, which is about a quarter of the total. Quechua is present most prominently in Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador, but also can be found in Argentina, Colombia, and Chile, as well as Brazil (in that order, by the number of speakers). The article covers the development of literature in and on Quechua over the past quarter century but especially in the current decade. This period is characterized by the emergence of works in genres new for Quechua along with the development of traditional ones and unprecedented accomplishments in language description and teaching.