Communicative strategies across Quechua languages

Abstract

Abstract Though usually referred to as “the Quechua language”, Quechua is actually a diverse language family extending from Colombia to northern Argentina. Quechua languages are not all mutually intelligible, but speakers are generally unaware of that fact, since they use it mostly in local, communitarian settings. This study examines the evolving speech behavior and meta-linguistic discourse of an international group of Quechua speakers, most of whom were encountering different varieties of Quechua for the first time as participants in a two-year graduate program in bilingual-intercultural education. Over the course of the program, students developed several strategies to facilitate communication across their different Quechua varieties. We examine those strategies and their implications for language planning, language education, and the emergence of a broader pan-Quechua identity.