Kichwa (Kichwa Shimi / Runa Shimi)

Kichwa is a Northern Quechuan language spoken in Ecuador, mainly in Azuay, Cañar Chimborazo and Morona-Santiago provinces. In 1991 there were about 100,000 speakers of Kichwa. There are many dialects of Kichwa, however there is a standardized language, known as Kichwa Unificado (Shukyachiska Kichwa), which has a unified orthography and is based on the Chimborazo dialect.

Kichwa is also known as Cañar Highland Quichua or Quichua de la provincia de Cañar.

Kichwa was first documented in the 17th century by a Jesuit priest. It has been taught in some schools since the 1940s.

Kichwa alphaebt and pronunciation

Download an alphabet chart for Kichwa (Excel)

Details of the Kichwa alphabet corrected by Michael Peter Füstumum

Sample text in Kichwa

Tucuy runacuna quishpirihuán huiñán, pactacunahuampes, pay pura, umahuán, ayahuán chay shucuna shina, chaymantami shuclla shina causangacuna.

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Sample video in and about Kichwa

Links

Information about Kichwa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kichwa_language
http://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1437&context=abya_yala
https://www.ethnologue.com/language/qxr
http://www.illa-a.org/cd/diccionarios/diccionarioKichwaEcuador.pdf

Quechuan languages

Ayacucho Quechua, Cusco Quechua, Kichwa, South Bolivian Quechua

Other languages written with the Latin alphabet

If you need to type in many different languages, the Q International Keyboard can help. It enables you to type almost any language that uses the Latin, Cyrillic or Greek alphabets, and is free.

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