Quechua alphabet
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The Quechua alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet. It is used to write Quechua.
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[edit] Current orthography
[edit] For native words
Number of letters employed in the Quechua alphabet highly depends on the the Quechua dialect. However, in general, the following are the core letters used.
- A(a) [æ ɑ], Ch(ch) [tʃ], H(h) [h], I(i) [ɪ ɛ], K(k) [k], L(l) [l], Ll(ll) [ʎ], M(m) [m], N(n) [n], Ñ(ñ) [ɲ], P(p) [p], Q(q), S(s) [s], T(t) [t], U(u) [ʊ ɔ], W(w) [w], Y(y) [j].
In Equador and Bolivia, though, J(j) is used instead of H(h) as /h/ and /'/ are used to express affricate and ejective sounds:
- Chh(chh) [tʃʰ], Ch'(ch') [tʃ'], Kh(kh) [kʰ], K'(k') [k'], Ph(ph) [pʰ], P'(p') [p'], Qh(qh) [qʰ], Q'(q') [q'], Sh(sh) [ʃ], Sh'(sh') [ʂ], Th(th) [tʰ], T'(t') [t'].
In some dialects, the [ɪ ɛ] and [ʊ ɔ] variations are distinguished with the use of /e/ and /o/ respectively, resulting in use of five vowel letter instead of three. In some dialects, the vowel length are distinguished by doubling the vowel letter to indicate it as a long vowel:
- Aa(aa) [æ: ɑ:], Ii(ii) [ɪ: ɛ:], Uu(uu) [ʊ: ɔ:]; Ee(ee) [ɛ:], Oo(oo) [ɔ:].
And yet in other dialects, with additional sounds, additional letters are employed:
- Tr'(tr') [tʂ], Ts(ts) [ts], Z(z)[z].
[edit] For loan words
Quechua employs additional letters to write loan words, mainly originating from Spanish. In careful speech, the letters may represnt a Spanish sound, but generally are substituted with a native sound.
- B(b) [b] /b w/, D(d) [d] /d r Ø/, E(e) [e] /e i/, F(f) [f] /f ph/, G(g) [g] /g y/, J(j) [h] /h j/, Kw(kw) [kw] /kw/, O(o) [o] /o u/, Rr(rr) [rr] /rr/, Tr(tr) [tr] /tr/.
[edit] For phonetic transcription
For phonetic transcription, four additional letter are used:
- č [tʃ], ĉ [tʂ], š [ʃ], ž [ʒ].
