Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (January 2007)

Kichwa (Kichwa shimi, Runashimi, also Spanish Quichua) is a Quechuan language including all Quechua varieties spoken in Ecuador and Colombia (Inga) by approximately 2,500,000 people. Kichwa belongs to the Northern Quechua group of Quechua II (according to Alfredo Torero).

Kichwa syntax has undergone some essential changes and therefore holds a special position within Quechua.

A unified orthography (Kichwa Unificado, Shukyachiska Kichwa) has been developed.

External links

• Map of the regional varieties of Kichwa in Ecuador (FEDEPI.org)
• Otavalos Online: Basic Kichwa Course for Beginners, in Spanish (PDF)
• KU Kechwa Resource Center: Learning Salasaka Kechwa (by Nina Kinti-Moss)
• Pieter Muysken: Semantic transparency in Lowland Ecuadorian Quechua morphosyntax (PDF file)

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