Southern Quechua - Dialects

Dialects

Dialects are Ayacucho Quechua, Cuzco Quechua, Puno Quechua (Callao Quechua), North Bolivian Quechua (Apolo Quechua), and South Bolivian Quechua. Santiagueño Quechua in Argentina is divergent, and appears to derive from a mix of dialects, including South Bolivian.

The most salient distinction between Ayacucho Quechua and the others is that it lacks the aspirated (tʃʰ, pʰ, tʰ, kʰ, qʰ) and ejective (tʃʼ, pʼ, tʼ, kʼ, qʼ) series of plosives. The other varieties of Bolivia and Southern Peru taken together have been called Cusco–Collao (Qusqu–Qullaw); however, they are not monolithic. For instance, Bolivian Quechua is morphologically distinct from Cuzco and Ayacucho Quechua, while North Bolivian is phonologically quite conservative compared to both South Bolivian and Cuzco, so that there is no bifurcation between Ayacucho and Cusco–Collao.

Santiagueño also lacks the aspirated and ejective series, but that was a distinct development in Argentina. It also maintains remnants of the Quechua s–š distinction, which has otherwise been lost from Southern Quechua, suggesting that there are elements of other varieties of Quechua in its background.