Phonology

Consonants

In contrast to other regional varieties of Quechua, Kichwa does not distinguish between the original (Proto-Quechuan) and , which are both pronounced . and , the allophones of the vowels and near , do not exist. Kiru can mean both "tooth" (kiru in Southern Quechua) and "wood" (qiru in Southern Quechua), and killa can mean both "moon" (killa) and "lazy" (qilla ).

* only occurs rarely phonemically, and is mostly an

1.Previous
3.Next