*As of 04/07/2011 (April 7, 2011) all spelling is verified
As some of you know, I am taking a one semester (12 week) introduction to quechua class for spanish/portuguese speakers. I will write some notes I take in class here. My professor is a native speaker of the bolivian dialect, which doesn't have as much diialectal variation as you find in peru or ecuador.
*Our textbooks haven't come in yet so don't quote me on the spelling, I'll doublecheck it tomorroow or tuesday when my book comes in
Culture
One cultural note is that in Quechua if you want to give someone something you shouldn't say do you want X? because it implies you're only asking as a courtesy and you don't really want to give it. Instead you should say "This is for you". Another cultural thing to know is that quechua culture is very family oriented and welcoming. Sharing resources is important, especially as most quechua speakers are very poor. There aren't really cities where quechua is spoken, everyone lives in small communities.
Language
There is no gender distinction, not in nouns or pronouns.
Pronouns:
I - noqa
you - qan
he/she - pay
we inclusive - noqayku
we exclusive -noqanchis
you plural - qankuna
they - paykuna
*You will note there is no informal/formal you distinction.
Interrogatives:
ima - what?
imayna - how?
may - where?
mayqen - which?
jayk'a - how much/many?
jayk'aq - when?
pi - who?
All quechuan verbs end in -y. To conjugate you remove the -y, leaving you with the stem (no stem changers).
Some verbs:
maskhay - to search for
kasay - to be (spanish estar, not ser)
ruway - to do
reqsiy - to know a person/place (spanish conocer)
yachakuy - to learn, to study, to get accuostomed/get used to
yachay - to know (how to) (spanish saber)
munakuy - to love (can be used with frieends/pets)
parlay - to talk
mikhuy - to eat
Preseent Tense Conjugation:
Add these endings to the stem
-ni
-nki
-n
-yku
-nchis
-nkichis
-nku
To be - kay (spanish ser) conjugation
kani
kanki
kan
kayku
kanchis
kankichis
kanku
If you are using a direct object you need to add -ta to the word. Word order is SOV, though it is flexible that is the most natural way. When quechua doesn't have a native word for something, it often borrows from spanish.
I speak English.
Noqa inglesta parlani.
*ingles=inglés in spanish
We (ex.) learn quechua.
Noqayku qheshwata yachakuyku.
He eats bread.
Pay t'antata mikhun.
You (pl) are americans.
Qankuna americanos kankichis.
*americanos another directly from spanish. Use americano in singular.
She knows English.
Pay inglesta yachan.
That's it for now.