Highland Ecuadorian Quichua

Facts

  • Language: Highland Ecuadorian Quichua
  • Alternate names: Loja, Calderón [qud], Cañar Highland Quichua [qxr], Chimborazo [qug], Imbabura Quichua [qvi], Northern Pastaza Quichua [qvz], Salasca [qxl], Tena Quichua [quw], Napo Quichua [qvo], Cotopaxi Quichua.
  • Language code: qvj, qud; qxr, qug, qvi, qvz, qxj, quw, qvo
  • Language family: Quechuan; Quechua IIB (SIL classification)
  • Number of speakers: 1,153,800
  • Vulnerability: Vulnerable
  • Script:

More information:

    The question of how to distinguish between entities that are dialects of a single language vs. those that are separate languages is particularly serious in the case of Quechuan languages and dialects, and much work remains to be done. Though it is well-known and very clear that there are a number of distinct languages in the Quechuan complex, some very distinct, the tendency to consider them all merely dialects of “Quechua” persists in many circles. (Cerrón-Palomino 1987.)Ethnologue (2017) lists a number of separate "languages" where others consider them to be dialects of a single language: Loja [qvj]; Calderón; Cañar Highland Quichua [qxr]; Chimborazo [qug]; Imbabura Quichua [qvi]; Northern Pastaza Quichua [qvz]; Southern Pastaza Quichua [qup]; Salasca [qxl]; Tena Quichua [quw]; Napo Quichua [qvo].