Session Handle:
http://hdl.handle.net/2196/cf67ba49-169a-4182-b6b6-3c52415ca438
Title:
A rare example of a highly endangered Quito Quichua variety in El Inca
Description:
The north Quito neighborhood of San José del Inca was once a rural Quichua speaking area, and a handful of residents remain from that time, including the interviewee José Enrique Lincango. The specific area is referred to as Barrio Cochaloma, and the urbanization is attributed to the “amu”, possibly a reference to hacienda times. He tells about how used to live in a ‘alpa wasi’, sleeping on the floor ‘ashku cuenda’, walking to market, and later finding work as an albañil. When his future wife got pregnant and her father forced them to get married. After that he worked as a painter, which he enjoyed. The area used to be part of Hacienda Mera, and was eucalyptus forest. Now since it has all filled in with development, many new people moving in so that the original residents are hardly present anymore. The speaker is an expressive narrator and uses iconic strategies like vowel extension (8:05 Shina kawsa:::juni, 10:20 kawsargani:::). Characteristic of this transition zone between northern and central Quichua, we see reflexes like the norther /x/ for historical /kh/: jatuna, jatana, jari jari. However, we see central Quichua reflexes for /ll/ in words like ashku or kulki~kushki (variable); there is also a voiced fricative allophone, e.g. zhuchu chaki, mizhi, azhi, kayzha. The form ‘sita’ is used for “throw out”. Voicing is common (wasibi, warmida) but not universal, and final vowels features the /a/ > /u/ change seen from Cayambe to the central Quichua areas (-munt, -wun). There is some reduction of morphology (trabajangaj~ trabajangapaj, pukzhangaj, apachingaj; -rka but -shpa to -sha). There is a -wa diminutive, but apparently no -wa verbal 1OB. At 15:05 there is an example of kawsanakun with /k/, at 16:30 ‘waykun’ for ‘yaykun’ and later ‘ñumpa’ for ñawpa. We also see Spanish contact phenomena like the fusion of the article: 19:00 Lorientemanta, 26:00 Lincabi. As the narratives continue, we heard of the creation of a ‘socavón’ to transit around Zambiza and places like Nayón, which were separate villages back in his childhood. He remembers going to Cumbayá on horseback to bring back alfalfa; it was warmer there, and plants like avocadoes can be found. At 24:20 there is list of all the products that used to be planted in the area, with some counting gestures (and apparently a relatively rare pronunciation of “corn” as ‘jara’, although this is not fully clear). Some other neighborhoods are mentioned (27:30 Chaupicruz was on the other side of the valley; 39:50 Cocotoc is mentioned). At around 28:50 the speaker talks about relations with with Otavalan brujos and the curing practices they use. At 32:00 the speaker begins a traditional story that he heard from his mother. He uses the verb ‘tulana’. We see evidence of the fusion of the reportative: ‘ña tiempo karkánin’, ‘monte kashkánin’. At 33:45 there is a classic gesture and ideophone ending for the story: The lazy boy turned into a wolf. His mother used to say that the kids were being lazy like a wolf. At 38:40 there are some comments on the new mayor Yunda, followed by some further personal narrative. From 44:40 there is some work on local dialectology and pronunciation. The velar fricative reflex of the aspirated /kh/ is confirmed as /x/, or <j>, <h> in practical orthographies, but the bilabial is usually a fricative /fakcha/, /fiti/, /findurina/, fachalina/ but it alternates with /pichana/. There does not appear to be much evidence of aspirated /t/, e.g. /timbujun/, /tamu/(50:00). We have ‘ashku’ but he is aware of ‘alpa’, ‘kulki’ but he knowns ‘kushki’. The car alarms and traffic noise in the background show how urbanized the sector is now.
Date created:
2019-12-19