Las bases geográficas de la lengua vehicular del imperio inca

Abstract

This article challenges the generally held theory that claims that the lingua franca of the Inca empire had its origin in a now extinct Quechuan dialect which was believed to have been spoken on the central coast of Peru. The study of the historical sources and the first written traces of this language show that the Inca lingua franca had its origin in the variety of Quechua spoken in Cuzco. This variety must not be confused with the Cuzco dialect such as we know it from the end of the 16th century. This dialect has undergone deep transformations as it was learnt by numerous foreign groups which the Incas had settled in Cuzco and in the surrounding valleys

Keywords

• quechua
• Cuzco
• linguistics
• inca
• lingua franca
• dialectology