Singular | Plural | ||
---|---|---|---|
NOQA | I | NOQAYKU (exclusive) NOQANCHEQ (inclusive) |
we (and not you) we (you and I or us) |
QAN | you | QANKUNA | you all |
PAY | he, she | PAYKUNA | they |
One thing I really like is that Quechua has an exclusive "we" form to mean "we but not you." English and Spanish both lack this form so you can never tell if the speaker is including you or not.
Here's an example of how they conjugate words (simple present tense):
RIY - to go | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | ||
-NI | RINI: I go | -YKU -NCHEQ |
RIYKU: we go RINCHEQ: we go |
-NKI | RINKI: you go | -NKICHEQ | RINKICHEQ: you all go |
-N | RIN: he/she goes | -NKU | RINKU: they go |
I find it so interesting to see how a non-romance language is put together. Interesting tidbit though: the verb "to speak" in Quechua is parlay which is almost exactly what it is in French, parler.
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