What Are The Effects Of Colonization In Quechua

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This paper introduces the effects of colonization onto South American indigenous languages. This paper will analyze how European colonization in the Andes region affected the native language of Quechua. The research will focus specifically on the changes in the Quechua language with regards to how the language took in new vocabulary, replaced words with Spanish words, and also how it has survived through the colonization period up until the present day. This paper will address the problems faced linguistically when trying to preserve a native language after colonization, as well as present research on what the Andean nations are doing to keep the Quechua language alive.

Introduction
Before colonization of Latin America, there were many different groups of indigenous peoples that had their own culture and language. After colonization and over time, these indigenous communities changed in many ways due to the influence of the Spanish and Portuguese colonizers as well as influence from the slaves brought in from Africa. Some of the groups were completely decimated due to diseases that they were exposed to brought over by the colonizers. Other groups survived yet their culture and language were inevitably changed through the oppression of the colonizers. Despite these challenges, some indigenous groups managed to preserve aspects of their original culture through these periods of difficulty. Recently, in some areas of Latin America there have been movements to keep these cultures and languages alive.
A few examples of the most well known indigenous communities in Latin America are the Maya people and the Guaraní people. The term “Maya” includes many different sub-groups of which thirty different languages are spoken. The Ma...

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...e they banned the use of Quechua for communication with the Spaniards as well as in the church. Even after this banning, the language was still kept alive among the indigenous communities that lived in extremely rural areas of the Andes mountains. Also, even in the more populous areas with Spaniards, indigenous peoples could use the language amongst each other in private settings.
After colonization and currently: pdf file-Apurímac, ebrary doc

Conclusion
The Quechua people are extremely resilient and tenacious. They managed to keep a hold of a large part of their culture and language over the span of hundreds of years, fighting through colonization and oppression. They were able to adapt to their changing circumstances, which meant adjusting to certain cultural differences and altering their language. They did so without losing the essence of their identity.

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