David John Weber
Writing Quechua
The Case for a Hispanic Orthography
0-87903-086-0 Paper $23.95 Available Now. Latin American Studies, Vol. 87

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Quechua is the most widely spoken indigenous language of the Americas, with more than 8 million speakers. How it should be written has been hotly debated over the last twenty-five years. The author takes a strong and somewhat surprising stand—that Quechua should be written with a Hispanic orthography, in order to promote literacy in Quechua and to broaden the domains of its use. Arguments are formulated from the perspectives of linguistics, sociolinguistics, reading theory, and history. The book will appeal to readers interested in bilingualism, bilingual education, literacy campaigns, and the rights of indigenous populations, as well as to linguists, sociolinguists, and anthropologist who specialize in the languages of the Andes.