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THE CHALLENGES OF QUECHUA IN TRANSLATION

Translating is "stating in another language what has been stated in a source language, preserving the semantic and stylistic equivalences" according to the concept reached by the outstanding Spanish philologist and translator Valentín García Yebra, in his book “Theory and practice of translation”.





The translation of a colloquial text, which comes from everyday matters of the family environment does not represent a major difficulty, however, when the text is about the academic field, of some discipline or specialty, it has an additional demand that the source languages are not in the possibility of responding in equal conditions that the Spanish, if the translator does not investigate a little.



A text from the academic field shows more difficult for the translation

QUECHUA AND THE HISTORICAL PROCESS

Quechua, being the official language that was the basis of the development and expansion of the Tawantinsuyo Empire, after the arrival of the Spaniards "stagnated" as well as "the development of the indigenous people stagnated" and "the whole Inca cultural process was frustrated", as Cesar A. Guardia Mayorga states in his book "Kechwa Grammar".


The Catholic religion to some extent contributed to the fact that Quechua did not disappear completely, since for the purpose of catechesis the religious learned and taught this language by lending it the spellings of Spanish, which made it possible for Quechua to persist to this day.


During the time of the Republic, scholars from other countries also devoted themselves to the study of this language because of its singular importance and the culture it treasures. Later, Peruvians themselves turned their attention to their mother tongue and joined these efforts so that Quechua would reach us with the mandate to preserve, protect and enrich it.


Such efforts became tangible in numerous books of Quechua grammar and dictionaries that today are the main tool of translators who investigate and use the language with prudence and respect.


QUECHUA: ANCESTRAL WEALTH


Quechua is a rich language that lends itself to various nuances, but we still have to find greater convergence in order to facilitate the translation, mainly, of academic texts, which in turn will allow it to continue developing if we give it the proper opportunity.


Quechua does not need to borrow more words from Spanish than necessary, because there are terms that have fallen into disuse, but they are there to be recovered and put back into circulation among speakers. To cite as examples, there are the terms yuyaymanay (meditate), musikay (plan), musikuy (save), phutiymana (tribulation), iruro (circumference), among others.


The words mentioned above are registered in the Dictionary of the Major Academy of the Quechua language, and they claim their functionality and usefulness in the voices of their true worshippers. In addition, Quechua gives us the possibility of coining new terms according to current needs.


In order to bring Quechua into line with the modern world, it is necessary to establish a set of formal and thematic rules that are a must from an institutional perspective and in which the the Academy of the Quechua language should participate.


Quechua language doesn't need to borrow more words from Spanish than necessary

From the joint work that could make the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Culture and the Major Academy of the Quechua Language will emerge the real possibilities to save the difficulties that Quechua presents at this moment, which is shown as a language with a semantic cut-out, when the reality is different and more encouraging, because the language that our ancestors left us keeps turns that can be recovered to approach more ambitious topics according to the contemporary time.


Finally, it is necessary to remember that the dialectal variations corresponding to 6 countries of the Andean area and 13 Peruvian linguistic regions are registered in the SIMI TAQE or Dictionary of the Major Academy of the Quechua Language. These are not only words from the Cusco Collao variant, but also from the Quechua extended throughout South America.


Consequently, Quechua can surprise us, stand up and show us all its linguistic potential. Let's not overwhelm it, let's let it be what it was, is, and will be forever.

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