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Quechuan , also known as ''runa simi'' ("people's language"), is a Native American language family spoken primarily in the Andes region of South America, derived from a common ancestral language. It is the most widely spoken language family of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a total of probably some 8 million to 10 million speakers.〔Adelaar 2004, pp. 167–168, 255.〕 ==History== Quechua had already expanded across wide ranges of the central Andes long before the expansion of the Inca Empire. The Inca were just one among many peoples in present-day Peru who already spoke forms of Quechua. In the Cuzco region, Quechua was influenced by local languages such as Aymara. The Cuzco variety of Quechua developed as quite distinct. In similar way, a diverse group of dialects developed in different areas related to existing local languages when the Inca Empire ruled and imposed Quechua as the official language. After the Spanish conquest in the 16th century, Quechua continued to be used widely as the "general language" and main means of communication between the Spaniards and the indigenous population. The Roman Catholic Church adopted Quechua to use as the language of evangelization. Given use by the missionaries, the range of Quechua continued to expand in some areas. However, administrative and religious use of Quechua was terminated in the late 18th century, when it was banned from public use in Peru in response to the Túpac Amaru II rebellion.〔 The Crown banned even "loyal" pro-Catholic texts in Quechua, such as Garcilaso de la Vega's ''Comentarios Reales.'' 〔Aybar cited by Hart, Stephen M. ''A Companion to Latin American Literature'', p. 6.〕 Despite a brief revival of the language immediately after independence in the 19th century, the prestige of Quechua had decreased sharply. Its use gradually was restricted to more isolated and conservative rural areas.〔 The oldest written records of the language are by missionary Fray Domingo de Santo Tomás, who arrived in Peru in 1538 and learned the language from 1540. He published his ''Grammatica o arte de la lengua general de los indios de los reynos del Perú'' (Grammar or Art of the General Language of the Indians of the Royalty of Peru) in 1560.〔 〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Quechuan languages」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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