Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = National seal
, national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...
has many languages in use. One of its official languages,
Spanish, has been in the country since it began being taught in the time of
José Pardo instead of the country's Native languages, especially the languages in the Andes. In the beginning of the 21st century, it was estimated that in this multilingual country, about 50 very different and popular languages are spoken: which reduces to 44 languages if dialects are considered variants of the same language. The majority of these languages are
Indigenous, but the most common language is Spanish, the main language that about 94.4% of the population speaks. Spanish is followed by the country's Indigenous languages, especially all types of
Quechua (11.1% combined) and
Aymara (1.4%), who also have co-official status according to Article 48 of the
Constitution of Peru,
as well as the languages of the
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...
and the
Peruvian Sign Language
Peruvian Sign Language (LSP by its acronym in Spanish: "lengua de señas peruana") (Glottocode: peru1235, ISO 639-3: prl) is a Peruvian language created and used by the Deaf community in Peru. It has been officially recognized by Peruvian law sinc ...
. In urban areas of the country, especially the coastal region, most people are
monolingual and only speak Spanish, while in many rural areas of the country, especially in the Amazon, multilingual populations are prevalent.
Linguistic Situation
According to Peter Landerman, the
Jesuits
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders = ...
translated fragments of Christian scriptures into about 150
Indigenous languages of the Peruvian Amazon area. Of those, about 60 survive today.
Linguistic Legislation
At the political level, Spanish is the official language of Peru and, in areas where they are common, Quechua, Aymara, and some other Indigenous languages are also the official language.
Number of Speakers
In Peru, there are close to 40 languages within the
Amazon Rainforest
The Amazon rainforest, Amazon jungle or ; es, Selva amazónica, , or usually ; french: Forêt amazonienne; nl, Amazoneregenwoud. In English, the names are sometimes capitalized further, as Amazon Rainforest, Amazon Forest, or Amazon Jungle. ...
which are usually grouped into 17 families and divide into close to 120 recognizable local varieties.
Population by Native Language:
Indigenous Languages
Indigenous languages of Peru are primarily located in the central
Andes
The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...
and the Amazon rain forest. Many northern Andes languages were located along the northern coast and the northern Andes, but most of them died in the 19th century. The only Native languages in the Andes that are common are
Quechua,
Aymara,
Jaqaru
Jaqaru (''Haq'aru'') is a language of the Aymaran family. It is also known as Jaqi and Aru. It is spoken in the districts of Tupe and Catahuasi in Yauyos Province, Lima Region, Peru. Most of the 2000 ethnic Jaqaru have migrated to Lima.
Kawki ...
, and
Kawki; while in the Amazon region, there is an abundance of various Native languages. In the Amazon, the most common languages are
Asháninka
The Asháninka or Asháninca are an indigenous people living in the rainforests of Peru and in the State of Acre, Brazil. Their ancestral lands are in the forests of Junín, Pasco, Huánuco and part of Ucayali in Peru.
Population
The Ashán ...
and
Aguaruna. There are more than 15 defined
linguistic families in Peru's territory and another 15 or more languages that are isolated or not classified.
The actual number of languages in Peru could have exceeded 300. Some authors even say that there could have been 700 languages. However, since the conquering of Latin America by Spain and after Peru's independence, the disappearance of Indigenous people (because of conquest and mixing of languages) and discrimination against Indigenous languages because of mixed populations, as well as the Peruvian government (which imposed
Spanish), led to the number of Indigenous languages dropping to fewer than 150. Today the number of Indigenous languages is still large, but much less than it used to be. The following list shows the languages spoken today in Peru and those that went extinct since the 20th century (shown in italics).
Classification
The
Indigenous languages of Peru belong to more than 15 language families, and some isolated or unclassified languages, which are extinct today (represented in the table as †), are also documented to more than 15 languages. The following list organizes more than 95 languages within existing and extinct languages:
Quechua
Quechua is the second language of Peru, in terms of number of speakers. It is the official language in areas where it is the dominant language, even though from a linguistic point of view, it's a family of related languages. (''
Ethnologue
''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' (stylized as ''Ethnoloɠue'') is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensi ...
'' assigns separate language codes to more than 25 varieties of Quechua in Peru.)
Aymara
Aymara has the third largest number of speakers within Peru, with about half a million speakers in the country. It is most common in the southern part of the country, in parts of
Puno
Puno (Aymara and qu, Punu) is a city in southeastern Peru, located on the shore of Lake Titicaca. It is the capital city of the Puno Region and the Puno Province with a population of approximately 140,839 (2015 estimate). The city was establ ...
,
Moquegua
Moquegua (, founded by the Spanish colonists as Villa de Santa Catalina de Guadalcázar del Valle de Moquegua) is a city in southern Peru, located in the Department of Moquegua, of which it is the capital. It is also capital of Mariscal Nieto P ...
, and
Tacna
Tacna is a city in southern Peru and the regional capital of the Tacna Region. A very commercially active city, it is located only north of the border with Arica y Parinacota Region from Chile, inland from the Pacific Ocean and in the valley of ...
.
Amazonian Languages
The rest of the Indigenous languages of Peru have more than 105 thousand speakers in total, and are located mostly in the east and north part of the country, specifically in Loreto, Madre de Dios, and Ucayali. The northern part of Peru (Loreto) is probably the most diverse part of the country from a linguistic standpoint since that part contains an abundance of the small families of languages and isolated languages.
In northern Peru, there are 5 small families of languages:
Cahuapana,
Jívara,
Zápara,
Peba-yagua, and
Bora-witoto. These families of languages are mostly spoken in
Loreto, but also in areas connected to
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
,
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...
, and
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...
. The majority of these groups were destroyed in the "Rubber Boom" at the beginning of the 20th century. In the Putumayo river region, the population fell from 50 thousand to between 7-10 thousand within the first decade of the 20th century.
In the
Ucayali
The Ucayali River ( es, Río Ucayali, ) is the main headstream of the Amazon River. It rises about north of Lake Titicaca, in the Arequipa region of Peru and becomes the Amazon at the confluence of the Marañón close to Nauta city. The city o ...
area,
Pano languages are most common, while in the high jungle of the
Ucayali River basin the southern
Arahuaca languages are most common.
In the Peruvian Amazon over forty languages, which are usually grouped into 14 families and diversifying about 120 recognizable local varieties are spoken.
Other Minority Languages
A
foreign language of a territory is a language whose historical origin is known and falls outside of said that territory and arrived in this territory through conquest, immigration, or colonization.
Sign Language
The sign language of Peru (
Peruvian Sign Language
Peruvian Sign Language (LSP by its acronym in Spanish: "lengua de señas peruana") (Glottocode: peru1235, ISO 639-3: prl) is a Peruvian language created and used by the Deaf community in Peru. It has been officially recognized by Peruvian law sinc ...
) is used by the deaf community in the country. The 2007 census did not include any questions about the LSP, but this was corrected in 2017.
Other Foreign Languages
In addition to Spanish, which is the most common foreign language, there exist other languages that also did not originate in Peru, and are spoken due to the results of migration.
While it is true that there are many foreign colonies in
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = National seal
, national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...
, the majority of these abandoned their original language. Within the first communities of immigrants lived people from
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
, and in smaller amounts people from
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
(central jungle in
Pozuzo and
Oxapampa),
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
(urban areas of
Lima
Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...
and
Arequipa
Arequipa (; Aymara and qu, Ariqipa) is a city and capital of province and the eponymous department of Peru. It is the seat of the Constitutional Court of Peru and often dubbed the "legal capital of Peru". It is the second most populated city ...
), and
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
and
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...
(
) areas. These last two are due to the recent waves of immigrants from
Palestine and
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
.
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
is also a language that is rooted in Loreto due to a campaign by the
French Alliance. French was well received in the Peruvian population, especially in Iquiteña. Lately
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ...
has also had a big influence due to the number of tourists and American/British residence.
Portuguese is also used in areas like Ucayali, Loreto, and Madre de Dios. These areas border
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, whose official language is Portuguese.
Use in government
Historically name registers only captured Spanish or Western-inspired names. In 2019 the government began encouraging the use of Indigenous names in name registers.
See also
*
Demographics of Peru
*
Quechuan and Aymaran spelling shift
In recent years, Peru has revised the official spelling for place-names originating from Aymara and the Quechuan languages. A standardized alphabet for Quechua was adopted by the Peruvian government in 1975; a revision in 1985 moved to a three-vo ...
References
Bibliography
* Adelaar, Willem F. H.; & Muysken, Pieter C. (2004): ''The languages of the Andes''. Cambridge language surveys.
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer.
Cambridge University Pr ...
.
* Dixon & Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald (eds.) (1999): ''The Amazonian languages''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, .
External links
Resonancias.org– Aboriginal languages of Peru
– ペルー トルヒージョ 2003年12月31日(水)
Linguistic Map of PeruResonancias.org– Indigenous Languages of Peru.
Center of Peruvian Investigation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Languages Of Peru