Quechua is a nominative-accusative language that has a rich case marking system, which marks case overtly with suffixes. Case markers attach at the end of noun phrases and, crucially, after any other suffix that may attach to the stem.
In this blog post, we will discuss the different case markers used in Quechua and delve more deeply into two in particular. We will first look at the distinctions between the different functions of accusative case. Then, we will differentiate allative and accusative case to highlight some of the difficulties nonnative speakers of Quechua have in choosing between them.
There are twelve different cases in Quechua, and the case suffixes and definitions for each are shown in the chart below:
In Quechua, the accusative case marker has four main functions: indicating the direct object, indicating the indirect object, generating adverbial expressions, and marking the route of an action for animate beings (unless it is the directional function that designates the goal of the movement). Below is the lexical entry for the accusative case suffix and examples of functions of the accusative marker.
Example 1:
Accusative: Indicating the direct object¹:
lapiz-ta ma-na-ni
pencil-ACC want-PRES-1S
I want the pencil.
Example 2:
Accusative: Indicating the indirect object²:
Pedru-ka peluta-ta Juan-ta ku-rka-n
Perdru-TOP ball-ACC Juan-ACC give-PST-3S
Pedro gave the ball to Juan.
Example 3:
Accusative: Adverbial Expressions:⁴
allin-ta puñu-rqa-ni
good-AC sleep-PST-1PS
I slept well
This example is especially interesting because /ta/ is being added to an adjective. This contrasts to every other example shown, in that /ta/ does not have a null category. It changes the category of the word from an adjective to a verb. In fact, one might like to translate this to “I slept good-ly”, because both “good” and “well” have the same root in Quechua. This is shown by the following tree:
Example 4:
Accusative: Indicating the route of action for animate beings⁵:
urqu-n-ta ri-ni
mountain-3P-ACC go-3S
It goes through the mountains.
Nonnative speakers of Quechua have difficulty determining whether to use the accusative case or the allative case. This is because they seem to indicate a similar grammatical function in a phrase. In Quechua, the allative case marker demonstrates movement in a nonlocal goal (or for nonhuman subjects) and also a route of action (the fourth function of the accusative case). The glosses below illustrate the difference between allative and accusative case:
Example 5:
Accusative case: Indicating a fixed goal with a human subject⁶:
puka-ta ranti-rka-ni
red-ACC buy-PST-1S
I bought the red one.
Example 6:
Allative case: Indicating a fixed goal, but with a nonhuman subject⁷:
kay ny an-qa ayakuču-man ri-ni
this road-TO Ayacucho-AL go-3S
This road goes to Ayacucho.
Example 7:
Allative case: Indicating a moving goal with a human subject⁸:
yaku-man ri-ni
water-AL go-1S
I go for water (wherever I can find it).
These examples clearly illustrate the difference between the allative and accusative case. Example 5 is a situation where accusative case is required; there is both a fixed goal and a human subject. If either of these two conditions are missing, then the allative case is required. Examples 6 and 7 show the allative case with a non-human subject and a moving goal respectively. This is a demonstration of the overarching rule which is that allative case is always used when there is either a non-human subject or a moving goal.
Many parts of speech cannot be concretely distinguished in Quechua. For example, in Example 5 above, “puka” (red an adjective) appears to be like a noun when it is marked with accusative case. This can be done because the root for the noun “red one” is identical to the one for the adjective “red” (“puka’). One possible explanation for this is that there is a null NOM marker on the adjective “red”, changing the category from an adjective to a noun. This shows the fluidity of the parts of speech in Quechua, as this phenomenon occurs for many roots. We propose the following tree:
In conclusion, the accusative case marker in Quechua is used in a variety of situations. This adds both simplifications (in that it allows a single root to become multiple words eg. good → good-ly, rather than well) and complications (in that it can be difficult to determine the correct case marker to use eg. ACC or AL).
¹ http://phrontistery.info/cases.html
² http://facultad.pucp.edu.pe/ciencias-sociales/curso/quechua/home.htm
³ Sánchez, Liliana. Quecha-Spanish Bilingualism. 2003. pg. 22.
⁴ Sánchez, Liliana. pg. 24.
⁵ Adelaar, Willem, Languages of the Andes. 2004. pg. 215.
⁶ Sánchez, pg. 22.
⁷ Adelaar, pg. 215.
⁸ Adelaar, pg. 214.
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