Editing Cusco (section)

==Spelling and etymology==
The indigenous name of this city is {{lang|qu|Qusqu}}. Although the name was used in [[Southern Quechua]], its origin is found in the [[Aymara language]]. The word is derived from the phrase {{lang|qu|qusqu wanka}} ('rock of the owl'), related to the city's foundation myth of the Ayar siblings. According to this legend, Ayar Awqa ({{lang|es|Ayar Auca}}) acquired wings and flew to the site of the future city; there he was transformed into a rock to mark the possession of the land by his {{lang|qu|[[ayllu]]}} ("lineage"):<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cerrón-Palomino |first=Rodolfo |title=Cuzco: La piedra donde se posó la lechuza. Historia de un nombre. |journal=Andina |volume=44 |pages=143–174 |year=2007 |issn=0259-9600 |location=Lima }}</ref>

{{blockquote|Then Ayar Oche stood up, displayed a pair of large wings, and said he should be the one to stay at [[Guanacaure]] as an idol in order to speak with their father the Sun.  Then they went up on top of the hill.  Now at the site where he was to remain as an idol, Ayar Oche raised up in flight toward the heavens so high that they could not see him.  He returned and told Ayar Manco that from then on he was to be named [[Manco Capac]].  Ayar Oche came from where the Sun was and the Sun had ordered that Ayar Manco take that name and go to the town that they had seen.  After this had been stated by the idol, Ayar Oche turned into a stone, just as he was, with his wings. Later Manco Capac went down with Ayar Auca to their settlement...he liked the place now occupied in this city Cuzco.  Manco Capac and his companion, with the help of the four women, made a house.  Having done this, Manco Capac and his companion, with the four women, planted some land with maize.  It is said that they took the maize from the cave, which this lord Manco Capac named [[Pacaritambo]], which means those of origin because...they came out of that cave.<ref name="Betanzos">Betanzos, J., 1996, ''Narrative of the Incas'', Austin: University of Texas Press, {{ISBN|978-0292755598 }}</ref>{{rp|15–16}}}}

The [[Spanish Empire|Spanish]] [[conquistador]]s (Spanish soldiers) adopted the local name, [[Orthographic transcription|transcribing]] it according to Spanish phonetics as {{lang|es|Cuzco}} or, less often, {{lang|es|Cozco}}. {{lang|es|Cuzco}} was the standard spelling on official documents and chronicles in colonial times,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Carrión Ordóñez |first=Enrique |title=Cuzco, con Z |journal=Histórica |volume=XVII |pages=267–270 |year=1990 |location=Lima }}</ref> though {{lang|es|Cusco}} was also used. {{lang|es|Cuzco}}, pronounced as in 16th-century Spanish, seems to have been a close approximation to the Cusco Quechua pronunciation of the name at the time.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Cerrón-Palomino |first=Rodolfo |title=Cuzco: la piedra donde se posó la lechuza. Historia de un nombre |journal=Lexis |year=2006 |issue=30 |volume=1 |pages=151–52 |access-date=24 May 2011 |url=http://revistas.pucp.edu.pe/lexis/sites/revistas.pucp.edu.pe.lexis/files/images/Lexis-XXX-1-2006-5-Cerron-Palomino.pdf |url-access=subscription |archive-date=17 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717204020/http://revistas.pucp.edu.pe/lexis/sites/revistas.pucp.edu.pe.lexis/files/images/Lexis-XXX-1-2006-5-Cerron-Palomino.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

As both Spanish and Quechua pronunciation have evolved since then, the Spanish pronunciation of 'z' is no longer universally close to the Quechua pronunciation. In 1976, the city mayor signed an ordinance banning the traditional spelling and ordering the use of a new spelling, {{lang|es|Cusco}}, in [[Provincial Municipality of Cusco|municipality]] publications. Nineteen years later, on 23 June 1990, the local authorities formalized a new spelling more closely related to Quechua, ''Qosqo'', but later administrations have not followed suit.<ref name=Qosqo>{{Cite web |url=http://cuzcoeats.com/among-cuzco-cusco-or-qosqo-i-prefer-cusco/ |title=Cuzco Eats: "In the epoch of Daniel Estrada Perez, one of the most influential mayors we have had in this city, the name was changed to Qosqo, reclaiming Quechua pronunciation and spelling. Years later, under other governments the name returned once again to Cusco." 22 Sept. 2014 |access-date=19 May 2021 |archive-date=20 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211220133000/http://cuzcoeats.com/among-cuzco-cusco-or-qosqo-i-prefer-cusco/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

There is no international, official spelling of the city's name. In English-language publications both "s"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.roughguides.com/destinations/south-america/peru/cusco-and-around/cusco/ |title=Cusco – Cusco and around Guide |work=roughguides.com |access-date=26 March 2013 |archive-date=3 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180903082349/https://www.roughguides.com/destinations/south-america/peru/cusco-and-around/cusco/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/peru/ |title=The World Factbook |work=cia.gov |date=19 July 2022 |access-date=24 January 2021 |archive-date=19 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119135020/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/peru/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and "z"<ref>{{cite web |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/273 |title=City of Cuzco – UNESCO World Heritage Centre |publisher=Whc.unesco.org |date=21 August 2007 |access-date=22 July 2009 |archive-date=6 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090806060700/http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/273 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/peru/cuzco/ |title=Cuzco Travel Information and Travel Guide – Peru |publisher=Lonely Planet |access-date=22 July 2009 |archive-date=13 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080913062525/http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/peru/cuzco/ |url-status=live }}</ref> can be found.  The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' and ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'' prefer "Cuzco",<ref>''Oxford Dictionary of English'', 2nd ed, revised, 2009, Oxford University Press, eBook edition, accessed 30 August 2017.</ref><ref>''Merriam-Webster Online''|[https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Cuzco] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830151536/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Cuzco|date=30 August 2017}}, accessed 30 August 2017.</ref> and in scholarly writings "Cuzco" is used more often than "Cusco".<ref>JSTOR (cuzco) AND la:(eng OR en) has 12,687 articles vs. only 4,168 articles for (cusco) AND la:(eng OR en); JSTOR accessed 20 April 2024.</ref> The city's international airport code is [[Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport|CUZ]], reflecting the earlier Spanish spelling.