Editing Quechuan languages (section)

==Phonology==
{{Off topic|Cuzco Quechua language|date=March 2023}}
The description below applies to [[Cuzco Quechua language|Cuzco Quechua]]; there are significant differences in other varieties of Quechua.

===Vowels===
Quechua only has three vowel phonemes: {{IPAslink|a}} {{IPAslink|i}} and {{IPAslink|u}}, with no diphthongs, as in Aymara (including [[Jaqaru language|Jaqaru]]). Monolingual speakers pronounce them as {{IPA|[{{IPAlink|æ}}, {{IPAlink|ɪ}}, {{IPAlink|ʊ}}]}} respectively, but [[Spanish language|Spanish]] realizations {{IPA|[{{IPAlink|ä}}, {{IPAlink|i}}, {{IPAlink|u}}]}} may also be found. When the vowels appear adjacent to [[uvular consonant]]s ({{IPA|/q/}}, {{IPA|/qʼ/}}, and {{IPA|/qʰ/}}), they are rendered more like [{{IPAlink|ɑ}}, {{IPAlink|ɛ}}, {{IPAlink|ɔ}}], respectively.

===Consonants===
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+Cusco Quechua consonant phonemes
|-
!colspan=2|
![[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]]
![[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
![[Postalveolar consonant|Post-alv.]]/<br />[[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
![[Velar consonant|Velar]]
![[Uvular consonant|Uvular]]
![[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
!colspan=2|[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
|{{IPA link|m}}
|{{IPA link|n}}
|{{IPA link|ɲ}}
|
|
|
|-
!rowspan=3| [[Stop consonant|Stop]]/<br />[[Affricate]]
!{{small|plain}}
|{{IPA link|p}}
|{{IPA link|t}}
|{{IPA link|tʃ}}
|{{IPA link|k}}
|{{IPA link|q}}
|
|-
!{{small|[[aspirated consonant|aspirated]]}}
|{{IPA link|pʰ}}
|{{IPA link|tʰ}}
|{{IPA link|tʃʰ}}
|{{IPA link|kʰ}}
|{{IPA link|qʰ}}
|
|-
!{{small|[[ejective consonant|ejective]]}}
|{{IPA link|pʼ}}
|{{IPA link|tʼ}}
|{{IPA link|tʃʼ}}
|{{IPA link|kʼ}}
|{{IPA link|qʼ}}
|
|-
!colspan=2|[[Fricative]]
|
|{{IPA link|s}}
|{{IPA link|ʃ}}
|
|
|{{IPA link|h}}
|-
!colspan=2|[[Semivowel]]
|
|
|{{IPA link|j}}
|{{IPA link|w}}
|
|
|-
!rowspan=2|[[Liquid consonant|Liquid]]
!{{small|[[lateral consonant|lateral]]}}
|
|{{IPA link|l}}
|{{IPA link|ʎ}}
|
|
|
|-
!{{small|[[Rhotic consonant|rhotic]]}}
|
|{{IPA link|ɾ}}
|
|
|
|
|}
[[Gemination]] of the tap {{IPA|/ɾ/}} results in a trill {{IPAblink|r}}.{{Listen|filename=qu-pata_phata_p'ata.ogg|title=Voiceless bilabial plosives|description=Pronunciation of the voiceless bilabial plosives of Cusco Quechua|format=[[Ogg]]}}

About 30% of the modern Quechua vocabulary is borrowed from Spanish, and some Spanish sounds (such as {{IPA|/f/}}, {{IPA|/b/}}, {{IPA|/d/}}, {{IPA|/ɡ/}}) may have become phonemic even among monolingual Quechua speakers.

Voicing is not [[phoneme|phonemic]] in Cusco Quechua. [[Cusco Quechua]], [[North Bolivian Quechua]], and [[South Bolivian Quechua]] are the only varieties to have [[glottalized consonant]]s. They, along with certain kinds of Ecuadorian [[Kichwa language|Kichwa]], are the only varieties which have [[aspirated consonant]]s. Because reflexes of a given Proto-Quechua word may have different stops in neighboring dialects (Proto-Quechua ''*čaki'' 'foot' becomes ''č'aki'' and Proto-Quechua ''*čaka'' 'bridge' becomes ''čaka''{{Non sequitur|reason=No different dialects are mentioned here|date=March 2023}}), they are thought to be innovations in Quechua from [[Aymara language|Aymara]], borrowed independently after branching off from Proto-Quechua.

===Stress===
Stress is penultimate in most dialects of Quechua. In some varieties, factors such as the [[apocope]] of word-final vowels may cause exceptional final stress. Stress in Chachapoyas Quechua falls word-initially.