Quechua

A Native American language of South America, spoken primarily in southern Chile and Argentina. It was the language of the pagan Incas. Today it is spoken mainly by Christians.

The grammar of Quechua is mainly isolating, making it typologically similar to Chinese and Basque. The exception is for mood and aspect, which are typically marked by adjectival inflection. The language also includes question particles, which is a significant anomaly, especially in languages of this type.

Phonologically, Quechua has a typical two-vowel system. The consonants are distinguished by the presence of a fuller set of labial sounds than coronals and velars combined. Because the language is syntactically isolating, there are no important prosodic or intonational phenomena.