Despite the efforts made to preserve and safeguard it through different means, including the use of different digital platforms, such as TikTok or YouTube, the original languages of Latin America, in general, find themselves in a complicated and worrying situation. The scenario becomes more acute and it is possible to see with greater clarity in urban environments where, increasingly, these indigenous languages are spoken less and less, especially in the contexts of daily life, where Castellano is the one that predominates. An example of this is kichwa (also known as kichwa shimi or runashimi), in Quito, capital of Ecuador. Kichwa ―a language that uses only three voices: a, iyu― is the term used mainly in Ecuador and Colombia, which belongs to the generic Quechua II linguistic family. In Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Chile, the expression Quechua is used, the variation of which includes the five voices, which falls under the Quechua I classification.
Even when certain local initiatives which consist, among other things, of naming places, streets, products or businesses in Kichwa, and certain words of daily use such as “achachay” or “achachai”, which in Ecuador means that “it is cold” or well, that an object “is very cold”, are used in a habitual manner, the language finds itself out of place. Spanish and stigmatized in the educational, professional and social spaces of the capital. In other words, its use is limited to ordinary questions without delving into their meaning or transcendence. This practice is therefore more contained in homes and in closed circles than in official spheres. The previous result shows that, in metropolitan areas like Quito, the use of Kichwa is limited, although it is designated as intangible cultural heritage by the local government.
This ancestral language has therefore been relegated to the symbolic, everyday and folkloric rank, with Spanish as the predominant language, in daily urban life it has even become useless to consider the use of Kichwa, which favors its rapid disappearance. In the social collective, Castellano continues to be perceived as a language that brings prestige, modernity and avant-garde. On the contrary, original languages are seen as synonymous with delay, ignorance and limits to development.
The previous one is a palpable reality despite legislative efforts, because the Constitution of Ecuador recognized until 2008, in its second article, Kichwa as an official language, alongside Shuar. Although the standard states that “the State will respect and encourage its conservation and use”, in practice it falls into disuse.
Today, there is no protection framework defined for this language in a specific, detailed, particular manner and in accordance with international standards. The majority of actions are short-term projects, without sustainable financing, without monitoring and with little visibility and projection. Kichwa is the second language, despite Spanish, the most widely spoken in the country, with almost a million people – Ecuador has some 18 million inhabitants – who practice it today. Indeed, the Kichwa nationality constitutes the highest percentage, with 85.8% of the total of 14 recognized indigenous nationalities, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses.
This situation is not at all recent. Since the 1960s, the migration of thousands of Kichwa speakers to Quito has intensified, in search of better life opportunities. However, ultimately, they face discrimination, exclusion and marginalization, situations that have led them to silence their language as a social protection mechanism, endangering their culture and identity, and with this, the loss of any historical baggage that can only be preserved through language.
Kichwa needs living spaces, on the ground, in schools, in the means of communication, in squares, in public services and to be a decision-making factor in public life. If we do not act with strategies of preservation and revaluation, a language, an essential part of Ecuador, will disappear on its own.
The revitalization of Kichwa in Quito should not be seen solely as an educational policy, but as an action of cultural and linguistic justice.
The problem impacts cultural diversity and manifests itself differently in each generation. In the case of young indigenous people who live in Quito and who understand and speak Kichwa, when they listen to specific comments, they choose not to use it in public and to do so in closer social or family circles. Others, because they do not speak their mother tongue, and even when they wear their traditional clothing, do not identify themselves as indigenous, which highlights the importance of their language as a factor of identity. Furthermore, the complete absence of Kichwa content in the media has contributed to the linguistic disconnect with its ancestral language, thereby accelerating its disuse and loss.
When you want to speak a language, you have time and space for an exclusive view of perceiving, understanding and interpreting the world.
On the other hand, adults, even if they speak their language, out of shame or verguenza, prefer not to speak it to the rest of the population and are synonymous with “being ignorant” without speaking Spanish. He is afraid of judgment and social rejection because he tries to speak in his own language. And when they leave aside their identity elements, they perceive a certain acceptance on the part of the mixed population, an obvious demonstration of forced assimilation in order to be able to integrate into society. This negative attitude has even reached academic spaces where, to be accepted, one chooses to speak in Spanish or other foreign languages.
Progress, acceptance and inclusion are conditioned by the renunciation of the native, and in particular the mother tongue. The revitalization of Kichwa in Quito should not be seen solely as an educational policy, but as an action of cultural and linguistic justice. Strengthening identity based on the indigenous language requires commitment, both from the State and from the indigenous communities themselves, to be able to keep the cultural diversity of the country alive and preserve the richness it brings and keep the language alive. It is necessary to put in place well-defined public policies that truly promote the dimension of original languages.
A language that falls into oblivion or disuse leads to the loss of knowledge, values, principles, customs and traditions. Leave a void in the collective memory of humanity, diminishing our knowledge of the universe, life, death, justice, morality and other human expressions. Language on the ground is limited to interlocution between two or more people, it involves songs, myths, stories and legends about a pueblo. Ultimately, when you want to speak a language, you are left, in time and space, with an exclusive view of perceiving, understanding and interpreting the world.
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