Vocabulary 9: Months and days of the week in Quechua

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The Incas had lunar months, so they had 12 months like us, but I’m not sure if they divided the months into weeks of 7 days, forgive my ignorance.

Almost everyone names the months and days of the week by their names in Spanish, so it is not necessary to learn their Quechua equivalents to be able to communicate with a Quechua-speaker, but it can be interesting to learn.

Months of the year in Quechua

Keep these words in mind:

  • Killa: month, also means moon.
  • Wata: year
  • Killakuna: months
  • Watakuna: years
SpanishizedQuechuaEnglish
EneroKamay Raymi killaJanuary
FebreroHatun Poqoy killaFebruary
MarzoPawqar Waray killaMarch
AbrilAyriway killaApril
MayoAymuray killaMay
JunioInti Raymi killaJune
JulioAnta Situwa killaJuly
AgostoQhapaq Situwa killaAugust
SeptiembreUnu Raymi killaSeptember
OctubreQoya Raymi killaOctober
NoviembreAyamarq’a killaNovember
DiciembreQhapaq Raymi killaDecember

Many of the names of the months are related to agricultural issues, and others to parties and astronomical events, such as the famous Inti Raymi (Sun party) which was one of the most important festivals of the Inkas era and was related to the Winter Solstice.

You can investigate the approximate meaning of the Quechua month names in the online dictionary.

Days of the week in Quechua

Keep these words in mind:

  • P’unchay: day
  • Tutamanta: morning
  • Tuta: night
  • Illariy: dawn
  • Paqarin: tomorrow
  • Minchha: the day after tomorrow
SpanishizedQuechuaEnglishMeaning
LunesKillachayMondayMoon’s day (killa)
MartesAntichayTuesdayAndean jungle day (anti)
MiércolesQoyllurchayWednesdayVenus day (qoyllur)
JuevesIllapachayThursdayLightning God Day (illapa)
ViernesCh’askachayFridayStar day or Venus day (ch’aska)
SábadoK’uychichaySaturdayRainbow day (k’uychi)
DomingoIntichaySundaySun day (inti)

Where do these names come from? Did the Inkas use them? Did they divide the months into weeks of 7 days? I would also like to know, but, isn’t there much coincidence with the days in English?

For example, intichay and sunday mean “sun day”, killachay and monday mean “moon’s day”, illapachay and thursday mean ‘ lightning god day ‘, ch’askachay and friday mean ‘Venus day’, 4 of 7, there is quite a coincidence.

Personally I think it is possible that they are modern names and that old names are unknown.

In conclusion, as I said at the beginning, when conversing with Quechua-speaking people (not the same as Quechua scholars) I never heard expressions like: ‘Ayriway killapi kashanchis’ (we are in the month Ayriway) or ‘Intichaypi kashanchis’ (we are in Sunday), I think if someone spoke like that the listeners would look at him weird and they wouldn’t know what he was talking aboutđŸ˜”.

3 thoughts on “Vocabulary 9: Months and days of the week in Quechua”

  2. You wrote:
    Miércoles Qoyllurchay Wednesday Venus day (qoyllur)
    Viernes Ch’askachay Friday Star day or Venus day (ch’aska)

    Are you sure they’re both Venus’s day?

    I can imagine why Friday (Freya/Venus’s day) should be “star” day, because Venus is the brightest heavenly object after the sun and moon.

    But shouldn’t MiĂ©rcoles/Wednesday Qoyllurchay be Mercury’s day rather than Venus’s day? Or maybe even Jupiter’s / Wotan’s (Wedn’s) day (4th brightest object)?

    Reply

    • Hello Peter, very good observation. According to a dictionary these would be the names of the planets in Quechua (although I wouldn’t put my hands in the fire for them):

      Mercury: Qhatuylla
      Venus: Ch’aska
      Mars: Awqaqoq
      Jupiter: Pirwa
      Saturn: Hawcha
      Uranus and Neptune did not have names.

      Although also, according to the same dictionary, Qoyllur is the name of Venus, the bright star. Another name given to the bright star is: Pacha paqariy ch’aska (The dawn star, the star of the beginning of the day), also Ch’isin ch’aska (the evening star).

      Therefore, according to the current way of speaking Quechua and depending on the geographical area, there is no definitive distinction between Ch’aska and Qoyllur, they can be considered synonymous and sometimes interchangeable; Let us remember that the ancient inhabitants of the Andes had other astronomical conceptions.

      Also, personally, I’m not sure that the Incas had 7 days of the week with those names; it may be that they had another system.

      Reply

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