draft manuscript - Linguistics - University of California, Berkeley

...él en persona les enseñaba la lengua general del Inga con tanto empeño y aplicación,
que llegó á conseguir en poco tiempo que toda la gente moza se gobernase en aquella
lengua, no sólo tocante al catecismo, pero aun en el trato de unos con otros. Daba
gracias al cielo de haber conseguido este señalado triunfo en un pueblo donde la lengua
del Inga facilitaba la instrucción, tan dificil hasta entonces por la variedad de lenguas
de tantas naciones.
(ibid.: 472-473) 336
The more general Jesuit reliance on Quechua is also suggested by Chantre y Herrera’s (1901:637)
description of the general conduct of masses in the Maynas missions as carried out ‘en la lengua
inga, ó en la particular de la nación’, and the fact that when the Jesuits introduced Western musical
traditions in the missions, the songs were composed in Quechua (ibid.: 651, 654).
The active promotion of Quechua by the Jesuits is also suggested by the observation by Paul
Marcoy regarding a group of Kokamas that he encountered in 1847 a little upriver of São Paulo
de Olivença, whom he remarked spoke Quechua ‘which had been taught their grandfathers by the
missionaries’ (Marcoy 1873: vol. IV, 397) a clear reference to the Jesuits of the 18th century.
And of course, the role of Quechua as a lengua general entailed that learning of this indigenous
language was a priority for all Maynas Jesuits. Guillaume D’Être (b. 1669 Douai, France – d. 1745
Quito), 337 for example, wrote regarding his early language learning:
Llegué a esta misión en el año 1706 y mi primer cuidado fue el de aprender la lengua
del Inga, que es general de todas estas naciones.
(D’Être [1731]1942:31, emphasis in original) 338
Despite efforts to promote Quechua as a lengua general, it does not appear that widespread
bilingualism in Quechua was common in the communities in which the Jesuits were involved. Rather,
as the following observation of D’Être’s suggests, a relatively small number of bilingual individuals
played a key mediating role.
Siendo la lengua común de los que habitan las dos riberas de este gran río, tiene, no
obstante, cada pueblo su lengua particular, y solamente en cada nación se hallan algunos
que entienden y hablan la lengua dominante.
(D’Être [1731]1942:31) 339
336 Translation(ours):
...he personally taught them the lengua general of the Inga with such determination and effort that in
short order he succeeded in having the common people [i.e. indigenous people] handle their affairs in
that language, not only with respect to the catechism, but even in interactions between themselves.
He gave thanks to heaven for this striking triumph in a settlement where the langauge of the Inga
aided instruction, so difficult until then because of the variety of languages of so many peoples.
337 (Jouanen 1943:730)
338 Translation (ours):
I arrived at this mission in the year 1706 and my first duty was to learn the Quechua language, which
is widespread throughout all these nations.
339 Translation (ours):
Even with the language being common to those who inhabit the two banks of this great river [presum-
125