Understanding Language Diffusion Modalities: Linguistic layers in the toponymy of the Cochabamba Valleys, Bolivia

• Applicant: Dr. Alexis Pierrard
• Subject Area: Applied Linguistics, Computational Linguistics ; General and Comparative Linguistics, Experimental Linguistics, Typology, Non-European Languages
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 534709320

This project aims to understand the modes and phases of linguistic diffusion in the valleys of Cochabamba, the linguistic copresence and/or substitution, the distribution of these languages in space as a reflection of the mobility and structuring of the groups present in the exploitation of the agropastoral resources of the region. The project contributes to Andean linguistics and the understanding of the Andean past through the modes of linguistic diffusion, cohabitation, and displacement. In addition, it develops and tests new approaches to historical linguistics to overcome the challenges posed by the absence of written sources and the failure of applying effectively the comparative method. The study case is particularly relevant because of the great toponymic variety of the region (Spanish, modern Quechua, old Quechua, Aymara, Puquina) and its different exploitation phases (pre-Inca, Inca, Colonial). The main objective is to identify the different linguistic layers spatially and temporally by studying the mesotoponymy of the valleys of Cochabamba, the linguistic origin of the different elements that constitute the toponyms, their grammatical categories, and their morphosyntactic. In doing so, I will test two linguistic diffusion models: 1) the diffusion of Bolivian Quechua in colonial times via the relays of the cities, towns, and ranchos. 2) the co-diffusion, or consecutive diffusion, of Quechua and Aymara in Inca times. Additionally, the project sheds light on the questions that archaeologists and ethnohistorians ask themselves about former settlements by studying the hapaxes and toponymic duplicates. Often descriptive, some toponyms may indicate a continuity or a link between two places falling within the logic of vertical archipelago and mobility. Finally, this study has the potential to contribute to the knowledge of Puquina by extracting possible Puquina lexical roots and grammatical elements associated with those already known.

• DFG Programme: WBP Position