User talk:Achalau

Dear user CaTi0604, regarding to change the name of the Cordillera Huayhuash by 'Waywash mountain range', I consider that the name of the places are proper and they can not be changed easily; I would be happy to use the original Quechua names, but this mountain range since it was written it has been known as 'Cordillera Huayhuash', all we who have born in this area we know as that, following your logic, we would need to change the name of almost all the places in the Peruvian Andes, e.g.: Huaraz (waras), Cordillera Blanca (Yuraq Hanka), Huascaran (Matash Rahu), Chavín (Chawpin), Etc. If we could do that we would get to confuse to the people. I consider we can add a topic with the origin of the names (toponomy), there we can add all the names in Quechua, and we can use the Ancash Quechua to write them. Regards, Achalau

Dear user Achalau, Then you know how it is and should support steps into the right direction. Correctly spelled article names like Wiñay Wayna have been edited here already years ago and they have not been reverted but accepted as well as the Aymara and Quechua names of lakes, mountains, archaeological sites etc in Bolivia and Peru. (The names for the administrative divisions, however, should remain for the time being.)

People want to get correct information here. This is not the place to spread fairy tales like "cocha is Quechua for lake" (wrong spelling) which you will still find in Spanish websites, even in sites of the government. They should have known better because Quechua is one of the co-official languages in Peru, official in Bolivia.

Spellings like cocha (or jocha, gocha, khocha, kkocha), huayhuash or haihuash etc are not the proper spellings. They were introduced many years ago. But today Aymara and Quechua are even official languages and there is a unified alphabet (Bolivia). If people want to save a threatened language (Quechua has about 8.9 million native speakers, Swedish has about 8.5 million speakers, but is not misspelled resistently like Quechua) they have to use it. As long as the Aymara and Quechua people accept that their languages are permanently ignored (as in terms like "Laguna Mitococha" - which literally means "lake dirty lake" or "dirty lake lake") and also misspelled (mitu and qucha is right) instead of introducing the right spelling nothing will ever change.

Topics like "Should the article name be Qiwllarahu or Qiwlla Rahu?" (Quechua for "snow covered gull mountain") should be discussed by experts of the language and not "Should the article name be Caullaraju, Jeulla Rajo, Jeulla Raju, Queulla Raju or Queullaraju because this is all wrong. The worst one is Caullaraju. It has no meaning. Somebody mixed the letters up by mistake and then the mistake was repeated in publications all over the world.

By the way, I have read several Spanish texts of the government where there were up to three different spellings for one single Quechua word within one page. I think that is confusing! The many wrong spellings for one single word (like 8 different spellings for Wila Quta, "red lake") show how confused the people are and that they do not know the proper spelling. It is simple and precise and less confusing if there is only one spelling, the proper spelling, for one Quechua (or Aymara) word.

I don't think it works well to use the hispanicized (wrong) spellings. Example: Laguna Mucurca, also Laguna Mururca (Article name: Muyurqa Lake). Mucurca or mururca does not mean anything in Quechua. No wonder, because the name in the map (see article) which is difficult to read is Mueurca if you look very closely. That is clearly a hispanicized version of muyurqa, muyurqa qucha means "twisted lake" in Quechua. The version Mueurca seems to be completely unknown. Someone thought the letter "e" was a "c" and so the meaningless word Mucurca spread around the encyclopedias of the world. Which wrong version of the three should be taken as an article name? I think none of them. But I am not happy with Muyurqa Lake either because muyurqa and qucha belong together. As often qucha (lake) was eliminated and substituted by the Spanish word laguna (also lago). The Quechua names were destructed.

As to the name of the range, I suppose Waywash mountain range (or Waywash range) is what English people are accustomed to say. Waywash Hanka can be added as a Quechua term if hanka really means "range" (I could not find it in that dictionary, but if you know that it is right that's okay.) Cordillera does not really belong to the indigenous name and can be substituted. Spanish really often occurs in indigenous names where it does not belong (like 'Laguna' Mit'uqucha, "río" Antamayu, literally "river copper river" or "copper river river", 'Nevado' Pukahirka ect). The wrong Aymara and Quechua words and terms for geographical objects used in Spanish websites can be regarded as 'very strange' rather than 'proper' But to understand these names by finding out their correct spelling and meaning helps to understand the Bolivian and Peruvian culture. Example: Awkillu means "apu" (Andean mountain deity) or "grandfather". It is the name of a high mountain in the Waywash mountain range. The hispanicized spelling which is used instead is the misleading word Auxilio which means "assistance", or "support".

I hope for your support and that you decide to revert if yourself to make a step into the right direction. Bye. See you. -- CaTi0604 (talk) 11:02, 21 December 2013 (UTC)

Hello user CaTi0604 again, My arguments to do not accept the change you made: The change abruptly from a well-known attraction, may generate confusion, we are not talking about a lake or a mountain, we are talking about one of the most important tourist attractions of the department of Ancash, place visited by around 3000 people per year, It is simple lets do a search on google, the name which you consider is shown only once, however a search with the name of 'Cordillera Huayhuash' it is generated over 190 000 results, rather than vindicate the name, it is also a brand, you can not change that simple, this place is known by that name; and hundreds and thousands of magazines , guides , web pages , etc. used with that name. This week I took the task to approach to the office of the Regional Directorate of Culture of Ancash, for advice on this subject with Mr. José Luis Salazar, who is Director of the office, the opinion of the Director is like my view . I appreciate your concern to vindicate the Quechua, what would give me more joy to me, because it is one of the languages that I ​​also speak, the language of my parents and grandparents. I think for something to be significant must to be born from every member of the Quechua communities, we as Quechua speakers must decide whether we want to or not adopt the writing for Hispanicized names as you say. Just so you're aware, years ago it was suggested that the Huaraz city name, should be written with 'S' at the end, but it was not accepted for the majority, so the most of the Huaracinos or in general in all Peru continue writing with 'Z' at the end. It is also because the Quechua was or is a language with no writing, also the new alphabets are imposed on us. There is even resistance en the writing the proper language's name, according to Acnash Quechua writing, writing should be 'KICHWA' but because commercial reasons and custom we still continue writing as 'Quechua', then this indicates that it should be gradually . I think the title page in Wikipedia should continue as 'Cordillera Huayhuash', in that way we do not confuse anyone, within the content we can argue and make known that according the writing in Ancash Quechua, the name must be 'Wuaywash hanka' . By the way we can use the model used in Wikipedia for Cusco, which is very clear, the name is Cusco ( Spanish form ), but Qosqo in Quechua . I hope that my arguments will call to reflection and can agree that the popular names are not easy to change even more in the digital age, they are also brands. Regards, Achalau