Rodolfo Cerrón-Palomino

La flexión de persona y número en el Proto Quechua

Abstract Morphological reconstruction in Proto Quechua (*Q) is a task in its beginning. Aside from the case system, one of the topics that is attracting much attention lately is the reconstruction of person suffixes. Within this area, the hypothesis has been suggested by some and proposed explicitly by others, that *Q could have had an isomorphic shape for marking person allocation and action. As for the category of plural in the verb system, the idea became consensual among specialists that *Q, as the Aru languages today, did not have the category of plural as obligatory. Furthermore, its absence did not mean singularity necessarily. In the present paper, I will provide evidence for postulating an isomorphic marker for person allocation and action. In regard to number, I will also provide a hypothesis concerning the emergence of the inclusive suffix *-n-cik. In both cases, the proposal rests upon crucial dialectal and documental evidence.