Global Perspectives
Ivan Acuna
Quechua Language Specialist
Quechua Language Specialist with more than 30 years of experience in the translation and localization field providing Language Service Providers and software companies with terminology management, quality assurance and translation services. Long-time researcher, promoter, and disseminator of Quechua culture.
Overview
– Country: Peru
– Key Concepts: Pacha (space-time unity), cyclical time, reciprocity (Ayni), Pachamama
– Temporal Orientation: Past ahead (ñawpa), future behind (qipa), cyclical time
– Historical Influences: Inca Empire (Tahuantinsuyo), astronomy-based agriculture, ritual practices
Introduction
In ancient Peru, particularly among the Quechua people, time was not understood as a straight line moving from past to future. Instead, it was perceived as cyclical, deeply intertwined with natural rhythms and religious forces. Time unfolded through recurring processes of creation, destruction, and regeneration, where the past, present, and future coexisted simultaneously rather than being sharply divided.
This cyclical understanding of time was not an abstract idea. It shaped the entire Andean worldview, influencing how people related to nature, organized society, performed rituals, and understood their place in the cosmos. To grasp how this perception functioned in daily life, it is essential to look at how time was conceptualized through language, space, and action.
Quechua Temporal Orientation: Seeing the Past, Sensing the Future
In Quechua, the future is expressed as “qipa pacha,” which literally means “future time” or “the world to come.” However, this future is not imagined as something that simply advances toward us. Instead, Quechua links time to spatial orientation, offering a radically different mental framework:
- Past (ñawpa): forward or ahead
- Future (qipa): back or behind
This metaphor reveals a profound cultural logic. The past lies ahead because it is known, visible, and experienced, while the future remains behind, unseen and uncertain. Rather than rushing toward the future, Andean thought positions humans as walking forward while facing what has already occurred, guided by memory and experience.
In this framework, the observer of time stands, in a sense, outside of time itself, watching its movement rather than being carried forward by it. This perspective deeply influences how future events are imagined—not as destinations, but as outcomes shaped by present actions.
Grammar, Intention, and the Experience of the Future
This connection between present actions and temporal philosophy is embedded directly in the Quechua language. Grammar does not merely indicate when something will happen; it expresses intention, responsibility, and commitment.
Future actions are marked by specific verbal suffixes, such as:
- -saq for the first person
- “risaq” — “I will go”
Here, the future tense is inseparable from personal will. The action is not abstract or automatic; it is something the speaker actively commits to performing. Other suffixes exist for different grammatical persons, reinforcing the idea that the future is created through deliberate human action, not passive expectation.
This understanding of language and intention naturally extends beyond speech into social behavior. In fact, at the heart of this entire system lies Ayni, the principle of reciprocity. In Quechua culture, present actions are never isolated; they are performed with awareness of their future consequences and their roots in the past.
Through Ayni, individuals, communities, and nature exist in a network of mutual responsibility. What one gives today sustains tomorrow, ensuring balance across generations. Time, in this sense, is not a neutral measure but a moral and relational force, constantly shaped by human behavior.
Language, therefore, becomes a bridge between time and ethics, linking what will happen to how one chooses to act in the present.
Pacha: Time and Space as One Living Reality
This integration of time, intention, and action is further expressed through the central Quechua concept of “pacha.” Rather than separating time and space into distinct dimensions, pacha unites them into a single, dynamic reality.
Within this understanding, time can be both dynamic and stable, flowing while remaining rooted in cosmic order. Pacha governs relationships between humans, nature, and the divine, shaping not only individual behavior but also collective organization.
Through this lens, the Inca structured their agricultural cycles, political authority, ceremonial life, and social relationships, all as expressions of cosmic harmony rather than human domination.
Nowhere was this unity of time, space, and action more visible than in agriculture. For the Quechua, farming was not simply economic labor; it was a spiritual and communal act that maintained harmony with the cosmos.
At the center of this relationship stood Pachamama (Mother Earth), revered through rituals that ensured fertility, balance, and continuity of life. The Inca agricultural calendar was based on precise astronomical observations, aligning planting and harvesting with seasons, lunar phases, water cycles, and climatic changes.
Even today, planting and harvesting ceremonies remain moments of celebration and gratitude. Rituals invoking rain (para) and abundance symbolize the ongoing dialogue between human communities and the natural world, reinforcing the idea that time unfolds through cooperation with nature, not control over it.
The Tahuantinsuyo: Space, Balance, and Temporal Unity
This worldview found its largest expression in the Tahuantinsuyo, the Inca Empire, whose name in Quechua means “the four regions together.” It was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America, extending across present-day Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, and Argentina, with Cusco as its symbolic and administrative center.
The empire was divided into four suyos (regions):
- Chinchaysuyu – northwest
- Antisuyu – northeast, high jungle
- Kuntisuyu – southwest, coastal area
- Qullasuyu – southeast, the largest region
This spatial organization reflected principles of duality, balance, and complementarity, mirroring the Andean understanding of time itself. Space, like time, was alive and relational, reinforcing the simultaneity of past, present, and future.
Conclusion
The Quechua understanding of time offers a profound alternative to modern linear thinking. Time is cyclical, relational, and sacred, inseparable from space, language, nature, and ethics. Through concepts like pacha, qipa pacha, Pachamama, and Ayni, the Quechua worldview presents time as a living continuum in which human actions resonate across past, present, and future.
Rather than moving relentlessly forward, time in ancient Peru invites reflection, responsibility, and balance—an enduring cultural vision that continues to shape Andean life today.
Original language
Ñawpaq Perú suyupiqa, runasimim chaypi aswan runakunapa rimay siminkuqa karqa, pachamanta rimayqa muyuriqmi karqa kawsay pachamawan, iñiykunamawan hukllawasqa. Manam siqichu karqa, aswanqa kuti tikraq paqarichiy, wañuchiy, musuqmanta paqarichiy pacham karqa. Chaypiqa qayna, kunan, hamuqpas kuskam kawsarqaku. Kayna pacha hamutayqa pacha qawayta, allpa llamkayta, aylluta, raymichaykunata sayapakurqa, yanaparqa.
Ñawpaq llaqtapa qawayninpiqa, pachaqa pachamamawan, allpa tarpuywan hukllawasqapunim karqaku. Kaypi runakunapaqqa, allpa llamkayqa manam qullqi ruwayllachu, nunamanta ruway, ayllupi kuska ruwaykunaman chaymi pachamamawan kuskalla, kusirisqa kaytaq. Pachamamaqa kuyasqa sunqu mamanchikmi paymi raymikunapiqa aswan raymichasqa, yupaychasqa allpapi kuskachasqa.
Kaypim tarinchik, qaynapas kunanpas, tarpuy pacha, allay pachapas aswan chaniyuq raymichay, riqsikuy pacha, chaymi llapa runata, sumaq ruwayninta kallpanchan rimasqanchikman hina. Chaytaqmi, inca intiwatanaman hina intita, killata quyllurkunata qawaspa ruwasqam chaymi aswan chiqaqta allpa tarpuykunata qawachirqa.
Kay allpa llamkay raymikunaqa sapakana pacha mitakunawan tupaqmi karqakum yaku pachawan, llapiya tikraykunawan chaykunaman tarpuypaq, allaypaq, pallaypaq allin pachata qawachirqaku. Chayna ruwaykunaqa kunankaman hinalla kachkanku para mañakuywan, allin allpa llamkaywan, chayna allin ruwaykunaman wakon llaqtakunapiqa kunankama hinalla kachkanku.
Chaymi, kay ñawpa llaqtakunapi pacha qawayqa hamuqpaq allpa llamkaypaq kamachin, ichaqa ayllupi kamachiykunapaq, allin kawsay hatallichinapaq, raymikunawan, yupaychaykunawan allpata runakunawan tinkichin, kay pachata tiqsi muyuntinwan.
Inkakuna pachaqa pachapas maypi kaypas huk kitillapim karqakun pacha sutiyuqpi, chaymi maypi kayta, pachatapas hukllawarqaku. Manataqmi pachata maypi kaytapas sapakamataqa rakinchu, aswanqa kawsaqta hina, hawka kaqta hinataq hukllapi kawsachin.
Chaynam, maypi kaypas, pachapas hukllawasqa kaspanku runata, pachamamata, iñiytapas kamachirqa, lliwmi chaykunaqa allpa llamkaypi, kamachiypi, raymikunapi, ayllupi riqsisqa karqaku Tawantinsuyu ukupi.
Kaykunamanta hukllapi qawananchik pachaqa iskaychasqa ukupi rakisqa karqa, chaymi kuskanchasqa karqaku, qayna, kunan, hamuqpas. Kay huklla qawasqam huk hawa llaqtakunamanta qawasqankuqa hukman kanku, kay llaqtaykupiqa maypi kaypas, pachapas kawsaq, qapaqtaqmi kanku, manam qati qatillachu, yupanallachu.
Tawantinsuyuqa, runasimipi sutinqa yachanapaq “tawa suyukuna” utaq “tawantin hukllapi”, chaymi aswan hatun hatun llaqtapa sutin karqa Inka suyuwan riqsisqa. Ñawpaqtaqa pachaknintin XV, XVI nisqa watakunapim anchata mastarikurqa Perú, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia chaynallataq Argentina kunan hatun suyukunakama.
Hatun suyukuna hukllawakurqaku chaypa chawpinmi Qosqo sutiyuq kunankama, chay tawa suyukunam karqaku:
• Chinchay suyu (noroeste)*
• Anti suyu (noreste, selva alta)
• Kunti suyu (suroeste, zona costera)
• Qulla suyu (sureste, la región más extensa)
Runasimipiqa, hamuqqa qipa pacha rimaywanmi riqsisqa, chaymi hamuq pacha. Chaynaqa, qipa pachaqa tukuqlla kitim chaytaqmi hamuq pacha chay maypi kasqan-pachawan hukllawasqa ukupi kanku.
Hukmantañataqmi, maypi kasqan pachawan tupanasqam: qipa pachaqa runasimipi ñawpaqmi, hamuqñataq qipa, chayna qawayqa ñuqaykupaqqa ñawpaqqa riqsisqam, ñawpaqninchikpi, hamuqñataq chayraq chayamuq, qipapi, hamuqraq.
Chaynallataqmi, rumasimipaqqa pim qawaqqa pachamanta hawapim, chayna hawamanta qawamuq, chaykunawanmi aswan yachanchik imaynam hamuqqa umanchasqa pachapi rikuriq, tarikuq.
Runasimipaq, hamuqqa sapaq huntachiqkunawanmi chimpusqa, kay hina: -saq ñawpaq runapaq, risaq chaymi ñawpaq runa nin, risaqmi. Kayna rimayqa manam hamuqllatatachu chimpun, chaynallataqmi hamuqpi ruway munasqanta niwanchik, chaymi iñiymanta, kawsaymanta
yachayniyuqkuna. Chaynallataqmi hamuqta ninapaq sapa gramatical nisqa runapaq sapakamapaq hukman kanku.
Chaynallataqmi, hamuqqa ayni nisqa yanapanakuypi winasqa, chaypim llapan runapa ruwasqankuna kuskalla hamuq pachapaq kanku, qayna, kunan, hamuq kuska tinkichisqa kasqankunata riqsichiwanchik.