Royal Academy of the Wechua Language
| Royal Academy of the Wechua Language | |
| Abbreviation | RAWL |
|---|---|
| Motto | Runasimita waqaychasun ("Let us preserve the people's language") |
| Formation | 1673 AN |
| Type | Language regulatory body |
| Legal status | Royal chartered institution |
| Purpose/focus | Standardization, preservation, and promotion of the Wechua language |
| Headquarters | Parap, Wechua Nation |
| Region served |
 Nouvelle Alexandrie |
| Membership | 15 Academicians |
| Official languages | Wechua |
| President | Amaru Quispe Yupanqui |
| Vice-President | Cusi Rimaq Huanca |
| Director-General | Tomás Achahui Condori |
| Royal Patron | King Sinchi Roca II |
| Key people | Crown Princess Sayari |
| Main organ | Board of Academicians (Kamachiq Ayllu) |
| Parent organization | Department of Education, Sports, and Culture |
| Affiliations | Tribunal of Traditional Claims |
The Royal Academy of the Wechua Language (Wechua: Qhapaq Runasimi Yachay Wasi, "Noble House of Learning of the People's Language"; Alexandrian: Académie Royale de la Langue Wechua; Martino: Real Academia de la Lengua Wechua) is the official regulatory body for the Wechua language in Nouvelle Alexandrie. Established during the Great Restoration in 1673 AN, the Academy is responsible for standardizing orthography, developing educational curricula, training teachers, certifying quipucamayoc, preserving Classical Wechua, and promoting Wechua literature and scholarship. It is headquartered in the city of Parap in the Wechua Nation region, near Mount Lacara.
The Academy maintains the largest scholarly collection of quipu in Micras, operates graduate programs in Classical Wechua and quipucamayoc certification, publishes dictionaries and grammars, and annually awards the Quri Qillqa ("Golden Writing") prize for excellence in Wechua literature. Its standardization decisions, which have historically favored the Lacara Wechu dialect, carry significant weight in education, publishing, and government, though they have occasionally generated controversy among speakers of other dialects. The Academy operates under royal patronage and reports to the Department of Education, Sports, and Culture, though it maintains substantial autonomy in linguistic and scholarly matters.
History
The Royal Academy of the Wechua Language was founded by Sapa Wechua Manco Cápac in 1673 AN as part of the Great Restoration following the Wechua Sorrow. The immediate impetus was the need to reconstruct Wechua scholarship after decades of disruption, during which many quipu records had been lost or scattered and oral traditions had been interrupted. Manco Cápac gathered surviving quipucamayoc, priests of the Faith of Inti, and scholars who had preserved their knowledge during the years of exile.
The Academy's first major undertaking was the standardization of Wechua orthography, completed in 1678 AN. Working from Atteran-era texts and the speech of Lacara Wechu elders, the Academy's founders established spelling conventions that remain largely in force. This orthography, while criticized by later linguists for its five-vowel system (which does not reflect the phonemic inventory of three vowels), became entrenched through educational materials and publishing.
When the Wechua Nation joined Alduria to form Nouvelle Alexandrie in 1685 AN, the Academy's status was preserved under the Proclamation of Punta Santiago. Subsequent legislation formalized its role as the official language regulatory body and expanded its mandate to include education policy, media standards, and the certification of quipucamayoc for legal proceedings. The Academy established a dedicated division for Classical Wechua studies in 1691 AN and began systematic collection of surviving quipu from temple archives and noble families.
Since its founding, the Academy has navigated tensions between preservation and modernization; often getting drawn into heated debates on the development of the Wechua language. Purist factions have advocated for neologisms derived from native roots rather than Alexandrian or Martino loanwords, while others have argued for accepting linguistic change as natural. Debates over dialect standardization intensified following increased migration from rural areas to cities, as speakers of Northern Wechu, Coastal Wechu, and other varieties sought recognition for their forms of the language.
Organization
The Academy is governed by a Board of Academicians (Kamachiq Ayllu) consisting of 15 members who serve staggered ten-year terms. The Board includes distinguished linguists, writers, educators, and cultural figures, with seats reserved for representatives of major dialect communities. The King, as Sapa Wechua, serves as ceremonial patron and appoints new Academicians upon recommendation of the existing Board. Day-to-day operations are managed by a Director-General appointed by the Board.
The Academy is organized into five divisions: the Division of Lexicography and Grammar, responsible for dictionaries and linguistic standards; the Division of Classical Studies, overseeing Classical Wechua scholarship and quipucamayoc training; the Division of Education, developing curricula and training teachers; the Division of Literature and Publications, managing the Academy's press and the Quri Qillqa prize; and the Division of Archives, maintaining the quipu collection and historical documents.
| Position | Name | Term began | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| President | Amaru Quispe | 1742 AN | Linguist, specialist in comparative Wechua dialectology |
| Vice-President | Cusi Rimaq Huanca | 1738 AN | Poet, three-time Quri Qillqa laureate |
| Director-General | Tomás Condori | 1746 AN | Former Dean of Linguistics, Royal University of Parap |
| Academician | Sayari, Princess of Rimarima | 1748 AN | Royal patron representative; advocate for Classical Wechua preservation |
| Academician | Illari Paucar | 1735 AN | Novelist; Coastal Wechu dialect representative |
| Academician | Roberto Atauchi | 1739 AN | Educator; former Director of Wechua-medium schools |
| Academician | Qhispi Waman Apu | 1741 AN | High Priest of the Faith of Inti; Classical Wechua specialist |
| Academician | María Luisa Condorcanqui | 1743 AN | Lexicographer; chief editor of the Academy dictionary |
| Academician | Tupaq Amaru Roca | 1744 AN | Historian; specialist in Atteran-period documentation |
| Academician | Anaís Beaumont-Huallpa | 1745 AN | Sociolinguist; researcher on urban language shift |
| Academician | Kuntur Pachakutiq | 1746 AN | Quipucamayoc; chief examiner for certification |
| Academician | Sumaq Qoyllur | 1747 AN | Playwright; Northern Wechu dialect representative |
| Academician | Wiracocha Mayta | 1748 AN | Rodinia Wechu dialect representative; agricultural terminology specialist |
| Academician | Lucía Quispe de Montoya | 1749 AN | Children's literature author; education reform advocate |
| Academician | Pawkar Rimachi Tito | 1750 AN | Southern Wechu dialect representative; Wakara contact linguistics researcher |
