The Andean Spanish of Southern Peru and Bolivia

The Andean varieties of Spanish spoken in Southern Peru and Bolivia share some distinctive traits. On the one hand, these are due to the influence of Aymara and Quechua, the Indigenous languages they have been in contact with for five centuries. However, although this influence is significant, they also show some features that are specific to the Spanish system, some of which can be considered to be remnants of ancient Spanish traits. In addition, some phenomena are exclusive of one of both countries or of specific areas within them. In this chapter, I summarize the main phenomena that characterize the Andean Spanish of Southern Peru and Bolivia at the different linguistic levels, and I argue that, from a dialectological point of view, both types of features, contact-induced and patrimonial, should be equally valued and studied.