The riddles in Quechua are an important part of the oral traditions of the Andean people of Peru. The riddles or the watuchikuna or watuchis as it is called in Quechua, are full of ingenuity, creativity, mischief and a lot of interactive dynamism in the communities.
They are part of the popular literature of the locality, being representative of the Quechua cultural imaginary, full of figurative language, mostly in the form of metaphors. The Quechua language itself is filled with many imaginative resources for everyday use.
According to several studies, this cultural manifestation has been developing in three different social contexts: as a form of entertainment, as a didactic tool and to attract the opposite sex.
Metaphors have been playing a very important role in the cognitive and semantic development of Quechua-speaking children who participate in guessing games.
The playful nature of the watuchi serves as a promoter and reinforcer of the improvement of the use of language. This phenomenon appears to function as a discovery procedure while children expand their operational cognitive structures and semantic domains.
Local teachers have taken advantage of this and have devised teaching strategies using the riddles. The use of watuchi is also quite common among teenagers, who show curiosity to explore their love or sexual interests.
In this scenario, higher guessing skills are often associated with intelligence and being a good candidate for a sexual partner. You may also be interested in these riddles in Mayan.
List of riddles in Quechua language
Below is a small selection of 26 riddles in Quechua with their respective translation, taken from different online sources.
1.- Shumaqllami jeru chupayoq ka.
Puka, garwash, gomerpis ka.
Shimikiman apamaptiki
supaytapis rikankiran.
Pitaq ka? (Uchu)
I am pretty with a stick tail
I am red, yellow and green
If you take me to your mouth
you will see the devil himself
Who am I? (The Chili)
2.- Hawan anallaw
Ukun achachaw (Uchu)
Outside is pleasant
Inside is unpleasant (The chili)
3.- Imataq chay maman wacharukuptin wa, qan, chaymantañac taq kusikum, inaspanataq waqakunpunitaq (Rune)
Who is he who cries at birth, rejoices when he grows up, cries at old age (Man)
4.- Achikyaqnin iskay chaki
Chawpi p'unchaw kimsa chaki
Tutayaykuqta tawa chaki (Rune)
At dawn, two feet
at noon, three feet,
and at dusk, four feet (Man)
5.- Lastimaya mana runachu kani, wak mikusqan mikuykunaypa'q (Allqu)
Too bad I'm not a man, what they eat to eat (The Dog)
6.- Jawan añallau, chawpin wikutina, ukun ikllirij (Durasno)
Beautiful on the outside, the core is voted and the interior opens (Durazno)
7.- Achikiaj jelljai jelljaicha, chaimantaja antai antaicha (Warma machu)
It dawns with vivacity, then dull (Youth and old age)
8.- Jatun liuyaq gagachu
ishkay putukuna
shawaraykan.
Imaraq? (Warmipa chuchunkuna)
Two “potos” of milk
are hanging on a clean rock
. What will it be? (The woman's breasts)
9.- Imatashi, imatashi?
Kawaptiki, isï arö
Wanuptikiqa, qamwan aywakö (Shongo)
What will it be, what will it be?
When you are alive, how well I work
When you die, I go with you (The heart)
10.- P'unchaw bell
route t 'umpana (Uqsuy)
During the day, the bell
and at night the grave (The skirt)
11.- Virdi kudurpa ukuchampi, qillu kudurcha
Qillu kudurpa ukuchampi, nugal kudurcha
Nugal kudurpa ukuchampi, yuraq kudurcha (Luqma)
Inside a green ball, a yellow ball
in a yellow ball, a brown ball
in a brown ball, there is a white ball (La lucuma)
12.- Mana raprayuq, phawan
mana qalluyuq, rhyme
mana chukiyuq, purin (Karta)
It has no wings, but it flies,
it has no tongue, but it speaks,
it has no feet, but it walks (The letter)
13.- Huk sachapi chunka iskayniyuq pallqu kan
sapa pallqupi, tawa tapa
sapa tapapi, qanchis runtu (wata, kilia, simana, p'unchaw)
In a tree there are twelve branches
in each branch, four nests
and in each nest, seven eggs (The year, the month, the week and the days)
14.- Imasmari, imasmari
jawan q`umir
ukhun yuraq
sichus yachay munanki
suyay, suyay
Imataq kanman? (Pyre)
Guess, guess
green on the outside
white on the inside
if you want to know
wait, wait
What will it be? (The pear)
15.- Warminkuna jukwan yarquptin
juteta churayan
mana jusä kaykaptin.
Imaraq? (Luycho)
When their women cheat on them, they
give them my name.
without my fault , what will it be? (The deer)
16.- Ampillampa yarqurir,
shillowan and waska chupawan sarikur
korralkunaman yaykü
wallparüntuta mikoq
Pitaq ka? (Jarachpa)
Going out only at night,
holding on to myself with my nails and a rope tail,
I enter the pens
to eat chicken eggs
. Who am I? (The possum)
17.- Pitaq ka?
Aujakunapa papaninkunami ka,
Jatungaray kaptë,
borrco suaderunkunata girasiman (Aujarriero)
Who I am?
I am the father of needles,
because I am big
they send me to sew donkey sweatshirts (The arriero's needle)
18.- Kunan munaillaña chaimantaja kutikuticha (Mosojwan mauka pacha)
Today enviable after wrinkled (New dress and old dress)
19.- Chipru pasña virdi pachayuq yuraq yana sunquyuq (Chirimuya)
Woman with smallpox, in green dress with black and white heart (La cherimoya)
20.- Early morning quri,
chawpi punchaw qullqi,
tutan wañuchin (Sandia)
Gold
at dawn, silver at noon,
at night it can cause your death (Watermelon)
21.- Llulluchampi wayta, qatunchampi virdi, musuyaynimpi apuka, machuyaynimpi yana intiru sipu (Cherry)
When immature, it is a flower; When he is big, green, when young he is red, in his black senescence he is entirely wrinkled (The cherry)
22.- Sikillayta tanqaway maykamapas risaqmi (Kaptana)
Just push my buttocks as far as I'll go too (The scissors)
23.- Apupapas, wakchapapas, sipaspapas, payapapas, warmipapas, wide machupapas munananmi karqani, kunanñataq ñawinman tupaykuptipas uyanta wischuspa qipa rinanmi kani (Mikuna Akawan)
Of the rich man, the poor man, the young woman, the old woman, the woman, the old man, I was the object of much love, now that I find myself with their eyes, they are throwing me from behind (Food and excrement)
24.- Llapa runapa manchakunan supaypa wawan (Atomic bomb)
The greatest terror of all men, children of the devil (The atomic bomb)
25.- Puka machaymanta qusñi turu Iluqsimuchkan (Ñuti)
From a red cave a smoke-colored bull is coming out (The mucus)
26.- Ristin saqistin (Yupi)
You are walking but you are leaving (Footprint)
References
- Isbell, Billie Jean; Roncalla, Fredy Amilcar (1977). The Ontogenesis of Metaphor: Riddle Games among Quechua Speakers Seen as Cognitive Discovery Procedures (online document). UCLA Latin American Center - Journal of Latin American Lore 3. eCommons - Cornell University. Recovered from ecommons.cornell.edu.
- SIL international. Quechua Riddles and Reading. Summer Institute of Linguistics, Inc. (SIL) - Literacy & Education. Recovered from sil.org.
- Teófilo Altamirano (1984). Watuchicuna - Quechua Riddles (Online document). PUCP anthropological journal. Vol. 2, No. 2. Anthropologica from the Department of Social Sciences. Recovered from magazines.pucp.edu.pe.
- Maximiliano Durán (2010). Watuchikuna: riddles. Quechua general language of the Incas. Recovered from quechua-ayacucho.org.
- Manuel L. Nieves Fabián (2011). Quechua riddles. Manuel Nieves works. Recovered from manuelnievesobras.wordpress.com.
- Gloria Cáceres. The Watuchi and their didactic application in a context of intercultural bilingual education (online document). Cervantes Virtual Center. Recovered from cvc.cervantes.es.
- Jesus Raymundo. Quechua riddles. Intercultural Classroom. Recovered from aulaintercultural.org.