ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an account of the Indigenous languages of the Andes, their speakers, and their geographical locations, also with reference to some of the Amazonian populations whose territories border on those of the Andean groups. The approach is both qualitative and quantitative. The nature of cultural identity is problematised: a distinction is drawn between the discursive categories used in self-identification and those imposed by other-identification, and the political tensions around this distinction are discussed. A quantitative approach to Indigenous language identification and classification is presented and problematised. By contrast, emphasis is also lain on the importance of concepts of language ideologies, semiosis, and performance for a qualitative analysis. A geographical view positions the languages and their speakers in space, while there is also a focus on language use and language contact, in social interaction. The chapter concludes with a comment on the impact of environmental degradation on the lives and livelihoods of the Indigenous peoples, undermining their ability to maintain their autochthonous languages as living codes.
