DiQuIt (Dictionary Quechua Italian) is a tool to assit an italian student in learning the Quechua language; it has the following features:

• Quechua-Italian dictionary
• Italian-Quechua dictionary
• Translates numbers into Quechua
• Conjugates verbs in Quechua
• Declines nouns in Quechua
• Quechua Grammar and workbook

Technical Information

DiQuIt is a Graphic User Interface (GUI) of a postgresql database with the information in the file runasimi.txt downloaded from RUNASIMI.DE. The interface has been developed in tcl/tk.

Database Postgresql

The following fields have been entered in the database:

• 23520 words in runasimi (from the first column of the file, Hanan Runasimi)
• its translation into italian
• grammatical category
• semantic category
• linguistic derivation
• synonyms
• etymology
• examples
• taxonomic references

Note: I chose Hanan Runasimi because it is the official writing for the Quechua-Qullaw in Peru and is a standard that combines the Quechua of Cuzco with that of Ayacucho. The alphabetic system is trivocalic.
In the future, I plan to add other dialects of the file and provide the user the possibility to change them realtime. Similarly, I'm going to expand the translation languages to Spanish and English.

Features of DiQuIt

Search of a word:
it is possible to search words in Quechua or Italian, possibly grouping them by grammatical category, semantic category or linguistic derivation.

Extended search:
when active, the word is searched in the notes associated to other words.

Information:
this function allows the user to view information about the searched word (possible translations, synonyms, taxonomy, notes).

Translations of numbers
by entering a number from 0 to 1000000 (a milion), the program can translate it into Quechua.

Conjugation of verbs
by entering a verb in quechua and specifying the options (tense, negation, ...) the program can combines the verb in the seven forms or in the impersonal form.

Declination of nouns
by entering a noun in Quechua, the program can decline it into seven forms (accusative, dative, genitive, etc...)

Grammar:
DiQuIt includes also a grammar (experimental)

Learning cards
learning of words related to some topics is facilitated by the presence of cards (forms of greetings, numbers, calendar, astronomy, shapes and colors, ecc...).

Exercises
You can check your progress through a series of exercises based on the learning cards, both from Italian to Quechua, and from Quechua to Italian.

Minimum Requirements

DiQuIt needs the following minimum requirements to work:

• 32bit Gnu-Linux environment
• Postgresql 8.4 (http://www.postgresql.org) - LICENSE
• Tcl/Tk 8.4 (http://www.tcl.tk/software/tcltk - LICENSE)
• TclMiniSplash 0.01 (http://tclminisplash.autons.net) - BSD LICENSE
• tablelist 5.2 (http://www.nemethi.de) - GPL
• rnotebook 1.1 (http://daniel.roche.free.fr/rnotebook/index.html) - GPL 2
• groff 1.21 (http://www.gnu.org/software/groff - GPL 3)
• gv 3.7.2 (http://www.gnu.org/software/gv/) - GPL 3

The installation of DiQuIt is quite complicated and the Gnu-Linux O.S. is required. Besides a pre-configuration of postgresql database is required too.
 
In order to make the program accessible to the largest number of users, I decided to put DiQuIt on a GNU-Linux Live Distro, installed on a USB stick or CD-ROM. The distribution is almost ready: I am working on some technical details and license, then I will publish it on this site.

• Where can I download DiQuIt?
  DiQuIt is included in the Gnu-Linux distro Kuntur GNU-Linux which will be freely downloadable from this site in a meanwhile.
• What is Kuntur GNU-Linux?
  Kuntur GNU-Linux is a Gnu-Linux distro based on Ubuntu and thought to work on the mayority of PC (my hope also on the old ones).
  Distro includes the following softwares:
  • Fluxbox (graphic environment)
  • Tk-Yupana (Incan Abacus Emulator)
  • DiQuIt (Quechua Italian Dictionary)
  • Abiword (Text Editor with Quechua locale)
  • Lxmusic (Music player with Quechua locale)
  • Gpicview (Image viewer with Quechua locale)
  • Web Browser (Firefox)
  • Other software and utilities
• How much does DiQuIt or Kuntur GNU-Linux cost?
  DiQuIt (and Kuntur GNU-Linux) is free (gratis).
• Are You planning to develope a Mindoms version of DiQuIt?
  What's Mindoms? Sorry, I haven't ever heard about it! ;-) DiQuIt is thought to be portable as both Postgresql and Tcl/Tk can work also in other environments and O.S., but I am not going to release DiQuIt under other O.S.
• I saw that DiQuIt translates from Quecha to Italian an vice versa, but is there a version of it that can translate from Quechua to Spanish or from Quechua to English?
  N.B.N.! (Not by now!)...
  I am going to add the other translation languages that are in the file runasimi.txt, but as I have little time to dedicate to DiQuIt, I prefer to correct any mistakes and add new functions; then I will add other languages.