Estimates of the number of speakers of South Bolivian Quechua range from 2.3[2] to 2.8 million,[3] making it the most spoken indigenous language in Bolivia, just slightly greater than Aymara, with roughly 2 million speakers in Bolivia.

As a result of this, there have been numerous suggested classifications and theories of the relatedness of specific languages and dialects of Quechua.

These dialects include Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, Oruro, Potosi, and Sucre in Bolivia, along with Northwest Jujuy in Argentina.

South Bolivian Quechua has a large number of speakers compared to other indigenous languages.

[7] The Ethnologue lists South Bolivian Quechua as "developing", which indicates that "the language is in vigorous use, with literature in a standardized form being used by some though this is not yet widespread or sustainable.

"[9] Over the past few decades, there has been a surge in revitalization efforts for Quechua and other indigenous languages due to factors such as a growth in international tourism promoting cultural pride.

[10] Efforts have been made to increase the linguistic and cultural status of the Quechua language and peoples.

In Bolivia, many policymakers are advocating the teaching of Quechua and other indigenous languages like Aymara in all public schools and government offices.

[11] However, these revitalization efforts are often met with resistance, and their effectiveness in halting Quechua's decline is still questionable.

[12] The following table displays the consonant sounds in South Bolivian Quechua using the orthographic system employed by Bills (1969).

The five sounds contrast with both their aspirated and glottalized versions, a characteristic that occurs in many dialects of the Quechua language family and is believed to be as a result of exposure to Aymara, which makes the same distinctions.

[13] Additional phonological alternations include fricativization of /k/ and /q/ syllable-finally, to velar [x] and uvular [χ] respectively.

South Bolivian Quechua generally has a simple CV(C) syllable structure, where the coda consonant is optional.

These suffixes are also highly regular, with alternations generally only occurring to maintain syllable structure.

[14] South Bolivian Quechua has a great amount of modal suffixes that are used to express a range of concepts.

Possessiveness is marked by a suffix attached to the noun, with the form that the morpheme takes dependent on person, plurality, and whether it is following a vowel or consonant.

[16] However, because nouns are marked for case, word order is in fact very flexible and is generally varied for the purposes of emphasis.