Are aspirated stops and unaspirated separate phonemes of Cochabamba Quechua or allophones the same phonemes?

In Cochabamba Quechua, aspirated and unaspirated stops are allophones of the same phoneme. This means they are variations of the same sound that don't change the meaning of a word.

Here's why:

* Distribution: The aspiration of stops is predictable based on their position in a word. Aspirated stops typically occur at the beginning of a word or after a pause, while unaspirated stops appear elsewhere.

* Minimal Pairs: There are no minimal pairs in Cochabamba Quechua where changing an aspirated stop to an unaspirated stop (or vice versa) changes the meaning of the word.

Example:

* The word "p'ata" (foot) can be pronounced with an aspirated /pʰ/ at the beginning, but the word "pata" (mountain) will have an unaspirated /p/ at the beginning.

This predictable variation of the same sound based on position makes aspirated and unaspirated stops allophones of the same phoneme in Cochabamba Quechua.