Why is there two ll in llama?

The double "ll" in "llama" is a bit of a linguistic quirk. It stems from the Spanish word "llama," which originally came from the Quechua language, spoken by indigenous people in the Andes region of South America.

Here's a breakdown:

* Quechua: The original word for this animal was "llama," pronounced with a single "l" sound.

* Spanish: When the Spanish language adopted the word, they spelled it "llama" with a double "ll," reflecting their own pronunciation of this sound. The "ll" in Spanish typically represents a "y" sound (like the "y" in "yellow").

* English: English borrowed the word from Spanish, but we don't have the same "ll" sound in our language. So, we keep the double "ll" spelling, even though it's pronounced with a single "l" sound.

So, the double "ll" in "llama" is a vestige of Spanish spelling and pronunciation, and we've retained it for historical reasons even though it doesn't represent the same sound in English.