Quechua has a so-called 'empty morph'-ni. This form is used in inflectional and derivational noun formation, whenever a nominal base ends in a consonant. While obligatory in most cases, due to syllabic structural considerations, the resource to -ni in other instances is motivated by purely euphonic considerations. Cerrón Palomino argues that -ni, relatively recently, has replaced a former 'empty morph' -i, as a result of Aymaran influence. He also claims that it has been the source of the Quechua II first person verbal marker. Historical and dialectal evidence is advanced in order to prove this hypothesis.