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Aymara Indian Language (Aimara, Aymará)

Language: Aymara is one of the major languages of South America, spoken by more than two million people in the Andean region of Bolivia, Peru, Chile and Argentina. Aymara holds the status of an official language in two countries, Bolivia and Peru, where most of the Aymara population is located.

Actually, depending on the linguist doing the counting, there are somewhere between two and eight different Aymaran languages, each of which can be difficult for speakers of the others to understand. (The difference of opinion on the exact number is because some of the varieties are considered to be dialects by some people and considered to be distinct Aymaran languages by others.) Some linguists think Aymara may be distantly related to Quechua, but this has not been conclusively shown. There are many lexical similarities between the two languages, but that may be due to vocabulary borrowing -- the structures of the languages are radically different from each other. Aymara is an agglutinating language with many suffixes, and it uses SOV word order.

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Names: The origin of the name Aymara is unclear. It may have been a tribal name passed down from an earlier Andean language. Other spellings used include Aimara, Aymará, Aimará, Aymararu, Aymaraes, Aimaraes, Aimaras, and Aymaran. There are two main dialects of Aymara, known as Central Aymara and Southern Aymara. Jaqaru and Kawki are the names of two more closely related languages that are considered dialects of Aymara by some linguists. Names of important Aymara subgroups include Colla (also spelled Qolla, Kolla, or Qulla,) Lupaca (also spelled Lupaka or Lupaqa,) Canchi (also spelled Kanchi or Canches), Caranga (also spelled Caranca or Karanka,) Charca (also spelled Charka or Charcha,) Cana (also spelled Kana), Pacasa (also spelled Pacaxe,) Quillagua (also spelled Quilaco, Quillaga, or Killaka,) Ubina, Aullaga, Omasuyo, Chichas, and Ayaviri. Another term that was originally used for an Aymara group, Lari Lari, is no longer preferred by Aymara people because it is considered derogatory.



Aymara Language
Aymara language samples and resources.

Aymara Tribe Culture and History
Information and links about the Aymara Indians past and present.

Aymara Indians Fact Sheet
Our answers to frequently asked questions about the Aymara people, their language and culture.

Aymara Legends
Introduction to the mythology of the Aymaras.



Aymara Language Resources

Our English-Aymara Language Materials

Aymara Words:
    Our list of vocabulary words in Aymara.
Aymara Pronunciation Guide:
    How to pronounce Aymara words.
Aymara Picture Dictionary:
    Illustrated glossary of animal words in the Aymara language.
Aymara Colors:
    Worksheet showing color words in the Aymara language.
Aymara Body Parts:
    Online and printable worksheets showing parts of the body in Aymara.
Aymara Numbers:
    Learn how to count in the Aymara language.

Aymara Dictionaries and Language Books for Sale
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How to Speak Aymara for Beginners:
    Simple Aymara language learning textbook for sale.
The Aymara Language in Its Social and Cultural Context:
    Collection of essays on Aymara language and culture.
Am I Small? Jisk’asktti?:
    Bilingual children's book in English and Central Aymara.
Vocabulario de la Lengua Aymara: * Diccionario ilustrado Aymara
    Spanish-Aymara dictionaries for sale online.
Aymara Basico * Aymara Para Todos:
    Aymara language learning books available in Spanish.
American Indian Language Dictionaries:
    Aymara and other Native American dictionaries and language materials for sale.

Aymara Language Lessons and Linguistic Descriptions

Aymara Language Distribution * Language Map of the Andes * Quechua-Aymara Map:
    Maps showing the areas in South America where Aymara is spoken.
Aymara Alphabet:
    History and use of the Aymara writing system.
Abecedario en Aimara:
    Video recording of an Aymara speaker demonstrating how to pronounce the sounds of the alphabet.
Diccionario Aymara-Español:
    Online Spanish-Aymara dictionary.
Central Aymara * Chilean Aymara:
    Linguistic chart of phonemes in two Aymara languages.
Bolivian Aymara Language * Aymara Description * Aymara Numbers * Aymara Grammar:
    Aymara Phonology * Aymara Syntax * Aymara Text:
    Digitized Central Aymara language materials from the Rosetta Project.
Aymara and Quechua : Languages in Contact:
    Linguistics paper on the interplay between the Quechua and Aymara languages.
Logical and Linguistic Problems of Social Communication with the Aymara People:
    Sociolinguistics article on the connections between Aymara language and worldview.
Central Aymara Language Tree * Southern Aymara Language Tree:
    Theories about Aymara's language relationships compiled by Linguist List.
Aymara Language Structures:
    Aymara linguistic profile and academic bibliography.
Aymara Papers:
    Archive of linguistics papers on Aymara, in English and Spanish.

Literature and Texts in the Aymara Language

Fabulas Orales Aimaras:
    Collection of Aymara folktales and traditional stories with Spanish translation.
Lake Titicaca Folk Songs:
    Video of Peruvian Aymara women singing traditional folk music in Aymara and Quechua.
Human Rights: Aymara:
    Translation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights into the Aymara language.
Tower of Babel in Aymara * Aymara Words of Life * Aymara Prayers:
    Bible passages translated into Aymara.

Aymara Language Preservation and Usage

House of Languages: Aymara:
    Information about Aymara language usage.
Voice of the Aymara:
    Documentary film on the history and usage of Aymara in Bolivia.
Bilingual Education in Bolivia:
    Article on the status of Quechua and Aymara language use in Bolivian schools.
Our Language is Our Soul * Bolivians equip ancient language for digital times:
    News articles about Aymara language preservation in South America.

Aymara Proper Names

Andean Placenames:
    Chart of place names in Quechua and Aymara.
Names of Aymara Indians:
    List of Aymara names with their meanings in Spanish.
Native American Dog Names:
    Our new fundraiser offering names for dogs and other animals in American Indian languages (including Aymara).

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Links, References, and Additional Information

  Endangered Languages Project: Aymara:
  Bibliography of Aymara language resources.
  OLAC: Aymara * Central Aymara:
  Reference list of Aymara language materials.
  Wikipedia: Aymara: * World Languages: Aymara:
  Encyclopedia articles on the Aymara language.
  Idioma Aimara * Los Lenguas Aymaras * Escritura Aymara * Informacion Aymara: * Aymara Uta:
  Instituto de Lengua y Cultura Aymara:
  Information about the Aymara language in Spanish.
  Aymara Resources * Aymaras:
  Aymara language links.



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