Aymaran (also
Jaqi,
Aru,
Jaqui,
Aimara,
Haki) is one of the two dominant language families of the central
AndesThe Andes are the world's longest exposed mountain range. They lie as a continuous chain of highland along the western coast of South America...
, along with Quechuan.
Quechuan languages, especially that of the south, share a large amount of vocabulary with Aymara, and the languages have often been grouped together as
QuechumaranQuechumaran is a language-family proposal that unites Quechua and Aymara. Quechuan languages, especially those of the south, share a large amount of vocabulary with Aymara. Kaufman finds the proposal reasonably convincing, but many historical linguists believe the similarities may be due to...
. This proposal is controversial, however; the shared vocabulary may be better explained as intensive borrowing due to long-term contact.
Aymaran consists of 2 languages:
- Aymara
Aymara is an Aymaran language spoken by the Aymara people of the Andes. It is one of only a handful of Native American languages with over a million speakers. Aymara, along with Quechua and Spanish, is an official language of Peru and Bolivia...
.
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Aymaran (also
Jaqi,
Aru,
Jaqui,
Aimara,
Haki) is one of the two dominant language families of the central
AndesThe Andes are the world's longest exposed mountain range. They lie as a continuous chain of highland along the western coast of South America...
, along with Quechuan.
Quechuan languages, especially that of the south, share a large amount of vocabulary with Aymara, and the languages have often been grouped together as
QuechumaranQuechumaran is a language-family proposal that unites Quechua and Aymara. Quechuan languages, especially those of the south, share a large amount of vocabulary with Aymara. Kaufman finds the proposal reasonably convincing, but many historical linguists believe the similarities may be due to...
. This proposal is controversial, however; the shared vocabulary may be better explained as intensive borrowing due to long-term contact.
Family division
Aymaran consists of 2 languages:
- Aymara
Aymara is an Aymaran language spoken by the Aymara people of the Andes. It is one of only a handful of Native American languages with over a million speakers. Aymara, along with Quechua and Spanish, is an official language of Peru and Bolivia...
. Southern and Central dialects divergent and sometimes considered separate languages.
- Jaqaru (Haqearu, Haqaru, Haq'aru, Aru). Kawki dialect (Cauqui, Cachuy) is divergent.
Aymara has approximately 2.2 million speakers; 1.7 million in
BoliviaBolivia, officially Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is bordered by Brazil to the north and east, Paraguay and Argentina to the south, and Chile and Peru to the west....
, 350,000 in
PeruPeru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.Peruvian territory was home to the Norte Chico...
, and the rest in
ChileChile, officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
and
ArgentinaArgentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations, though Mexico,...
. Jaqaru has approximately 725 speakers in central Peru, while Cauqui had 9 surviving speakers as of 2005. Cauqui is little documented, though its relationship with Jaqaru is extremely close. Initially they were considered by Dr Martha Hardman (on very limited data at the time) to be different languages, but all subsequent fieldwork and research has contradicted this and demonstrated that they are mutually intelligible but divergent dialects of a single language.