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Aymara language family
Where are the Aymara languages spoken?
These languages are spoken in an area of the Andes called the “Altiplano”, in Peru, Chili, Bolivia, and Argentina.
Total number of speakers (estimates)
Approximately 2,200,000 according to the SIL, most of which speak Aymara. The two other languages total less than 800 speakers.
Classification
The Aymara family counts two or three languages, depending on sources.
Aymara: 2,262,900 speakers according to the SIL
Tupe branch
Jaqaru haqearu (alternative name: Haq’aru): 750 speakers according to the SIL
Kawki (alternative name: Cachuy): very close to Jaqaru, possibly a dialect. Kawki could count less than 5 speakers.
Notes on the Aymara languages classification
We hereby follow Campbell’s classification (1997).
Aymara consists in a group of dialects spoken all over the Altiplano, though most of their speakers live in Bolivia.
Jaqaru consists in a group of dialects spoken in Peru. Linguists differ on their classification.
Kawaki is often regarded at a Jaqaru variant, but it was hardly documented or studied.
These languages are geographically close to the Quechua languages, and proposition has been made to gather these two groups into a “Quechumara” macro-group. However, according to Campbell (1997), the similarities between these two groups are actually linked to mutual linguistic influences, due to their geographical proximity.
Are the Aymara languages endangered?
Yes. The UNESCO considers Jaqaru as “seriously endangered”, and it is said that Kawki counts less than half a dozen, very aged speakers.
With over 2 million speakers, Aymara suffers no immediate threat, and what’s more, it is an official language in Peru and Bolivia. But the number of Aymara speakers seems to be decreasing as some give it up for Spanish or a Quechua language. The UNESCO considers the Aymara dialect as vulnerable.
Sources
Campbell, Lyle. American Indian languages: the historical linguistics of Native America. Oxford: Oxford University Press (1997).
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