of Potost and (Javier Alb6 and Walter Pefiaranda, personal
communications) along the western border of the department
of Cochabamba. The presence of Aymara throughout the
department of La Paz is well known although the north-
eastern provinces beyond the Cordillera Real (Larecajas,
Mufecas, Bautista Saavedra, and part of Camacho) are
shared with Quechua speakers, some villages being pre-
dominantly Quechua, others Aymara. The situation in
eastern Oruro is similar, with a preponderance of Quechua
as one approaches the Potosi border.

In northwestern Potos?t between the departments
of Oruro and Cochabamba the linguistic situation is
complex. The mining centers just east of the Oruro-
Potosi border are Quechua speaking, but surrounding
towns, such as Calacala and Morocomarca (see Figure 1-1)
are often Aymara. In some of these, as in Calacala, the
younger generation is bilingual in Spanish and Quechua
rather than Aymara. Although persons over 15 are capable
of telling stories in Aymara they obviously prefer to
use Quechua; children under 12 do not understand Aymara.
The situation is like that noted by 0. Harris (1974)
in some other communities in the province of Bustillos
and in the province of Charcas, where Aymara is spoken
only at home; its use in public is met with embarrassment,
if not shame, and Quechua is used primarily in public or

with strangers. This situation suggests a kind of