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4-3.22 Phonemic variation
4-3.22.1 Vowels

4-3.22.11 Predominance of /u/ over /i/ in verbs

In verbs a final root vowel /u/ obligatorily

predominates over an initial /i/ of a following suffix.
tYuqu- ‘dance’ + -iri ‘actor/purposive' >
t'ugu.ri ‘dancer/in order to dance’ (La Paz)

In Salinas the rule extends to the second /i/ of -iri.

t'uqu.ru  ‘'dancer/in order to dance' (Salinas)

On verbs having the final root vowel /a/ it drops before

-iri.

 

chura- '‘give' + -iri > chur.iri ‘giver'

The predominance of /u/ over /i/ in Aymara is limited
to inflection and therefore to verbs. In the following
example of a noun plus a derivational suffix beginning
with /i/, the final root vowel /u/ does not predominate

over the following /i/.

ajanu 'face' + -itu ‘little’ > ajan.itu) ‘little face'
(La Paz)