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Aymara dialects fall into two major groups: (1) a northern
group of dialects located on or near Lake Titicaca and
including La Paz (the city and the department), and (2) a
southern group at a greater distance from the lake in the
departments of Oruro and Potosi. The intermediate dialects
of Celacoa and Sitajara in southern Peru southwest of
Lake Titicaca share some features with the northern and
some with the southern group; Calacoa has more northern
features, and Sitajara, more southern ones. (Figure 10-1
is a preliminary attempt to distinguish the three dialect
areas.)

Apart from the division into northern, southern, and
intermediate dialects, there is a distinction between a

central group of La Paz dialects and those on the periphery

 

of La Paz influence, whether to the north, south, or west.
(It may be that certain dialects located in La Paz depart-
ment north and east of the capital may also have to be
designated as peripheral when more is known about them.)
Huancané, a northern dialect sharing a number of features
with La Paz, is also peripheral in sharing certain non-

La Paz attributes with the southern and intermediate
dialects. (Figure 10-2 distinguishes.central from periph-
eral dialects.) In some cases features cut across regional
lines. For example, Morocomarca, in spite of its remote-
ness from La Paz, shares with it certain features lacking

in other northern and southern dialects.