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and linguistic notions, such as that Aymara is a language,
not a ‘dialect'; that it possesses a complex grammar, like
any other language; that it can be written, read, and used
as a medium of communication and instruction; that knowledge
of Spanish and Aymara structure facilitates teaching either
language to speakers of the other; and similar concepts.
With only one or two exceptions, these ideas found a ready
acceptance, as if they confirmed already-held assumptions.
Certain educated bilinguals are now articulating their
cultural heritage and seeking out its guardians in order
to reformulate it and bring it to public attention. The
work of Yapita and his associates in Bolivia, and of D. and
J. Llanque Chana in Peru, is in this vein.

The most positive attitudes toward Aymara are
found in and near the city of La Paz. Although La Paz
Aymara is taking in Spanish loanwords at an accelerating
rate, speakers revert to less Hispanicized usages when
talking to monolinguals or when visiting rural communities.
This happens even in the case of children who attend
school in La Paz, use Spanish among themselves and with
other children in the city, but speak Aymara on visits
to the Lake Titicaca communities where their parents and
grandparents still own and cultivate the land and where
Aymara is spoken by all ages. Aymara communities where
everyone is virtually monolingual reportedly still exist

in remote parts of the department of La Paz. Although