The linguistic postulate of duality, present in Quichua and Aymara, is a

representation of how the societies that speaks such languages acknowledge/construct life

as something that needs to be complemented. Harris (1978 cited in Dean 2001) discusses

the notion of chachawarmi among the contemporary Aymara-speaking Laymi of

Bolivia. Chacha means "man" or "husband," while warmi means "woman" or "wife,"

and she explains that this term operates to identify the pair bond as a single, distinct unit.

(Dean 2001: 176). Other expressions of dualism in Andean societies are in the

distribution of power between women and men, where social power corresponds to men

and the economic power to woman. Dualism is an important principle in the Andes,

reflected in society, geography, and gender relations. In all the representations of Andean

culture the concept of dualism is omnipresent and is manifested in the concepts of

yanantin and yanapaque, which refers to mirror imagery and symmetry. These applied to

gender relations represent an ideal complementary and equality in the couple6.

 Another consequence of the linguistic postulates is the lack of gender related

articles in Quichua. There is no difference between masculine and feminine, which is

common in Indo-European languages. This linguistic feature is an indication of how a

society establishes differences based on gender. In all the Indo-European languages, for

example, it is linguistically correct to use the masculine to refer to both masculine and

feminine genders, but the opposite is not possible.

 Although the cultural worldview of indigenous communities that allows equity and

complementarity in gender relations is strongly connected to cultural roots, it is subject to

distortions or even disappearance. This could occur especially due to the imposition of


6 To review the linguistic postulates in Andean languages see: Carpenter (1982), and Hardman (1985).