#*aymara basics

Lesson 4 — Possessive Suffixes

Instead of possessive determiners (like "my" in "my name") Aymara uses possessive suffixes to express possession:

-ja — my

-ma — your (sg. and pl.)

-pa — his/her/its/their (sg. and pl.)

-sa — our (inclusive)

-na — 's

Therefore, if "suti" means "name", then "my name" means "sutija", "your name" = "sutima" and so on.

For nouns, the suffix -na is used: "Pedro's name" = "Pedrona sutipa"

Sources:

Paul Wexler (1967): BEGINNING AYMARA. A COURSE FOR ENGLISH SPEAKERS. University of Washington, Seattle, Washington. pp. 10+13.

Lesson 5 — Sentence Suffixes

-sa - covers the function of the question mark "?"

-xa

-wa

-ti - interrogational suffix for yes/no questions; covers the function of the question mark "?"

-sti - covers the function of "and"

Aymara needs at least one sentence suffix per sentence. For example:

(Nayan) sutijax Antuñuwa. - My name is Antuñu/Antonio.

For morphophonemic reasons, vowel elision occurs and -xa is reduced to -x.

(Juman) sutimax Antuñuti. - Is your name Antuñu? Your name is Antuñu?

Jisa, (sutijax) Antuñuwa. - Yes, my name is Antuñu.

Lesson 3 - Personal Pronouns

Naya - I

Juma - you (sg.)

Jupa - he, she, it, they (sg.)

Nanaka - we (but not you; 4th person exclusive)

Jiwasa - we (including you; 4th person inclusive)

Jiwasanaka - all of us (used when speaking of groups or countries; 4th person inclusive)

Jumanaka - you (pl.)

Jupanaka - they

Lesson 2 - Question Words

Kuna - What?

Kawki - Where?

K”iti - Who?

Qawq”a - How many?

Kamisa -  How?

Lesson 1 - Alphabet / Aymar Salta

Vocals

a, ä, i, ï, u, ü

Consonants

ch, ch", ch', j, k, k", k', l, ll, m, n, ñ, p, p", p', q, q", q', r, s, t, t", t', x

Semivowels

w, y

—

ä, ï, and ü are the 'longer versions' of a, i, and u respectively.

" means the consonant is aspirated, i.e. pronounced with a lot of air.

' signifies a glottal stop.

You can listen to the pronunciation of the letters here.

You might also find ch" written as chh, k" written as kh, p" as ph, q" as qh, t" as th and x as jj!