Languagle #47: Aymara
Wayn tawaqutakix qullus pampawa, pampas qullurakiwa
"For the young, hills are flat ground, and flat ground is hills."
What it means
When you are young, nothing is too difficult: hills feel like flat ground, and flat ground feels like hills you can climb with ease. A saying about the energy of youth, from people who live high in the Andes.
What kind of saying it is
Oral tradition. Passed down by word of mouth. Sayings like this have no single author.
About the Aymara language
Aymara is an Aymaran language spoken by around 1.5 to 2 million people in the Andes of Bolivia, Peru and Chile, especially around Lake Titicaca. It is an official language of Bolivia and Peru. Aymara is known for how it treats time: the past is described as lying ahead, because you can see it, and the future as behind you, because you cannot. It is written in the Latin alphabet.