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In Aymara, a language of the Andes, the word for the past, nayra, also means 'eye' and 'front', and speakers point ahead of themselves for the past and behind them for the future: the reverse of most languages studied.

Rafael Núñez & Eve Sweetser, Cognitive Science, 2006

LanguageMind

The story behind the card

The Aymara live around Lake Titicaca in Bolivia, Peru and Chile. In 2006 the cognitive scientists Rafael Núñez and Eve Sweetser analysed hours of video-recorded interviews and found that speakers' hand gestures matched their words: they pointed forward when talking about the past and back over the shoulder for the future. The pattern was strongest among older people who spoke little Spanish. The usual explanation is that Aymara ties time to sight: what is known has been seen and lies in front of you, while the unknown future is out of sight, behind you.

Türkçe oku
And Dağları'nda konuşulan Aymaracada geçmiş anlamına gelen nayra sözcüğü aynı zamanda “göz” ve “ön” demektir. Aymaraca konuşanlar geçmişten söz ederken önlerini, gelecekten söz ederken arkalarını gösterir; incelenen dillerin çoğunda durum tam tersidir.
Rafael Núñez ve Eve Sweetser, Cognitive Science, 2006

Aymaralar Bolivya, Peru ve Şili'de, Titicaca Gölü çevresinde yaşar. Bilişsel bilimciler Rafael Núñez ile Eve Sweetser 2006'da saatlerce süren video kayıtlı görüşmeleri inceleyerek konuşanların el hareketlerinin sözleriyle örtüştüğünü gösterdi: Geçmişten söz ederken önlerini, gelecekten söz ederken omuzlarının üstünden arkalarını işaret ediyorlardı. Bu örüntü en çok, az İspanyolca bilen yaşlılarda görülüyordu. Yaygın açıklamaya göre Aymaraca zamanı görmeye bağlar: Bilinen şey görülmüştür ve insanın önünde durur; bilinmeyen gelecek ise görüş alanının dışında, arkadadır.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Aymara language
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