American Indian Culture and Research Journal

The Aymara language is increasingly present in Bolivia’s largest metropolitan region. Developments in public transit transform residents’ relationship to urban social space and the location of Aymara within it. Transit signs include existing Aymara toponyms, but also descriptions of urban space without correspondence to Spanish toponyms. This essay combines text analysis with accounts of riders' experiences to argue the material textuality of bilingual signage suggests an assertion of Aymara hegemony in the city. Rather than just preserving heritage, this language policy intervention of bilingual signage throughout the city extends Aymara toponyms beyond areas of Indigenous confinement.