Today, I learned about this:
The indigenous Aymara people of the Andes and Altiplano regions of South America have a concept of time that is a mirror image of our own: the past lies ahead, and the future lies behind.
The Aymara word for 'past' is nayra, which literally means 'eye', 'sight' or 'front'.
The Aymara word for 'future' is q'ipa, which means 'behind' or 'the back'.
The word q'ipuru ('tomorrow') combines q'ipa and uru (the word for 'day'), to create the meaning 'some day behind one's back'.
Time, to the Aymara, is felt as motion, and speaks face the past, with their backs to the future.
Remind you of anyone? If you said "Trolls on the Discworld", you'd be absolutely correct.
A little genius note: on the Discworld, there is a train line called "The Altiplano Express", another nod to the Aymara people.
The indigenous Aymara people of the Andes and Altiplano regions of South America have a concept of time that is a mirror image of our own: the past lies ahead, and the future lies behind.
The Aymara word for 'past' is nayra, which literally means 'eye', 'sight' or 'front'.
The Aymara word for 'future' is q'ipa, which means 'behind' or 'the back'.
The word q'ipuru ('tomorrow') combines q'ipa and uru (the word for 'day'), to create the meaning 'some day behind one's back'.
Time, to the Aymara, is felt as motion, and speaks face the past, with their backs to the future.
Remind you of anyone? If you said "Trolls on the Discworld", you'd be absolutely correct.
A little genius note: on the Discworld, there is a train line called "The Altiplano Express", another nod to the Aymara people.
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