During the 16th-century colonization of Brazil, Old Tupi was the predominant language in the coastal regions of the country. Despite some dialectical variations, it became imperative for the fewer colonizers to learn it for territorial conquest. The earliest records of the language date back to the 1510s, but a substantial record was only produced in the 1540s. Jesuits played a crucial role in formalizing its grammar, with Joseph of Anchieta composing a grammar for it in 1555. Through intermarriage, Old Tupi permeated Brazilian society to the extent that even the children of Portuguese spoke it natively. Over time, it gave rise to lingua francas and contributed various words and a distinctive literature to Brazilian Portuguese and its society.