Tupi language

Tupi
Old Tupi, Ancient Tupi, Classical Tupi, Tupinambá
Native toCoastline of Brazil
EthnicityTupinambá, Tupiniquim
Era16th century-present; developed into Nheengatu
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3Variously:
tpn – Tupinambá
tpk – Tupiniquim
tpw – Old Tupi (this code has been merged into tpn since 2022)
Glottologtupi1287
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Old Tupi, Ancient Tupi or Classical Tupi (Portuguese pronunciation: [tuˈpi]) is a classical Tupian language which was spoken by the indigenous Tupi people of Brazil, mostly those who inhabited coastal regions in South and Southeast Brazil. In the words of Brazilian tupinologist Eduardo Navarro, "it is the classical indigenous language of Brazil, and the one which had the utmost importance to the cultural and spiritual formation of the country".[1]

Old Tupi belongs to the Tupi–Guarani language family, and has a written history spanning the 16th, 17th, and early 18th centuries. In the early colonial period, Tupi was used as a lingua franca throughout Brazil by Europeans and Amerindians, and had literary usage, but it was later suppressed almost to extinction. Today, its sole living descendant is the Nheengatu language.

As the most important native language of Brazil, it is the origin of most city names of indigenous origin (Pindamonhangaba, Ubatuba, Botucatu, Jacareí). It also names several plants and animals, and many proper names are tupi names, such as Moacir, Iara, Iracema and Jandaia. It has a rich literature, which includes cathechisms, poems and plays.[2]

The names Old Tupi or Classical Tupi are used for the language in English and by modern scholars (it is referred to as tupi antigo in Portuguese). It has previously been known, in Portuguese, as língua brasílica "Brazilian language".

  1. ^ Navarro, Eduardo de Almeida (2013). Dicionário de tupi antigo: a língua indígena clássica do Brasil (in Portuguese) (1st ed.). São Paulo: Global. ISBN 978-85-260-1933-1.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Navarro was invoked but never defined (see the help page).