Je–Tupi–Carib languages explained

Je–Tupi–Carib
Acceptance:	proposed
Familycolor:	American
Glotto:	none
Map:	Je-Tupi-Cariban-lang.png

Je–Tupi–Carib (or TuKaJê^[1]) is a proposed language family composed of the Macro-Je (or Macro-Gê), Tupian and Cariban languages of South America. Aryon Rodrigues (2000) based this proposal on shared morphological patterns.^[2] ^[3] In an earlier proposal, Rodrigues (1985) had also proposed a Tupí-Cariban language family.^[4] or Mason's "Macro-Tupí-Guaranían" family (1950: 236–238) which groups Tupian together with Bora–Witoto and Zaparoan.^[6]

However, in some cases, similarities among the language families are clearly due to more recent linguistic diffusion, as with Tupian and Jê languages (Timbira; Guajajara, Tembe, Guaja, Urubu-Ka'apor, etc.) in the lower Tocantins-Mearim area.^[7] Linguistic diffusion among Jê, Tupian, Cariban, Arawakan, and Trumai languages is also evident among the languages of the Xingu Indigenous Park.^[8]

Comparison

Nikulin (2015)

Comparison of Proto-Macro-Jê (with W = Proto-Western Macro-Jê; E = Proto-Eastern Macro-Jê), Proto-Tupí, and Proto-Karib from Nikulin (2015):^[9]

Gloss			Proto-Karib
‘we’	ka (W)	oɾʸe / oɾʸo= (excl.),Vy= (?) (incl.)	apina (excl.), *kɨwɨ-ɾə (incl.)
‘two’	ɾey	not reconstructible	atyəkə
‘I’	iK=, *ba= (?)	õn / *o=	əwɨ-ɾə
‘eye’	ⁿdʌm	=eča	=ənu
‘you’	aC=, *ka=	ẽn / *e=	əmə-ɾə
‘fire’	ʆɯm	=atʸa	wapoto (?)
‘tongue’	ʆɔ̃ỹᵊtʌy / *ɲɔ̃ỹᵊtʌy	kʸũ	nuɾu
‘stone’	kɾaT ~ *kɾaK	wita	təpu
‘name’	(ʆi=)yit	=et	=ətetɨ
‘hand’	ⁿbo	po / *ⁿpo	=əmiya
‘to die’	tɯC	pap	ɾəməpə
‘to drink’	ʆop / *yop	kʼu ‘to eat, to drink’	ənɨɾɨ
‘louse’	ⁿgot (E), *tit (W) (?)	ⁿkɨp	(w)ayamə
‘moon’	Pãɲɔ̃t (E)	wačɨ	nunnə
‘nail’	pṼ=ʆay	po=ape / *ⁿpo=ape	=amoti
‘blood’	ʆVⁿbV / *yVⁿbV (W)	=Vʔɨ	munu (*mɨnu?)
‘one’	piyit (E)	not reconstructible	əwinə
‘tooth’	ʆɔy / *yɔy	=ãỹ	=ə
‘new’	tʌbⁿ	not reconstructible	not reconstructible
‘dry’	tVgⁿ	ⁿkãŋ (Proto-TG-Awetí-Mawé)	umɨna (?)
‘liver’	ⁿbaT ~ *ⁿbaK	pɨʔa	=əɾe
‘to eat’	ku(C)	kʼu ‘to eat, to drink’	ətəku
‘tail’	ⁿbɯn	=uway	=kɨ (N)
‘this’	toC	not reconstructible	tə
‘hair’	ʆi(C) (W)	=ap	(=e)tipotɨ
‘water’	ⁿbiVk (W) (*koy ‘river’ (E))	kʼɨ	tuna
‘nose’	ʆĩya(C) / *ɲĩya(C)	ãpɨy	=əwna
‘not’	tɔ̃T ~ *tɔ̃K	=ãm (suffix)	=ɾa, *=pɨɾa
‘mouth’	ʆaɾᵊ(-kɔy) / *yaɾᵊ(-kɔy)	=ẽn	mɨta
‘ear’	ʆĩp=pV(C) / *ɲĩp=pV(C) (W)	apɨ	pana
‘that’	nã (W) (?)	not reconstructible	mə
‘bird’	pɾɤy(ᵊ) (E) (?),*ⁿbVkɾa(C) (W)	not reconstructible	toɾono
‘bone’	ʆik / *yik	kãŋ	ye
‘sun’	Pãɲɔ̃t (E), *kɾV(M)PV(W)	ⁿkʷat	titi
‘tree’	kop	kʼɨp	yeye
‘ashes’	ⁿbɾʌk	not reconstructible	əɾuno
‘to give’	ʆɔ̃p / *ɲɔ̃p	=ũm	utu
‘rain’	ⁿdVy	(ã)mãn	konopo
‘fish’	mĩKnũ (W)	ɨp, potʸ, poɾʸɨp	woto, *kana
‘neck’	ʆok- / *yok-	wut	pɨmɨ (N)
‘breast’	kɤp ~ *kɛp (E) (?)	ⁿkãm	manatɨ
‘leaf’	ʆoyᵊ (E), *ʆaɾɔ(C) (W)	=epʷ	yaɾe
‘to come’	tɛ(C) (sg), *mɔ̃ŋ (pl)	wut (cf. also *acʼem ‘to arrive’)	ətepɨ
‘to kill’	paT ~ *paK	aku (?)	wə
‘foot’	paɾᵊ	pɨ / *ⁿpɨ	pupu
‘to sit’	ɲɯ̃ p	in	not reconstructible
‘root’	ʆaɾet / *yaɾet	=apo (TG, Mundurukú)	mitɨ
‘horn’	kop	not reconstructible	ɾe(me)tɨ (N)
‘to fly’	pɔ, *ʆɔ (W)	not reconstructible	not reconstructible
‘to hear’	ⁿbak	=eⁿtup	əta
‘skin,bark’	kɤ	pe	pi
‘long’	ɾɯy	peɾeC (?)	mɨa
‘meat’	ɲĩt	ẽt	punu
‘road’	pɾɯt	pe / *ape	ətema
‘to know’	ⁿbak	not reconstructible	pu
‘egg’	ⁿgɾɛ(C)	=upiʔa	pumo
‘seed’	ʆɯm	not reconstructible	epɨ (N)
‘knee’	ʆVkɾã(ỹ) / *yVkɾã(ỹ)	=pɨ̃ʔã (?)	=ətyə=kumu (cf. Arara =pia=gumi / =pya=gumi)
‘head’	kɾãỹ	ʔa	pu (N)
‘to sleep’	ʆɔ̃tᵊ / *ɲɔ̃tᵊ	kʸet	wənɨkɨ
‘to burn’	pokᵊ	pɨkʼ	iatu
‘to bite’	pɾop ~ *pɾʌp	čukʼu	əte(ka)
‘fat’	tɔbⁿ	kʸap	katɨ
‘man’	ⁿbɯn	aɨče	wəkɨɾɨ (N)
‘all’	=pV (?)	not reconstructible, cf. PTG *=pap ‘completive’	not reconstructible
‘snake’	kaŋã	ⁿboy	əkəyu
‘to see’	ⁿbVp (?)	cup	əne
‘heavy’	kuʆɯ(C)	pocɨy	əwoti-
‘to go’	tɛ(C) (sg), *mɔ̃ŋ (pl)	co	tə
‘cold’	yiyi(C) (W)	cik ~ *čik	komiti
‘cloud’	ⁿgVkᵊ (E) (?), *ⁿbVV (W)	not reconstructible	not reconstructible
‘far’	ɾɯy	not reconstructible	mɨa (N), *paki (S)
‘good’	ⁿbɛȶᵊ (E)	not reconstructible	kuɾe
‘mountain’	kɾãỹ	cuʔa ~ *čuʔa	(w)ɨpɨ
‘wind’	kokᵊ	ɨpʷɨtu	apitetune
‘belly’	tikᵊ (E)	=ɨʔe ~ *=eʔo (?)	waku (N)

Nikulin (2019)

Jê-Tupí-Cariban basic vocabulary listed by Nikulin (2019):^[10]

‘to go’: p-Tupian *to, p-Bororo *tu, p-Cariban *[wɨ]tə[mə]
‘arm’: p-Mundurukú *paʔ, p-Macro-Jê *paC, Chiquitano pa-, p-Kariri *bo(ro-), p-Cariban *apə-rɨ
‘foot’: p-Tupian *py, p-Macro-Jê *pVrV, p-Bororo *bure, Kariri *bɨ(ri-), (?) Chiquitano pope-, (?) p-Cariban *pupu-ru
‘seed’: p-Tuparí-Karitiana *j-upa, p-Cariban *əpɨ (*-tɨpə)
‘stone’: p-Macro-Jê *kra(C), p-Kariri *kro
‘tree’: p-Bororo *i, p-Kariri *dzi
‘to sleep’: p-Jabutí *nũtã, Chiquitano a-nu, p-Bororo *unutu / *-nutu, p-Kariri *-unu, (?) p-Macro-Jê *ũtᵊ

Nikulin (2023)

Nikulin (2023) identifies the following cognates in Macro-Jê and Tupian as further evidence for a Macro-Jê–Tupian family.^[11]

Good distribution in both families! Gloss !! Proto-Macro-Jê !! Proto-Tupian
3rd person non-coreferential prefix	i- / *c-	i- / *c-
‘meat, flesh’	ĩt / *-ñĩt	ẽT / *-jẽT
‘to stand’	ja (nonfinite *-ja-m)	-ja or *-ʔãP
‘name’	-jet	-jeT
‘father’	-jo₂m	-joP
‘pus’	-jo₂w°	-joP ‘fish roe, pus’
‘tooth’	-juñ°	-jãC
‘to ingest’ (‘to eat/drink’)	-ko₂	-ꝁo
‘tree, tree-like object (leg, horn, bone)’	(-)ky₁m°	(-)ꝁɯP
‘liver’	-mbâ	-pɨ(-)ʔa / *mbɨ(-)ʔa
‘smoke’	-ñĩjə̂k	-jĩːK
‘feces’	-ñV˜ t°	-jV˜ T
‘earth’	ŋgyN°	ꝁɯC
‘arm’	-pa ‘arm, branch’	-pə / mbə ‘hand, vine-like’, -pə-ʔa / *mbə-ʔa ‘arm’
‘foot’	-pâr°	-pɨ / *mbɨ
‘to burn, to set on fire’	(-)py₁k° ~ *(-)py₁ŋ°	-pɯK
3rd person coreferential prefix	ta-	tə-
‘to give’	-ũp	-õP
‘to go up, to rise’	-we(C)	-we(ː)P

Good distribution in Macro-Jê only! Gloss !! Proto-Macro-Jê !! Tupian
‘hole’	-kuñ°	Proto-Mundurukuan *-kã̰j
‘ripe’	-ndêp°	Tuparí -tep
‘to kill’	-wĩ	Karo -wĩ

Good distribution in Tupian only! Gloss !! Proto-Tupian !! Macro-Jê
‘bitter’	-ðəP	Proto-Cerrado *-ndap ‘sour, bitter’
‘to do, to say, to be like this’	-ꝁe	Proto-Southern Jê kê / ke
‘white’	-ǩɨT	Proto-Cerrado *-kaː
‘husband’	-mẽT	Proto-Macro-Jê *-mbi₂n (Eastern)
‘I’	o-	Proto-Cerrado *wa
‘to wake up’	-paK	Proto-Jabutian *-pa
‘heavy’	-pətɨC	Maxakalí -ptux
‘to go’, ‘to come’	-tẽP ‘to exit’, *-ʔatẽP ‘to arrive’	Proto-Macro-Jê tẽ (nonfinite -tẽ-m or *-tẽ-n) ‘to go, to come’ (Eastern)
‘to arrive’	-wɯC ‘to go out, to arrive’	Proto-Cerrado wôc, nonfinite -wôc

Limited distribution in both families! Gloss !! Macro-Jê !! Tupian
‘bat’	Proto-Goyaz *nĵêp	Proto-Tupian *jɯP (Kepkiriwat and Mondé)
‘to dig’	Proto-Macro-Jê *-kut (Eastern only)	Proto-Mundurukuan *-ɟ e-kot
‘to enter’	Proto-Jê *ŋgê₂ (plural only)	Proto-Tupian -ke ~ -ǩe (Eastern)
‘to pierce’	Proto-Cerrado -pôk (sg.), -japôk (pl.)	Proto-Tupi–Guaranian *-puK
‘son’	Proto-Chiquitano *´-tsay	Proto-Tuparian -jaʔɨP or Proto-Mawé–Guaranian -caʔɨT
‘sour’	Proto-Jê *-jôK ‘sour, salty’	Karitiana -syk
‘sweet’	Proto-Macro-Jê *-jə̂ñ (Eastern)	Tuparí -hoy

Non-cognate lookalikes or loans are identified by Nikulin (2023) as:

‘flat’: Proto-Mawé–Guaranian *-peːP and Ofayé -ɸiʔ
‘to kill’: Ofayé -kə˜jʔ, Proto-Chiquitano *kõˀõj- ‘to kill, to die’, and Awetí -kỹj
‘liquid’: Proto-Tupian *ʔɯ / *-j-ɯ and Proto-Jabutian *-y
‘louse’: Proto-Macro-Jê *-ŋgy₁n° (Eastern only) and Proto-Core Mondé *giT
‘neck’: Proto-Tupian *-woT and Proto-Cerrado *-mbut
‘powder, paste’: Proto-Tupian *-jõʔõP and Proto-Jabutian *-nũ
‘thorn’: Proto-Macro-Jê *-ñĩn° ~ *-ñĩñ° and Tuparí -ĩ

Macro-Chaco hypothesis

See also: Chaco linguistic area. Nikulin (2019) suggests a Macro-Chaco hypothesis linking Jê-Tupí-Cariban (including Karirian and Bororoan) with Mataco-Guaicuruan (possibly including Zamucoan):^[10]

Macro-Chaco
- Macro-Guaicurú
  - Matacoan
  - Guaicurú
  - (?) Zamuco
- Jê-Tupí-Cariban
  - Macro-Tupian
    - Tupian
    - Macro-Jê + Chiquitano
  - Macro-Cariban
    - Cariban
    - Karirí
    - Boróro

In addition to likely shared morphology, there are also various possible Macro-Chaco shared basic vocabulary items, listed below.^[10]

‘tooth’: p-Tupian *j-ãc, p-Tupian *j-uñ, p-Bororo *o, Chiquitano oʔo-, p-Cariban *jə, p-Kariri *dza, p-Guaicurú *-owe
‘liquid’: p-Tupian *j-ɯ, Chiquitano uʔu- ‘honey’, p-Matacoan *-ʔi
‘name’: p-Tupian *j-et, p-Tupian *-jet, p-Bororo *idʒe, Kariri *dze, p-Matacoan *-ej, p-Zamocoan *i, (?) Chiquitano ɨri-
‘blood’: p-Tupian *əɯ, p-Tupian *j-O, p-Matacoan *’woj-, p-Guaicurú *-awot, Ayoreo ijo
‘seed’: pre-pMundurukú *j-a, p-Tupian *j-əm, p-Bororo *a, Chiquitano ijo-, p-Chiquitano *a, p-Matacoan *-oʔ, p-Guaicurú -a ‘fruit’

Reconstructed pronominal affixes of the protolanguages of the Macro-Chaco families are given in the following table:

GLOSS				Mataco- Guaicurú
1st singular	wi-, o-, ɨ- a-, sʲe- [TG]	ʔi-, yo-	ɨwɨ (ind.) *ʧi- (A)	y-
2nd singular	e- (A) *né- [TG](O)	ʔa-, gʷa-	m(ɨ)- (A) *a(y)- (O)	a-
3rd singular	o- [TG](A) i-, ts- [TG](O)	i-, ɛ-	kiʧɨ- (A) *k(i)- (O)	i-
1st plural		ku-		qo-
2nd plural	pe(ye)-	ka-		qa-
3rd plural

In this table the forms marked with (A) refer to ergative/agentive case, and the forms marked with (O) are referred to absolutive/patient/experiencer case.

Notes and References

Michael. Lev. The Classification of South American Languages. Annual Review of Linguistics. 7. 1. 2021. 329–349. 2333-9683. 10.1146/annurev-linguistics-011619-030419. 228877184. free.
Rodrigues A. D., 2000, "‘Ge–Pano–Carib’ X ‘Jê–Tupí–Karib’: sobre relaciones lingüísticas prehistóricas en Sudamérica", in L. Miranda (ed.), Actas del I Congreso de Lenguas Indígenas de Sudamérica, Tome I, Lima, Universidad Ricardo Palma, Facultad de lenguas modernas, p. 95–104.
Rodrigues . Aryon D. . 2009 . A case of affinity among Tupí, Karíb, and Macro-Jê . Revista Brasileira de Linguística Antropológica . 1 . 137–162 . 10.26512/rbla.v1i1.12289. free .
Urban . Greg . Sherzer . Joel . 1988 . The Linguistic Anthropology of Native South America . Annual Review of Anthropology . 17 . 283–307 . 10.1146/annurev.an.17.100188.001435 . 2155915.
Rodrigues, Aryon. 1985. Evidence for Tupi-Carib relationships. In South American Indian Languages: Retrospect and Prospect, ed. HE Manelis Klein, LR Stark, pp. 371–404. Austin: University of Texas Press.
The Je-Tupi-Carib proposal replaces earlier long-range hypotheses, e.g. Greenberg's phyla "Jê-Pano-Carib" (linking Macro-Je and Cariban to Panoan) and "Tupi-Arawak" (linking Tupian to Arawakan),^[4]
Mason, J. Alden. 1950. The languages of South America. In: Julian Steward (ed.), Handbook of South American Indians, Volume 6, 157–317. (Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 143.) Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.
Cabral, Ana Suelly Arruda Câmara; Beatriz Carreta Corrêa da Silva; Maria Risolta Silva Julião; Marina Maria Silva Magalhães. 2007. Linguistic diffusion in the Tocantins-Mearim area. In: Ana Suelly Arruda Câmara Cabral; Aryon Dall’Igna Rodrigues (ed.), Línguas e culturas Tupi, p. 357–374. Campinas: Curt Nimuendaju; Brasília: LALI.
Seki, Lucy. 2011. Alto Xingu: uma área linguística? In: Franchetto, Bruna (ed.), Alto Xingu: uma sociedade multilíngue, p. 57-85. Rio de Janeiro: Museu do Índio/FUNAI.
Nikulin, Andrey. 2015. On the genetic unity of Jê-Tupí-Karib (Верификация гипотезы о же-тупи-карибском генетическом единстве). Diploma thesis, Lomonosov Moscow State University.
Nikulin, Andrey V. 2019. The classification of the languages of the South American Lowlands: State-of-the-art and challenges / Классификация языков востока Южной Америки. Illič-Svityč (Nostratic) Seminar / Ностратический семинар, Higher School of Economics, October 17, 2019.
Andrey. Nikulin. Lexical evidence for the Macro-Jê–Tupian hypothesis. Journal of Language Relationship. 21. 1. 3–56.