Je–Tupi–Carib languages

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]

Je–Tupi–Carib
(proposed)
Geographic distribution	eastern South America, Caribbean
Linguistic classification	Proposed language family
Subdivisions	Macro-Jê Tupian Carib
Language codes
Glottolog	None

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),^[5] 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)

Nikulin (2015)^{[9]: 91–96} compared the vocabulary of Proto-Macro-Jê, Proto-Tupí, and Proto-Carib. In this comparison, only four matches were found among all three proto-languages: 'name', 'tooth', 'to eat', and 'ear'.^[9]: 97

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

Meaning	Proto-Macro-Jê	Proto-Tupí	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:^{[citation needed]}

GLOSS	Macro- Tupí	Macro- Gê	Proto- Carib	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.