Nheengatu, also known as Modern Tupi and Amazonic Tupi, Outside of the Rio Negro region, the Nheengatu language is spoken across the Baixo Amazonas region among the Sateré-Mawé, Maraguá, and Mura people. In the Baixo Tapajós and the state of Pará, Nheengatu is mainly spoken among the Borari and the Tupinambá peoples.
A 2010 study by UNESCO estimated the number of Nheengatu speakers at around 10,000. Nheengatu is a useful study on language change, on account of its long history of documentation that spans several centuries. Nheengatu is referred to by a wide variety of names in literature, including Nhengatu, Tupi Costeiro, Geral, Yeral (in Venezuela), Tupi Moderno, Nyengato, Nyengatú, Waengatu, Neegatú, Is'engatu, Língua Brasílica, Tupi Amazônico,
History
Belonging to the Tupi–Guarani linguistic family, Nheengatu emerged in the 18th century, descending from the now extinct Amazonian Tupinambá, a regional Tupi variant that originated in the Odisseia Tupínambá. The exodus of that nation, fleeing from Portuguese invaders on the Bahia coast, entered the Amazon and settled first in Maranhão, and from there to the Guajará Bay (Belém), the mouth of the Tapajós river, to the Tupinambarana island (Parintins), between the borders of Pará and Amazonas. The language of the Tupinambás became a lingua franca, hence why the Arawak peoples of the Parintins region came to be called Tupinambaranas (meaning "fake Tupinambá").
By the early 17th century, the Portuguese had conquered the Amazon and established the colonial state of Grão-Pará and Maranhão, whose capital, Belém, was known as Cidade dos Tupinambás or Tupinambá Marií. In pursuit of catechism, Franciscan and Jesuit priests codified the grammar and orthography of the local lingua franca, which over time developed into the Northern General Language, also known as the Amazonian General Language. Its development occurred in parallel with that of the São Paulo General Language. Nheengatu subsequently spread throughout the Amazon as a tool of colonization, Portuguese dominion, and linguistic standardization. Many peoples came to adopt it as their primary language at the expense of their own; the Hanera, better known as the Baré, are one such example; their shift to Nheengatu ultimately led to the extinction of their native tongue. The Maraguá people, themselves longstanding Nheengatu speakers, have more recently undertaken efforts to revitalize their own language, and today Maraguá is taught alongside Nheengatu in local schools.
Speakers of other languages vastly outnumbered the Portuguese settlers in the Amazon, to the point that the Portuguese themselves adapted to the native language. A Portuguese colonist stated: "To speak or converse in the colony of Grão Pará, I had to use Nheengatu; if not, I would be talking to myself, since no one used Portuguese, except in the government palace in Belém and among the Portuguese themselves."
The General Language was established as the official language from 1689 to 1727 in Grão Pará and Maranhão. In order to erase the Amazonian identity, the Portuguese language was promoted, but did not see much success. In the mid-18th century, the Amazonian General Language, along with the related São Paulo General Language, was used throughout the colony. At this point, Tupinambá remained intact, but as a chiefly liturgical language, while the General Language was used for commmunication. By the mid-18th century, the Amazon and Tupinambá General Languages were already distinct.
Nheengatu continued to evolve as it expanded into the Alto Rio Negro region through contact with other languages such as Marawá, Baníwa, Warekana, Tucano, and Dâw.
The General Language evolved into two branches, the Northern General Language (Amazonian) and the Southern General Language (Paulista), which at its height became the dominant language of the vast Brazilian territory.
An anonymous manuscript from the 18th century is emblematically titled Dictionary of the general language of Brazil, spoken in all the towns, places, and villages of this vast State, written in the city of Pará, year 1771.
If Nheengatu was the major obstacle for the cultural and linguistic domination of Portuguese in the region, the colonizers saw that it was necessary to take it away from the people and impose the Portuguese language, which at first was not successful since the general language was very well rooted both among indigenous people and in the speech of blacks and whites themselves. The language <!-- was it only the Línguas Gerais or all indigenous languages altogether? IDR--> was banned by Pombal's government, who intended to impose the Portuguese language in Brazil. Hence, many places had their names changed from the Northern General language to names of places and cities in Portugal, such as Santarém, Aveiro, Barcelos, Belém, Óbidos, Faro, Alenquer, and Moz.
A regional ban on the Northern General language came right after the Cabanagem separatist revolts; after the rebels were defeated in 1860, the regencial Brazilian government imposed a harsh persecution on the speakers of Nheengatu. Half of the male population of Grão-Pará was murdered and anyone who was caught speaking in Nheengatu was punished. The imposition of the Portuguese language this time had an effect and with the advent of Portuguese schools, the population was shepherded to the new language.
Also in the 20th century, economic and political events like the Amazon Rubber Boom, which brought huge waves of government encouraged settlers from the Northeast to the Amazon, led to an increased Portuguese presence. This again forced indigenous peoples to move or be subjected to forced labor. The language was again influenced by the increased presence of Portuguese speakers.
Nheengatu remained mainly among the most distant inhabitants of the urban centers, in the families descended from the cabanos and among unconquered peoples. Furthermore, "tapuios" (ribeirinhos) kept their accent and part of their speech tied to their language. Until 1920 it was common for Nheengatu to be used in traditional commercial centers in Manaus, Santarém, Parintins, and Belém.
Current use
Nheengatu is spoken in the Alto Rio Negro region, in the state of Amazonas, in the Brazilian Amazon and in neighboring parts of Colombia and Venezuela. There are potentially as many as 19,000 Nheengatu speakers worldwide, Currently, it is still spoken by around 73.31% of the 29,900 inhabitants of São Gabriel da Cachoeira (IBGE 2000 Census), around 3,000 people in Colombia, and around 2,000 people in Venezuela, especially in the Rio Negro river basin (Uaupés and Içana rivers). Furthermore, it is the native language of the rural caboclo population of the area and is a common language of communication between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, or between Indigenous peoples of different languages. It is also an instrument of ethnic affirmation of Amazonian indigenous peoples who have lost their native languages, such as Barés, Arapaços, Baniuas, Uarequenas, and others.
Ethnologue rates Nheengatu as "changing" with a rating of 7 on the Gradual Intergenerational Interruption Scale (GIDS) (Simons and Fennig 2017). According to this scale, this classification suggests that "the population of children may use the language among themselves, but it is not being transmitted to children". According to the UNESCO Atlas of Endangered Languages of the World, Nheengatu is classified as "severely endangered". The language has recently regained some recognition and prominence after being suppressed for many years.
In December 2002, Nheengatu gained official language status alongside Portuguese in the municipality of São Gabriel da Cachoeira in accordance with local law 145/2002. Now Nheengatu is one of the four official languages of the municipality.
In 1998, University of São Paulo professor Eduardo de Almeida Navarro founded the Tupi Aqui organization dedicated to promoting the teaching of historical Tupi and Nheengatu in high schools in São Paulo and elsewhere in Brazil.
In 2021, "Nheengatu App" was launched, becoming the first application for teaching an Indigenous language in Brazil. It teaches the Tapajoara variant of the language. Its release was supported by the and the Secretariat of Culture of Pará. According to its creator Suellen Tobler, the app was used in Indigenous schools in the Lower Tapajós region, and by September 2023 approximately 2,200 users had registered. The translation was carried out by 15 bilingual Indigenous individuals from the Upper Negro River and Middle Tapajós regions, through a project sponsored by the Supreme Federal Court (STF) and the National Council of Justice, within the framework of the United Nations's International Decade of Indigenous Languages. Then STF president Rosa Weber attended the launch event in São Gabriel da Cachoeira