Jê–Tupi–Carib (or TuKaJê) is a proposed language family composed of the Macro-Jê, Tupian and Cariban languages of South America. Aryon Rodrigues (2000) based this proposal on shared morphological patterns.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. In an earlier proposal, Rodrigues (1985) had also proposed a Tupí-Cariban language family.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-Jê and Cariban to Panoan) and "Tupi-Arawak" (linking Tupian to Arawakan), or Mason's "Macro-Tupí-Guaranían" family (1950: 236–238) which groups Tupian together with Bora–Witoto and Zaparoan.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.

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.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. Linguistic diffusion among Jê, Tupian, Cariban, Arawakan, and Trumai languages is also evident among the languages of the Xingu Indigenous Park.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.

Comparison

Nikulin (2015) Nikulin (2015) 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'.

+ 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’*ɾeynot 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’*tʌbⁿnot reconstructiblenot 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’*toCnot 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’*ⁿbɾʌknot 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*innot reconstructible‘root’*ʆaɾet / *yaɾet*=apo (TG, Mundurukú)*mitɨ‘horn’*kopnot reconstructible*ɾe(me)tɨ (N)‘to fly’*pɔ, *ʆɔ (W)not reconstructiblenot 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’*ⁿbaknot reconstructible*pu‘egg’*ⁿgɾɛ(C)*=upiʔa*pumo‘seed’*ʆɯmnot 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 reconstructiblenot reconstructible‘far’*ɾɯynot 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):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.

‘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.

+ 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

Nikulin (2019) suggests a Macro-Chaco hypothesis linking Jê-Tupí-Cariban (including Karirian and Bororoan) with Mataco-Guaicuruan (possibly including Zamucoan):

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.

‘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 Macro-Tupí Macro-Jê 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.

References