History of Tupi

Over time, it gave rise to lingua francas and contributed various words and a distinctive literature to Brazilian Portuguese and its society.

According to Pero de Magalhães Gândavo [pt], "The language used along the entire coast is one, although in certain words it may differ in some parts, but not in a way that they cannot understand each other."

[5][6] Some terms of Tupi origin can be found in early Portuguese navigation documents,[5] such as those of the ship Bretoa in 1511, which mention various çagoys or çagoyns (Callitrichidae).

[7] The first attempt to compile a list of terms from this language occurred during the circumnavigation voyage of Ferdinand Magellan in 1519;[5][8] collected in Guanabara Bay by Antonio Pigafetta, the five or six recorded words refer to items Tupinambás traded with Europeans.

He had visited Rio de Janeiro in the mid-1550s and added grammatical explanations as appendix to his travel narrative during the time of Villegaignon's France Antarctique.

Entire families did not come, but rather men of low social status, exiles, and adventurers, who had to learn the language of the indigenous people in order to be able to deal with them.

[24][25][d] Old Tupi is the only indigenous language with a significant presence in the lexicon of the Portuguese spoken in Brazil, as well as in its toponymy and anthroponymy.

It also left a legacy in Brazilian literature, such as the lyrical and theatrical poetry of Joseph of Anchieta and the letters of the Camarão Indians.