It is spoken by the Hupda indigenous Amazonian peoples who live on the border between Colombia and the Brazilian state of Amazonas.

Although their territory was the target of forced transferrals throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, due to their isolation, the Naduhup were among the least affected, since they were protected by the geography of their land.

There has not been a consensus on a replacement term, although Epps proposed “Naduhup”, which combines the names of the four members of the language family - Nadëb, Dâw, Hup, and Yuhup.

[6] Of the four members of the language family, Hup is most closely related to Yuhup, followed by Dâw, and then lastly by Nadëb.

Hup contains a large segmental phonemic inventory, in comparison to the Tukanoan languages that neighbour it geographically.

[9] Hup tonality functions in what is called a word-accent system – there is a word-level tone contrast system; the contrast is restricted to one syllable per word, which is predictable and also exhibits other features of stressed syllables (greater intensity, longer duration, and higher pitch).

The enclitic can also be affixed to children's names as a sign of affection, comparable to doing the same in English with the titles “Mister” or “Miss”.

[5] Secondly, predicative particle [pã̌] can be used with noun phrases to express specifically the negation of the existence of a referent.

[5] The most frequent and grammatically simplest word order in Hup is Subject (Agent), Object, Verb (SOV).

Epps notes that the agent, the actor/argument of a transitive sentence, precedes the object and verb in the syntactic structure of Hup.

Which suffix is used can depend on number, animacy, type of noun, and grammatical function, as shown in the table below.

(Direct Object, Epps (2005), p. 144) Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);nǽmlouseʔɑ́m-ɑ̌n2sg-OBJʔɑ̃h1sgkey-nɨ̌ŋsee-COOPnǽm ʔɑ́m-ɑ̌n ʔɑ̃h key-nɨ̌ŋlouse 2sg-OBJ 1sg see-COOP"I’ll look for lice for you."

These bound nouns are also often closely related to the phenomenon of inalienable possession, but not necessarily.

[15] Outside of the aforementioned semantic sets of typically 'bound' nouns; other examples of bound nouns are "eggs, jars and other hollow items, holes belonging to insects, rivers, and a generic term for swarming insects.

"[16] Modification is a semantic operation and syntactic construction by which referents in a language can be modified.

In other words, glossing of Hup will use the English term 'and' in the translation line for both clausal and phrasal coordination.

nútheretɨ́h-ǎn3SG-OBJd'oʔ-cæŋpe-g'et-yɨ́ʔ-ɨ́y=mahtake-astraddle-stand-TEL-DYNM=REPtɨ́h-ǎn3SG-OBJtɨ́h3SGyók-óhpoke-DECLnút tɨ́h-ǎn d'oʔ-cæŋpe-g'et-yɨ́ʔ-ɨ́y=mah tɨ́h-ǎn tɨ́h yók-óhhere 3SG-OBJ take-astraddle-stand-TEL-DYNM=REP 3SG-OBJ 3SG poke-DECL‘(He) made him stand with his legs apart like this, (and) he poked him.’ (Conjunctive coordinative construction, juxtaposition strategy, Epps (2005), pp.

805) Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);núpthistɨ́h3SGkəmən-g'ét-ay-áhwrap.arms.around-stand-INCH-DECLtɨ́h-ǎn3SG-OBJdɔw̌hcheckn'æm'-g'ét-éy=cudlick-stand-DYNM=INFRtɨnɨ̌h3SG.POSSyãʔambǒʔ-óhdog-DECLnúp tɨ́h kəmən-g'ét-ay-áh tɨ́h-ǎn dɔw̌h n'æm'-g'ét-éy=cud tɨnɨ̌h yãʔambǒʔ-óhthis 3SG wrap.arms.around-stand-INCH-DECL 3SG-OBJ check lick-stand-DYNM=INFR 3SG.POSS dog-DECL‘He's standing like this with his arms around (the dog), and (it) is licking his cheek, the dog!’ (Conjunctive coordinative construction, juxtaposition strategy, Epps (2005), pp.

334)The plurality marker for nouns is =d'əh and follows an animacy hierarchy: humans, animals, and inanimates.

For humans, plural marking is obligatory, though exception is made for a non-specific referent.

(Epps (2005), p. 165) Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);huppersondə̌bmanyhɨd3plbɨ́ʔ-ɨ́hwork-DECLhup də̌b hɨd bɨ́ʔ-ɨ́hperson many 3pl work-DECL"Lots of people worked."

(Epps (2005), p. 168)Inanimate objects are not marked for plurality and rely on numerals to indicate such.

(Epps (2005), p. 169) Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);Numerals in Hup are fairly etymologically unambiguous, which is very rare cross-linguistically.

For the cardinal numerals 1-5, the forms likely derive from grammaticalized phrases, referring to the quantity of various salient phenomena for Hup people, with some variation between dialects.

These dialectal variants will be labeled further as TD (Tat Deh), B (Barreira), UN (Umari Norte), and NF (Nova Fundação).The quantifier morpheme (-ʔǎp) is already integrated into the numerals '2' and '3' and may be used for the numerals 4+, but is not mandatory.

bab' pẵ (UN) 'sibling NEG:EX' (UN) bab'-nǐ (TD, UN) ʔædapṹh (TD) nap'ṹh (variant B) ʔæp d'apṹh (UN) OBJ:object RESP:respect marker ITG:intangible COOP:cooperative DIR:directional oblique DYNM:dynamic FLR:following marker VENT:ventive