nheengatú

Nheengatu

Alternative forms

• yẽgatú
• nheengatu, nheẽgatu

Etymology

Inherited from Old Tupi nhe'engatu, from nhe'eng + katu. First attested in 1853.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɲeẽɡaˈtu/, (Rio Negro) [ɲe.ʔẽ.ɡaˈtu]

Noun

nheengatú (plural nheengatú-itá)

1. (uncountable) Nheengatu

   Ixé apurungitá nheengatú

   I speak Nheengatu

   • 1853, Manoel Justiniano de Seixas, “Nhêenga”, in Vocabulario da lingua indigena geral para o uso do Seminario Episcopal do Pará (overall work in Portuguese), Pará: Typ. de Mattos e Comp.ª, page 37:

     […] nhêengatû intio uassú purunguetá.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. Nheengatu speaker

Descendants

• → Portuguese: nheengatu, nhengatu
  • → English: Nheengatu

References

• Marcel Twardowsky Avila (2021) “nheengatú”, in Proposta de dicionário nheengatu-português [Nheengatu–Portuguese dictionary proposal] (in Portuguese), São Paulo: USP, →DOI, page 569