Tupian

Tupian
Tu·pi·an (to͞oʹpē-ən, to͞o-pēʹ-) n.
1. A subdivision of Tupi-Guarani that includes Tupi.
2. A member of a Tupian-speaking people.
adj.
Of or relating to Tupian or to a Tupian-speaking people.

* * *

people
      South American Indians who speak languages of the Tupian linguistic group. Tupian-speaking peoples were widespread south of the Amazon. The similarity between dialects suggests that their scattering was fairly recent. Aboriginal Tupian speakers were found from the mouth of the Amazon to the Río de la Plata, both along the Atlantic coast and in the interior.

      The Tupians were tropical rain forest farmers, rivermen, and coastal navigators. Using slash-and-burn cultivation, they grew cassava, sweet potatoes, corn (maize), beans, peanuts (groundnuts), cotton, and dyes. They collected turtles and turtle eggs and caught fish and river mammals with arrows and harpoons from large dugout canoes. They also used vegetable drugs for fishing. The hunting of wild game was secondary.

      The basic unit of Tupian society was the extended family (including parents, married children, and their families), occupying a single large thatched house, but some Tupians had patrilineal clans. On the lower Amazon and the coast, palisaded multi-house villages of several thousand persons occurred. These villages warred incessantly, capturing, torturing, and eating their victims. Religion was largely shamanistic with little village ceremonialism. See also Guaraní; Sirionó; Tupinambá; Kawaíb.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Tupian — Tu pi*an, a. Designating, or pert. to, a linguistic stock of South American Indians comprising the most important Brazilian tribes. Agriculture, pottery, and stone working were practiced by them at the time of the conquest. The Tupi and the… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Tupian languages — Infobox Language family name=Tupian language familycolor=American pronunciation= region=Bolivia, Paraguay speakers=Native speakers: ca. 7 million fam1=Je Tupi Carib? script=Latin alphabet (German variant) nation=BOL PAR iso2=tup child1=Arikem… …   Wikipedia

  • Tupian languages — Family of South American Indian languages with at least seven subgroups, spoken or formerly spoken in scattered areas from the Andes Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean and (with two exceptions) south of the Amazon River to southernmost Brazil and… …   Universalium

  • Tupian — adjective or noun see Tupi …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Tupian — adjective Of the Tupi, pertaining to the Tupi or Tupi peoples …   Wiktionary

  • tupian — tu·pi·an …   English syllables

  • Tupian — Tu•pi•an [[t]tuˈpi ən, ˈtu pi [/t]] n. 1) peo a hypothesized family of American Indian languages that includes Tupi Guarani and a number of other languages of lowland tropical South America S of the Amazon River 2) peo of or pertaining to the… …   From formal English to slang

  • tupian — ēən adjective Usage: usually capitalized : of, relating to, or designating the Tupi or other Tupi Guaranian peoples or their languages * * * Tupiˈan adjective and noun • • • Main Entry: ↑Tupí …   Useful english dictionary

  • Tupi-Guaranian — Tupian Tu pi*an, a. Designating, or pert. to, a linguistic stock of South American Indians comprising the most important Brazilian tribes. Agriculture, pottery, and stone working were practiced by them at the time of the conquest. The Tupi and… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Tupi — Tupian, adj. /tooh pee , tooh pee/, n., pl. Tupis, (esp. collectively) Tupi for 1. 1. a member of any of several related Indian peoples living in the valleys of various Brazilian rivers, esp. the Amazon. 2. the language spoken in northern Brazil… …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”