Nadahup
Naduhup, Makú
Geographic distribution	Amazon
Linguistic classification	One of the world's primarylanguage families
Subdivisions	Nadëb–Kuyawi Daw Hupda–Yuhup
Language codes
Glottolog	nada1235

TheNadahup languages, also known asMakú (Macú) orVaupés–Japurá, form a smalllanguage family inBrazil,Colombia, andVenezuela. The nameMakú is pejorative, being derived from anArawakan word meaning "without speech".Nadahup is an acronym of the constituent languages.^[1]

The Nadahup family should not be confused with several other languages which go by the nameMakú. There are proposals linking this unclassified language with Nadahup, but also with other languages.

Martins (2005: 342–370) groups theArawakan and Nadahup languages together as part of a proposedMakúan-Arawakan (Nadahup-Arawakan) family,^[2] but this proposal has been rejected by Aikhenvald (2006: 237).^[3]

Epps and Bolaños (2017) accept the unity of the four Nadahup languages, but do not considerPuinave to be related.^[4]

Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with theArawa,Guahibo, andTupi language families due to contact.^[5] A discussion of lexical and phonological correspondences between the Nadahup (Vaupés-Japurá) andTupi languages can be found in Jolkesky and Cabral (2011).^[6] Nadahup languages also have various loanwords fromTucanoan languages^[7] andNheengatu.^[8]

Nadahup consists of about four languages, based on mutual intelligibility. Nadeb and Kuyawi, Hup and Yahup, and Nukak and Kakwa, however, share 90% of their vocabulary and are mutually intelligible, and so are separate languages only in asociolinguistic sense. These four branches are not close: Although the family was first suggested in 1906, only 300 cognates have been found, which include pronouns but no other grammatical forms.

Nadëb may be the most divergent; of the other languages, there is disagreement on the placement ofNïkâk. Martins (1999) propose two classifications, pending further research:

Martins, proposal A

Martins, proposal B

However, Epps considers Hup and Yahup to be distinct languages, and maintains that the inclusion of the poorly attested Nukak and Kakwa has not been demonstrated and is in fact highly dubious:^[9]

Epps

Internal classification by Jolkesky (2016):^[5]

(† = extinct)

This classification is also repeated in Nikulin (2019).^[10]

Dâw and Hup—especially Hup—have undergone grammatical restructuring underTucano influence. They have lost prefixes but acquired suffixes fromgrammaticalized verb roots. They also have heavily monosyllabic roots, as can be seen by the reduction of Portugueseloan words to their stressed syllable, as in Dâwyẽl’ "money", from Portuguesedinheiro. Nadëb and Nïkâk, on the other hand, have polysyllabic roots. Nïkâk allows a single prefix per word, whereas Nadëb, which lies outside the Vaupéslanguage area, is heavily prefixing andpolysynthetic: Up to nine prefixes per word (which is highly unusual for the Amazon), withincorporation of nouns, prepositions, and adverbs.

Rivet (from 1920), Kaufman (1994) and Pozzobon (1997) includePuinave within the family. However, many of the claimed cognate sets are spurious.^[11]

Henley, Mattéi-Müller and Reid (1996) present evidence that theHodï language (also known as Yuwana) is related.

Puinavean forms part of a hypotheticalMacro-Puinavean family along with theArutani–Sape families and theJukude language.

Macro-Puinavean is included inJoseph Greenberg's largerMacro-Tucanoan stock, but this is universally rejected. Another spurious larger grouping isMorris Swadesh'sMacro-Makú.

Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items for the Macú languages.^[12]

For a list of selected Proto-Eastern Makú reconstructions by Martins (2005),^[8] see the correspondingPortuguese article.

• Campbell, Lyle. (1997).American Indian languages: The historical linguistics of Native America. New York: Oxford University Press.ISBN 0-19-509427-1.
• Greenberg, Joseph H. (1987).Language in the Americas. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
• Henley, Paul; Marie-Claude Mattéi-Müller and Howard Reid (1996): "Cultural and linguistic affinities of the foraging people of North Amazonia: a new perspective";Antropológica83: 3–37. Caracas.
• Kaufman, Terrence. (1990). Language history in South America: What we know and how to know more. In D. L. Payne (Ed.),Amazonian linguistics: Studies in lowland South American languages (pp. 13–67). Austin: University of Texas Press.ISBN 0-292-70414-3.
• Kaufman, Terrence. (1992) Guta
• Kaufman, Terrence. (1994). The native languages of South America. In C. Mosley & R. E. Asher (Eds.),Atlas of the world's languages (pp. 46–76). London: Routledge.
• Pozzobon, Jorge (1997). Langue, société et numération chez les Indiens Makú (Haut Rio Negro, Brésil).Journal de la Société de Américanistes de París 83: 159–172. París.
• Rivet, Paul and Constant Tastevin 1920: "Affinités du Makú et du Puinave";Journal de la Société des Américanistes de París, n.s. t XII: 69–82. París.
• Rivet, Paul; P. P. Kok and C. Tastevin 1925: "Nouvele contributión a l'étude de la langue Makú; InternationalJournal of American Linguistics, vol. 3, n. 24, p.p. 129–132. New York.

Lexicons

• Bolaños, K. (2010).Kakua phonology: first approach. University of Texas at Austin.
• Conduff, K. W. (2006).Diccionario situacional del idioma Nukak. Bogotá: Iglesia Cristiana Nuevos Horizontes.
• Erickson, T.; Erickson, C. G. (1993).Vocabulario Jupda-Español-Português. Santafé de Bogotá: Asociación Summer Institute of Linguistics.
• Maciel, I. (1991).Alguns aspectos fonológicos e morfológicos da língua Máku.Masters dissertation. Brasilia: Universidade de Brasília.
• Martins, V. (1999).Dicionário Nadëb Português / Português Nadëb. (Manuscript).
• Martins, V. (2005).Reconstrução Fonológica do Protomaku Oriental. Amsterdam: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. (Doctoral dissertation).
• Ramirez, H. (2006).A Língua dos Hupd'äh do Alto Rio Negro: dicionário e guia de conversação. São Paulo: Associação Saúde Sem Limites.
• Migliazza, E. C. (1965). Fonología Makú.Boletim do MPEG. Antropología, 25:1-17.
• Mattei-Müller, M. (n.d.).Vocabulario Comparativo Castellano-Kakwa Vaupes-Guaviare-Hodï. (Manuscript).

Wiktionary has a list of reconstructed forms atAppendix:Proto-Makú reconstructions

• Hup Vocabulary List (from the World Loanword Database)

• Nadahup languages
• Languages of Venezuela
• Languages of Brazil
• Languages of Colombia
• Language families
• Macro-Puinavean languages

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Pages with plain IPA