The Tupí-Guaraní language family
A phylogenetic classification
Attempts to classify Tupí-Guaraní languages have so far been inconsistent with archaeological evidence and ignored
information from historical sources. The case of Tupinambá is most illustrative in this regard. Using both Bayesian phylogenetic analysis
and a stochastic algorithm that reconstructs phylogenetic trees by relying on maximum likelihood estimation, we suggest a new internal
classification of the Tupí-Guaraní branch. The results of the analyses are in accordance with the most recent genetic research on Tupían
populations and challenge previous classifications by suggesting, among others, that Tupinambá should not be considered a ‘Guaraní’
language.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Materials and methods
- 2.1Data and cognate assignment
- 2.2NeighborNet network
- 2.3Bayesian analyses
- 2.4Maximum likelihood analysis
- 3.Results
- 4.Previous classifications
- 5.Conclusion
- Notes
-
References
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