The work of Aryon Rodrigues: An evaluation of its core hypotheses and contributions to Historical Linguistics and the study of Indigenous Languages

Abstract

The present paper proposes an evaluation of some of the most important hypotheses of Aryon Rodrigues, whose work stands to this day among the greatest references in the study of the languages and the linguistics of Native South America, in both sides of the Atlantic, besides spanning six decades of the last century and the fi rst decades of the present one. In doing so, we take as our starting point the state of the art in the studies of historical linguistics and of the South American indigenous languages. Included within the scope of this review are hypotheses such as that of a genetic relation between the Tupí stock and the Karib family (‘Tupi-Karib hypothesis’; Rodrigues 1985a, 2003b, 2007a) and the suggestions of an even more inclusive grouping that would cluster the Macro-Jê stock as well, along with Tupí and Karíb, in a single phylum-like group. The scientifi c import of such hypotheses, and the consequent role they have played in the broader landscape of the studies of indigenous languages, in particular of the historical comparative investigation of these languages, are brought to fore. Our attention here is aimed at the details of the argumentation and the methodological rigor behind each of the proposals put forward by Rodrigues, whether the hypotheses in question relate to the establishment of particular genetic groupings, to the postulation of particular diachronic developments or to the phonetic and phonological underpinning of these patterns. The latter in particular are inherently fraught with consequences for the study of language change and, for this reason, provide a thoroughly original take on some of the major issues in phonological theory (Rodrigues 1981, 1986a, 2003c). Rodrigues’ works on the internal classifi cation of the Tupi-Guarani family (Rodrigues 1945, 1958, 1978, 1985b), the reconstruction of proto-Tupi (Rodrigues 1966, 1980, 2005, 2007b; Rodrigues, Cabral & Silva 2006; Rodrigues & Dietrich 1997; Hanke, Swadesh & Rodrigues 1958) and the establishment of a Macro-Jê stock (Rodrigues 1986b, 1992, 1999, 2000b) are given special attention as witnesses to his command, and thoughtful application, of the comparative method. By way of this review of the scientific merit, place and legacy of Rodrigues’ hypotheses in the fi elds of historical and synchronic linguistics of the indigenous languages of South America, we hope to characterize and portray, with some amount of detail and supported by a balanced and enlightened evaluation, his career as a leading language scientist.