Fonologia de línguas indígenas em Aryon Rodrigues

Abstract

Recognized as one of the greatest experts on Brazilian indigenous languages, and particularly known for his contribution to the genetic classification of the Tupi languages ​​– and even more so, the Tupi-Guarani family –, little is said about the contribution of Aryon Rodrigues (1925-2014) to the knowledge of the phonology of indigenous languages. In addition to his work as a dissertation and thesis advisor over almost five decades, during which he directed research into the phonology of three dozen indigenous languages, distributed across about a dozen and a half different linguistic families, Aryon Rodrigues was responsible for the first truly linguistic approach to the phonology of Tupinamba, which constituted his doctoral research. His thesis, written in German and defended at the University of Hamburg (1959), was never translated into Portuguese, and has rarely been consulted, which is evident from the rarity of its citation in works on Tupi languages. This article seeks to address this lack of knowledge by critically reviewing the thesis Phonologie der Tupinambá-Sprache and presenting an overview of Rodrigues' other contributions to the phonology of indigenous languages.