Hup language

Not to be confused with the Hupa language.

The Hup language (also called Hupdë, Hupdá, Hupdé, Hupdá Makú, Jupdá, Makú, Makú-Hupdá, Makú De, Hupda, and Jupde) is one of the four Naduhup languages. It is spoken by the Hupda indigenous Amazonian peoples who live on the border between Colombia and the Brazilian state of Amazonas. There are approximately 1500 speakers of the Hup language. As of 2005, according to the linguist Epps, Hup is not seriously endangered – although the actual number of speakers is few, all Hupda children learn Hup as their first language.

Hup
Hupdë
Pronunciation	[húpʔɨ̌d]
Native to	Brazil
Ethnicity	Hupd'ëh, Yohup
Native speakers	1,700 (2006–2007)
Language family	Naduhup Hup
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: jup – Hup yab – Yuhup
Glottolog	hupy1235
ELP	Hupda
	Yuhup

History

Although their territory was the target of forced transferrals throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, due to their isolation, the Naduhup were among the least affected, since they were protected by the geography of their land. They were also the target of several Catholic missions, though those ultimately failed, as the Naduhup refused to send their children to Catholic education centres.

Contact with the Tucanoan people, also known as the River Indians, who live along the rivers rather than in the forests, has significantly impacted the Naduhup, both culturally and linguistically. Since before European contact, the Naduhup and Tukanoan peoples have engaged in trade, the Naduhup providing labour and hunted meats and the Tucanoan providing agricultural goods. However, the Naduhup are viewed as inferior by the Tucanoan, because of their linguistic and lifestyle differences. Because of this inequality, most Naduhup people can understand and/or speak a Tucanoan, while it is the opposite vice versa – very few, if any Tucanoan people speak Hup.

Language profile

Relatively few linguistic materials of Hup are available, due to the isolation of the Hupda. Incomplete vocabulary lists and dictionaries were established in 1955 (Giacone) and 1993 (Erickson and Erickson). The most complete descriptive grammar of Hup, A Grammar of Hup, was written by Patience Epps in 2005, was updated in 2008, and outlines Hup phonology, parts of speech, morphology, aspect, tense, modality, among many other features.

Hup is one of four languages in the Naduhup (Makú) family. Though Makú is the term most commonly used to refer to this language family, there is controversy over its usage, since it is also an ethnic slur, translating to “without language”, used by the Tukanoan towards the Naduhup. There has not been a consensus on a replacement term, although Epps proposed “Naduhup”, which combines the names of the four members of the language family - Nadëb, Dâw, Hup, and Yuhup. Of the four members of the language family, Hup is most closely related to Yuhup, followed by Dâw, and then lastly by Nadëb. Hup and Yuhup are nearly mutually intelligible, sharing more than 90% of their basic vocabularies.

Phonology

Consonants

There are nineteen contrasting consonants in Hup, with the twentieth /p’/ occurring in the morpheme-initial position in only one word of only some Hup dialects. /j/, /g/, and /ç/ only appear in morpheme-final position, while all other consonants may appear in morpheme initial, medial, and final position. Hup has glottalized consonants of both stops and approximants which can be seen in the chart below. This language also has nasal allophones of the voiced stops.

		Bilabial	Denti- alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	voiceless	p	t	c ⟨ch⟩	k	ʔ
	voiced	b	d	ɟ ⟨y⟩	g ⟨k⟩
	glottalized	bˀ (pʼ)	dˀ	ɟˀ ⟨yʼ⟩	gˀ ⟨kʼ⟩
Fricative				ç ⟨ch⟩		h
Glide	plain	w		j ⟨y⟩
	ejective	wʼ		jʼ ⟨yʼ⟩

Adapted from Epps (2005), p. 40.

Vowels

Hup contains a large segmental phonemic inventory, in comparison to the Tukanoan languages that neighbour it geographically. Hup vowels are composed of nine contrasting sounds, with no occurring diphthongs:

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i	ɨ	u
Mid	e	ə	o
Open	æ	a	ɔ

However, these nine sounds occur only in non-nasal contexts. In nasal morphemes, there are only six distinct vowels:

	Front	Central	Back
Close	ĩ	ɨ̃	ũ
Open	æ̃	ã	ɔ̃

Adapted from Epps (2005)

According to Epps (2005), this indicates that the contrast between mid-vowels and high/low vowels are neutralised in nasal contexts. Nasalisation is morphemic at the syllable level and targets all segments – generally, every syllable is either fully nasal or fully oral.

Tonality

Hup tonality functions in what is called a word-accent system – there is a word-level tone contrast system; the contrast is restricted to one syllable per word, which is predictable and also exhibits other features of stressed syllables (greater intensity, longer duration, and higher pitch). There are two tones: rising and high, which only appear in nouns and adjectives.

Hup Tones
Rising	/cǎʔ/ [cǎʔ] "clump of roots"
High	/cáʔ/ [cáʔ] "box, nest"

Morphology

Nouns and verbs are open class, while adjectives are closed class. Nouns usually appear as arguments of clauses and can appear bare in the clause, while verbs must be inflected in some way. Hup is highly agglutinative and concatenative, with a high rate of synthesis and low rate of phonological fusion of morphemes. Therefore, its morphemes are easily segmented. Roots typically undergo compounding, while formatives are affixed or cliticised.

Personal pronouns

	Subject	Object	Oblique	Possessive
				Downriver Hup dialects	Umari Norte dialect
1sg	ʔɑ̃h́	ʔɑ́n	ʔɑ̃h́-ɑ̃t́	nɨ̌	nɨ̌h
2sg	ʔɑ́m	ʔɑ́m-ɑ́n	ʔɑ́m-ɑ́t	ʔɑ́mɨ̌h	ʔɑ́m-nɨ̌h
3sg	tɨ́h	tɨ́h-ɑ́n	tɨ́h-ɨ́t	tɨnɨ̌h	tɨh-nɨ̌h
1pl	ʔɨ́n	ʔɨ́n-ɑ́n	ʔɨ́n-ɨ́t	ʔɨnɨ̌h	ʔɨn-nɨ̌h
2pl	nɨ́ŋ	nɨ́ŋ-ɑ́n	nɨ́ŋ-ɨ́t	nɨŋɨ̌h	nɨŋ-nɨ̌h
3pl	hɨ́d	hɨ́d-ɑ́n hɨɾan (TD)	hɨ́d-ɨ́t [hɨɾɨt] (TD)	hɨdnɨ̌h hɨdɨ̌h [hɨɾɨh] (TD) yɨʔd’ə̌h-nɨ̌h	hɨd-nɨ̌h

Adapted from Epps (2005), p. 138

Demonstrative and Interrogative Pronouns

Inflection	Demonstratives (forms and meanings)				Interrogative
uninflected	nu- / nɨ- Proximal	n'i- Distal	yu- / yɨ- Intangible	cã- 'other'	hɨ̃ Interrogative

Semiverbal "Verby" nouns

Some nouns of Hup are semi-verbal, namely those which have to do with the passage of time, as well as periods of time, which are “inherently progressive and impermanent.”

“Passage of time” words:

• wəhə́d "old man"
• wɑ́ "old woman"
• dóʔ "child"

“Periods of time” words:

• wɑ́g "day"
• j'ə́b "night"

While these words belong to the noun class (they typically appear as arguments of a clause, and aspectual inflection is not required), they have verb-like qualities, such as occurrence in verbal compounds (which is normally restricted to only verbs):

mɔ̌h

inambu

tɨh

3sg

yæ̃ʔ-wɑd-hi-wɑ́g-ɑ́h

roast-eat-FACT-day-DECL

mɔ̌h tɨh yæ̃ʔ-wɑd-hi-wɑ́g-ɑ́h

inambu 3sg roast-eat-FACT-day-DECL

"He cooked and ate inambu until daybreak."

Respect markers

The enclitic =wəd, derived from the word for “old man” wəhə́d, can be inserted as a respect marker when referring to spiritual beings or other humans. The feminine form of this is =wa.

yunícu=wəd-ǎn

Junilson=RESP-OBJ

ʔãh

1sg

ʔɨ́d-ɨh

speak-DECL

yunícu=wəd-ǎn ʔãh ʔɨ́d-ɨh

Junilson=RESP-OBJ 1sg speak-DECL

"I spoke to respected Junilson."

This marker is usually used to refer to someone older or of higher status, though it can also be used to indicate someone to be feared, especially when used to refer to dangerous spirits.

yúp

that.ITG

tɨ̃hɨ̃́y=wəd

snake=RESP

nɨ̌h

POSS

tóg-óh!

daughter-DECL

yúp tɨ̃hɨ̃́y=wəd nɨ̌h tóg-óh!

that.ITG snake=RESP POSS daughter-DECL

"It was the old/respected Snake’s daughter! (from the Rainbow Spirit and the Snake of the Hollow-Star story)."

The usage of =wəd is also not necessarily respectful. The enclitic can also be affixed to children's names as a sign of affection, comparable to doing the same in English with the titles “Mister” or “Miss”.

Negation

Negation is complex in Hup, as three separate strategies can be used to express negation in the language. The most common form of indicating negation is through the negator suffix [-nɨ́h] on verbal or adjectival predicates. Secondly, predicative particle [pã̌] can be used with noun phrases to express negation; similarly, and lastly, the article [ʔǎp] expresses negation against an entity within a clause or the against entire clause itself.

Adapted from Epps (2005), p. 726

maŋgǎ

margarita

hɨ́d-ǎn

3PL-OBJ

təw-nɨ́h

scold-NEG

maŋgǎ hɨ́d-ǎn təw-nɨ́h

margarita 3PL-OBJ scold-NEG

‘Margarita didn't yell at them.’ (Verbal negation in main clauses, Epps (2005), p. 726)

Adapted from Epps (2005), p. 738

[tiyɨʔ

man

pǒg]

big

pã̌

NEG:EX

[tiyɨʔ pǒg] pã̌

man big NEG:EX

‘There is no big man.’ (Existential negative, Epps (2005), p. 738)

Adapted from Epps (2005), p. 742

nutæ̌n-æ̃́y

today-DYNM

ʔɨd

story

ʔǎp

NEG:ID

nutæ̌n-æ̃́y ʔɨd ʔǎp

today-DYNM story NEG:ID

‘(It's) not a story of today.’ (Identity negative, Epps (2005), p. 742)

Negative responses to questions or refusals to offers in Hup require one of the strategies above; there is no general lexeme/morpheme for 'no' in Hup.

Syntax

Basic syntactic word order

The most frequent and grammatically simplest word order in Hup is Subject (Agent), Object, Verb (SOV). Epps notes that the agent, the actor/argument of a transitive sentence, precedes the object and verb in the syntactic structure of Hup.

Adapted from Epps (2005), p. 168

tiyǐʔ

man

cadakǎʔ-ǎn

chicken-OBJ

pɨhɨtyúm

corn

nɔ́ʔ-ɔ̃́y

give-DYNM

tiyǐʔ cadakǎʔ-ǎn pɨhɨtyúm nɔ́ʔ-ɔ̃́y

man chicken-OBJ corn give-DYNM

‘The man gives corn to the chicken.’ (Nominal subject AOV order, Epps (2005), p. 168)

Adapted from Epps (2005), p. 180

nùp

this

hɔ̴̴̌p-ǎn

fish-OBJ

ʔɨn

1PL

wæd-té-h

eat-FUT-DECL

nùp hɔ̴̴̌p-ǎn ʔɨn wæd-té-h

this fish-OBJ 1PL eat-FUT-DECL

‘We'll eat this fish.’ (Pronominal subject AOV order, Epps (2005), p. 180)

The verb-final construction of clauses in Hup, as seen above, is best characterized as AOV (agent, object, verb).

Case and agreement

Hup is nominative-accusative. All subjects are unmarked, while the object and other noun cases are suffixed. Which suffix is used can depend on number, animacy, type of noun, and grammatical function, as shown in the table below. Case marking extends also to the noun phrase and relative clause, and the suffixes attach to the final constituent of the phrase.

Grammatical function	Nouns	Nouns marked for number	Pronouns, demonstratives
S, A	-ø	-ø	-ø
O (Direct object)	Human: -ɑ̌n, Animal: -ɑ̌n (optional), Inanimate: -ø	-ɑ̌n (Plural: -n’ɑ̌n)	-ɑ̌n
O (beneficiary, recipient of ditransitive verbs)	-ɑ̌n	-ɑ̌n (Plural: -n’ɑ̌n)	-ɑ̌n
Directional oblique	-an
Oblique	-V́t	-V́t	-V́t

Adapted from Epps (2005), p. 143

tɨh=tæ̃h ʔín-ɑ̌n=mɑh

3sg=child,mother-OBJ=

tɨh

3sg

mǽh-ǽh

hit-DECL

{tɨh=tæ̃h ʔín-ɑ̌n=mɑh} tɨh mǽh-ǽh

3sg=child,mother-OBJ=REP 3sg hit-DECL

"He beat his wife, it’s said." (Direct Object, Epps (2005), p. 144)

nǽm

louse

ʔɑ́m-ɑ̌n

2sg-OBJ

ʔɑ̃h

1sg

key-nɨ̌ŋ

see-COOP

nǽm ʔɑ́m-ɑ̌n ʔɑ̃h key-nɨ̌ŋ

louse 2sg-OBJ 1sg see-COOP

"I’ll look for lice for you." (“You” as a beneficiary, Epps (2005), p. 145)

hɔ̃p=n'ɑn

fish=PL.OBJ

tɨh

3sg

w'ób-óh

place-DECL

hɔ̃p=n'ɑn tɨh w'ób-óh

fish=PL.OBJ 3sg place-DECL

"She placed the fish (on the smoking platform)." (Plural object, Epps (2005), p. 153)

yɑ́g-ɑn

hammock-DIR

g'ɑ̃ʔ-ʔɑ́y

suspend-VENT.IMP

hɑ́m

go.IMP

yɑ́g-ɑn g'ɑ̃ʔ-ʔɑ́y hɑ́m

hammock-DIR suspend-VENT.IMP go.IMP

"Go lie in the hammock!" (Directional Oblique, Epps (2005), p. 156)

tiyǐʔ(-ɑ̌n)

man(-OBJ)

(tɨh=)pǒg-ɑ̌n

(3sg=)big-OBJ

túk-úy=mɑh

want-DYNM=

tiyǐʔ(-ɑ̌n) (tɨh=)pǒg-ɑ̌n túk-úy=mɑh

man(-OBJ) (3sg=)big-OBJ want-DYNM=REP

"She wants the big man, it’s said." (Suffixes assigned to last word of noun phrase, Epps (2005), p. 155)

Though the object case and directional oblique markers are almost identical phonologically, the only difference being the stress, directional oblique is mainly used to indicate direction, and sometimes, location, in which it coincides with oblique case.

Syntactic Constructions and Modification in Hup

Modification is a semantic operation and syntactic construction by which referents in a language can be modified. There are three types of modifier constructions, each of which are present in Hup: subcategorizing modification, selecting modification, and situating modification.

Property Concept Modification

Subcategorizing modification includes property concept modification. In Hup, property concept modification is constructed using a juxtaposition strategy (zero strategy). As noted by Epps, adjectives (property concepts in a modifying relationship with a referent) follow the nouns they modify, which is in contrast to other types of noun phrases containing a modifier like numerals, demonstratives, and compounded nouns, which precede the noun.

tɨh wɔn-hám-ay-áh té tod pǒg g'et-pó-ow-ít=mah

3SG follow-go-INCH-DECL until hollow.tree big stand-EMPH1-FLR-OBL=REP

tɨh wɔn-hám-ay-áh té tod pǒg g'et-pó-ow-ít=mah

3SG follow-go-INCH-DECL until hollow.tree big stand-EMPH1-FLR-OBL=REP

‘She went after (the spirit), to where a big hollow tree stood, they say.' (Property concept modification 'big hollow tree', juxtaposition strategy, Epps (2005), p. 326)

Numeral Modification

Selecting modification includes numeral concept modification. In Hup, numeral modification is constructed using a juxtaposition strategy (zero strategy). Epps notes that numerals can occur both as nominal modifiers and as nominal heads in a noun phrase, and that as modifiers, they typically precede the noun using a juxtaposition strategy.

ʔɨn

1PL

wɨd-ham-bɨ́-ay-áh...

arrive-go-HAB-INCH-DECL

j'ák

buriti

b'ɔk

swamp

kə́d-ə́h,

pass-DECL

koʔap

two

b'ɔ̌k

swamp

ʔɨn wɨd-ham-bɨ́-ay-áh... j'ák b'ɔk kə́d-ə́h, koʔap b'ɔ̌k

1PL arrive-go-HAB-INCH-DECL buriti swamp pass-DECL two swamp

‘We arrived as we always do... we passed the buriti-swamps, two swamps’ (Numeral modification 'two swamps', juxtaposition strategy, Epps (2005), p. 314)

Object Modification

In Hup, object modification is constructed using a relational or flag strategy. An adposition marks a modifying relationship between an object concept and referent. According to Epps, expression of possession in Hup--a type of object modification relationship--involves the conjunction of two nouns and the postpositional particle [nɨ̌h], which indicates inalienable possession.

pedú

Pedro

nɨ̌h

POSS

cug'æ̌t

book

pedú nɨ̌h cug'æ̌t

Pedro POSS book

‘Pedro's book’ (Object modification 'Pedro's book', alienable possession, relational strategy (flag/adposition), Epps (2005), pp. 225-226)

Deictic Modification

Situating modification includes deictic modification. In Hup, deictic modification, including the modifying relationship of demonstratives with a referent, is constructed using a juxtaposition strategy (zero strategy). In Hup, deictic modifiers and demonstratives precede the referent noun in a noun phrase.

núp təg ʔán péʔ-éy=hɔ̃

this tooth 1SG.OBJ hurt-DYNM=NONVIS

núp təg ʔán péʔ-éy=hɔ̃

this tooth 1SG.OBJ hurt-DYNM=NONVIS

‘This tooth hurts (lit. 'hurts me')’ (Deictic modification, juxtaposition strategy, Epps (2005), pp. 292)

Semantics

Plurals

The plurality marker for nouns is =d'əh and follows an animacy hierarchy: humans, animals, and inanimates. For humans, plural marking is obligatory, though exception is made for a non-specific referent.

tiyǐʔ=d'əh-əwə́c

man=PL-FLR-

ʔəg-nɑ́ʔ-ɑ́y

drink-lose.senses-DYNM

tiyǐʔ=d'əh-əwə́c ʔəg-nɑ́ʔ-ɑ́y

man=PL-FLR-EXCL2 drink-lose.senses-DYNM

"Only the men got drunk!" (Epps (2005), p. 165)

hup

person

də̌b

many

hɨd

3pl

bɨ́ʔ-ɨ́h

work-DECL

hup də̌b hɨd bɨ́ʔ-ɨ́h

person many 3pl work-DECL

"Lots of people worked." (Epps (2005), p. 166)

However, the marker is present for groups of people, which are considered conceptually plural.

nutæ̌n-ɑy

today-INCH

teghɔ̃́=d'əh

Non-Indian=PL

nɨ̌h

POSS

yɑ́g-ɑy

hammock-INCH

nutæ̌n-ǽp

today-DEP

nutæ̌n-ɑy teghɔ̃́=d'əh nɨ̌h yɑ́g-ɑy nutæ̌n-ǽp

today-INCH Non-Indian=PL POSS hammock-INCH today-DEP

"Nowadays we use the hammocks of the Non-Indians, these days." (Epps (2005), p. 165)

Animals are generally also marked for plurality, but differ in that the marker is not obligatory for groups of animals. As with humans, non-specific referents are also not marked.

núp

this

nutæ̌n

today

yɑʔɑ́m=d'əh

jaguar=PL

hɨd

3pl

wæd-nɨ́h-ɑy-ɑ́h

eat-NEG-INCH-DECL

núp nutæ̌n yɑʔɑ́m=d'əh hɨd wæd-nɨ́h-ɑy-ɑ́h

this today jaguar=PL 3pl eat-NEG-INCH-DECL

"So today jaguars don’t eat (people)." (Epps (2005), p. 168)

hɔ̃̌p(*=d'əh)

fish(*=PL)

ʔɑ̃́h

1sg

kək-d'oʔ-nɨ́h

pull-take-NEG

hɔ̃̌p(*=d'əh) ʔɑ̃́h kək-d'oʔ-nɨ́h

fish(*=PL) 1sg pull-take-NEG

"I didn't catch any fish." (Epps (2005), p. 168)

hɔ̃̌p=d'əh

fish=PL

pɑ̃̌

NEG:EX

hɔ̃̌p=d'əh pɑ̃̌

fish=PL NEG:EX

"The (specific) fish are not here." (Epps (2005), p. 168)

Inanimate objects are not marked for plurality and rely on numerals to indicate such. Plural inanimate entities are regarded with low importance, due to usually having low conceptual salience, and therefore are also almost always unmarked for number in discourse as well.

dadɑ́nya

orange

tɨ́h-ɑ̌n

3sg-OBJ

ʔɑ̃h nɔ́ʔ-b'ɑy-ɑ́h

give--DECL

dadɑ́nya tɨ́h-ɑ̌n {ʔɑ̃h nɔ́ʔ-b'ɑy-ɑ́h}

orange 3sg-OBJ give-AGAIN-DECL

"I gave her the oranges (that I’d brought)." (Epps (2005), p. 169)

Numerals

Numerals in Hup are fairly etymologically unambiguous, which is very rare cross-linguistically. For the cardinal numerals 1-5, the forms likely derive from grammaticalized phrases, referring to the quantity of various salient phenomena for Hup people, with some variation between dialects. These dialectal variants will be labeled further as TD (Tat Deh), B (Barreira), UN (Umari Norte), and NF (Nova Fundação).The quantifier morpheme (-ʔǎp) is already integrated into the numerals '2' and '3' and may be used for the numerals 4+, but is not mandatory. For the cardinal numerals 6-20, there is much more variation, and their forms have not been lexicalized to the extent of numerals 1-5. Furthermore, through lexical borrowing, "virtually all speakers prefer Portuguese numerals for 6+," and for numerals 20+, Portuguese forms are exclusively used.

	Numeral	Likely Etymology
1	ʔayǔp (TD, B) ʔǽp (UN)	compare with demonstrative 'yúp' - 'that' (intangible)
2	koʔǎp (B) kaʔǎp (TD, UN) kəwěg-ʔǎp (NF?)	'eye-quantity'
3	mɔ́twaʔǎp (B) mɔ́ɾaʔǎp (TD) mɔ́t-wɨg-ʔǎp (NF?) bab' pẵ (UN)	'rubber.tree-seed-quantity' 'sibling NEG:EX' (UN)
4	hi-bab'-nǐ (TD, B) bab'-nǐ (TD, UN)	'(FACT)-have_sibling/accompany.NMZ'
5	ʔayup dapṹh (TD, B) ʔædapṹh (TD) nap'ṹh (variant B) ʔæp d'apṹh (UN)	'one hand'

Abbreviations

Abbreviation	Meaning
AGAIN	repetitive aspect / topic-shift
COOP	cooperative
DECL	declarative
DEP	dependent marker, topic marker
DIR	directional oblique
DYNM	dynamic
EXCL	exclusive
EXCL2	exclusive (dialectical variant)
FACT	factitive
FLR	following marker
IMP	imperative
INCH	inchoative
ITG	intangible
NEG	negative (verbal)
NEG:EX	negative existence
NMZ	nominalizer
OBJ	object
PL	plural/collective
POSS	possessive
REP	reportive evidential
RESP	respect marker
VENT	ventive
EMPH1	emphatic (1st person)
REP	repetitive aspect
NONVIS	nonvisual experiential

OBJ:object RESP:respect marker ITG:intangible COOP:cooperative DIR:directional oblique DYNM:dynamic FLR:following marker VENT:ventive

References

• Patience Epps (2008) A Grammar of Hup. Mouton de Gruyter.
• Moore, Barbara J.; Franklin, Gail L. Breves notícias da língua Maku-Hupda. Summer Institute of Linguistics, 1979 [1]

External links

• Hup Vocabulary List (from the World Loanword Database)
• Hup basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database
• Hup Collection of Patience Epps at the Archive of the Indigenous Languages of Latin America. Contains audio recordings and transcriptions of Hup language materials, "most from the Middle Tiquié River (primarily villages of Tat Dëh / Taracua Igarapé and Barreira Alta). A few texts from other communities, including Umari Norte of the upper Tiquié."