nhe'engatu

Old Tupi

Etymology

From nhe'eng (“to speak”) +‎ katu (“well”).

Verb

nhe'engatu (first-person singular active indicative anhe'engatu, first-person singular negative active indicative n'anhe'engatuî, noun nhe'engatu) (intransitive)

(Língua Geral Amazônica) to know a language^[1]

Conjugation

Conjugation of nhe'engatu (intransitive, U-ending) (See Appendix:Old Tupi verbs)

Note: not all forms are attested, most of the table is reconstructed based on known patterns.

Deverbals
Causative	monhe'engatu
Causative-comitative	eronhe'engatu
-ba'e	onhe'engatuba'e
-sab(a)	nhe'engatûaba / nhe'engatusaba
-sar(a)	nhe'engatûara / nhe'engatusara
	Singular		Singular & Plural	Plural
	1^st person	2^nd person	3^rd person	1^st person exclusive	1^st person inclusive	2^nd person
Verbal forms
Active
Indicative	anhe'engatu	erenhe'engatu	onhe'engatu	oronhe'engatu	îanhe'engatu	penhe'engatu
Permissive	t'anhe'engatu	t'erenhe'engatu	t'onhe'engatu	t'oronhe'engatu	t'îanhe'engatu	ta penhe'engatu
Imperative		enhe'engatu				penhe'engatu
Negative indicative	n'anhe'engatuî	n'erenhe'engatuî	n'onhe'engatuî	n'oronhe'engatuî	n'îanhe'engatuî	na penhe'engatuî
Negative permissive	t'anhe'engatu umẽ	t'erenhe'engatu umẽ	t'onhe'engatu umẽ	t'oronhe'engatu umẽ	t'îanhe'engatu umẽ	ta penhe'engatu umẽ
Negative imperative		enhe'engatu umẽ				penhe'engatu umẽ
Gerund
Affirmative	gûinhe'engatûabo	enhe'engatûabo	onhe'engatûabo	oronhe'engatûabo	îanhe'engatûabo	penhe'engatûabo
Negative	gûinhe'engatue'yma	enhe'engatue'yma	onhe'engatue'yma	oronhe'engatue'yma	îanhe'engatue'yma	penhe'engatue'yma
Nominal forms
Infinitive
Affirmative	nhe'engatu
Negative	nhe'engatue'yma
Circumstantial
Affirmative	xe nhe'engatuû		i nhe'engatuû	oré nhe'engatuû	îandé nhe'engatuû
Negative	xe nhe'engatue'ymi		i nhe'engatue'ymi	oré nhe'engatue'ymi	îandé nhe'engatue'ymi

Descendants

Nheengatu: nheengatú, nheẽgatu, nheengatu, nyenngatú, yẽgatú
- → Portuguese: nheengatu, nhengatu
  - → English: Nheengatu

References

^ Anton Meisterburg (a. 1756) “Lingoa ſaber”, in [Dicionário de Trier] (overall work in Portuguese and Old Tupi), Baixo Xingu, Pará, page 25v, column 1, line 24; republished as Jean-Claude Muller et al., editors, Dicionário de língua geral amazônica, Potsdam: University of Potsdam, 2019, →DOI, page 193: “anheengatú. […] onheéngatu.”

[1] Anton Meisterburg (a. 1756) “Lingoa ſaber”, in [Dicionário de Trier] (overall work in Portuguese and Old Tupi), Baixo Xingu, Pará, page 25v, column 1, line 24; republished as Jean-Claude Muller et al., editors, Dicionário de língua geral amazônica, Potsdam: University of Potsdam, 2019, →DOI, page 193: “anheengatú. […] onheéngatu.”

[1]