Eduardo Navarro

“ Nevertheless, the languages of aboriginal peoples would also play an important role in the Brazilian toponymic system. Among the indigenous languages and the general languages of indigenous origins, four were fundamental for the naming of places in Brazil: ancient Tupi of the coast, the General Language of Amazonia, the General Language of São Paulo, and Nheengatu. In fact, ancient Tupi was a matrix language of other supra-ethnic languages that developed historically from it starting in the 17th century, when the colonization of Brazil interior began. ”

“ Thus, the hundreds of toponyms of indigenous origin appearing by the end of the 19th century and in the first half of the 20th century throughout Brazil are the results of artificial nomination. Artificial creation of place names in Tupi or in Tupi origin General Languages was greatly stimulated, in fact, by the publication of the above-mentioned work by Theodoro Sampaio, which helped to provide many names for pioneer fronts in Brazil during the 20th century, with the emergence of many settlements and transformation of old districts into municipalities. ”

“ With the advent of Modernism in Brazil, which began with the Week of Modern Art in 1922, the Indians of the past once again became a basic cultural reference for the aesthetic and cultural renewal that was intended. An environment was formed that was propitious to the studies of the Brazilian indigenous languages of historical importance, mainly ancient Tupi and Nheengatu. This was also explained by the emergence of nationalist ideologies in the West. In Brazil, Getúlio Vargas' rise to power in 1930 was the beginning of a historical phase marked by great political and economic nationalism. ”

“ The Tupi Indian, who inhabited the coast, was mythologized. This term was a generic one used to designate the indigenous groups that spoke the Brazilian language described by Anchieta and Figueira in their grammars. These were the Tupiniquins, the Tupinambás, the Potiguaras, the Caetés, the Temiminós, the Tupis of São Vicente, etc. Meanwhile, the many Indians still living in the 19th century in Brazil were socially undervalued and discriminated against, and their languages were ignored. ”

“ Many times, a place name of Tupi origin already incorporated in the Portuguese lexicon and replacing another place name designates a plant, an animal, an indigenous artifact, or an ethnic group. The district of Dois Irmãos, after being called Alfredo Martins, had its name changed to Ubatã, which designates various trees of the genus Astronium (from 'yba-atã - hard tree) . ”

“ A very common kind of artificial toponym in Brazil is that by replacing a Portuguese origin name with its corresponding translation in ancient Tupi, sometimes quite literal, sometimes less, and sometimes consisting of a periphrasis. ”

“ Linguistically inappropriate toponyms Ibateguara (State of Alagoas) – Until 1959, the municipality of Ibateguara was called Horizon. It is said that the current toponym was suggested by the Archbishop of Maceió, D. Ranulfo de Farias, who wanted to create a name of Tupi origin meaning "high place." The name Ibateguara, however, appears to derive from the junction of the Tupi noun ybaté (heights) with the suffix -ygûara (he who inhabits) (which forms gentilic nouns such as paraibyguara, inhabitant of Paraíba) . Ybateygûara thus means “the inhabitants of heights”. ”

“ The place name Abaetetuba (composition of abaeté - very good man, a term incorporated into the Portuguese lexicon + tyba - assemblage, existence: assemblage of very good men) replaced a previous name, Abaeté, of a municipality in Pará, by virtue of the same Decree-Law n. ”

“ Itajá (State of Rio Grande do Norte) – This toponym is an example of an original name, not inspired by a previous name nor taken from Portuguese dictionaries. It was artificially attributed to the village of Lopes, elevated to the status of a municipality in 1992. It is a correct composition: itá - stone + îá: crowding, fullness: full of stones.
5.2.2. Inappropriate place names: examples of some modalities
5.2.2.1. Geographically inadequate toponyms Miracatu (State of São Paulo) – This name is a correct composition in Nheengatu, spoken in Northern Brazil. ”

“ A terminação ama é um coletivo, equivalendo a muitos, reunião etc.” ↑ “Há aqui um sentimento nacionalista que se quer integrado e vívido, como que a dizer que, da raça americana, vencida, nem tudo se perdeu e que se, no sangue dos descendentes, a dosagem diminui a se apagar, a memória dos primitivos íncolas perdurará com os nomes dos lugares onde a civilização ostenta seus triunfos.” ”