What is Tupi language?
{{Infobox language |name=Tupí |altname=Tupinambá |states=[[Brazil]] |ethnicity=[[Tupinambá people|Tupinambá]], [[Tupiniquim people|Tupiniquim]] |era=(survives as [[Nheengatu]]) |familycolor=American |fam1=[[Tupian languages|Tupian]] |fam2=[[Tupí–Guaraní languages|Tupí–Guarani]] |script=[[Latin script|Latin]] |lc1=tpn|ld1=[[Tupinambá language|Tupinambá]] (Old Tupí, Brasilica) ''(as a lingua franca, extinct)'' |lc2=tpk|ld2=[[Tupiniquim language|Tupiniquim]] (Tupinaki) ''(extinct)'' |glotto=subg1261 |glottoname=Tupi + Omagua-Cocama |glottorefname=Subgroup III |notice=IPA }} The Tupí Language was the [[language]] spoken by the [[Indigenous peoples|indigenous]] [[Tupi people|Tupí People]] of [[Brazil]]. It was related to [[Guaraní language|Guarani]]. When [[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese]] [[Colonization|colonizers]] first came to Brazil, many of the first people they met spoke Tupí. The Portuguese learned the language so that they could talk to the Tupí and convert them to [[Christianity]]. Tupí became a [[lingua franca]] of Brazil for many years. Its use was encouraged by [[Jesuit]] [[Missionary|missionaries]]. In 1759, the [[Prime Minister]] of Brazil forced the Jesuits to leave. More Portuguese settlers that did not speak Tupí moved to Brazil around the same time. These things made most Brazilians want to speak Portuguese instead of Tupí. While Old Tupí is no longer spoken, the Nheengatu language is descended from it. [[Category:Brazil]] [[Category:Languages of South America]] {{stub}}