Tupian languages

The Tupi or Tupian language family comprises some 70 languages spoken in South America, of which the best known are Tupi proper and Guarani.

Homeland and urheimat

Rodrigues (2007) considers the Proto-Tupian urheimat to be somewhere between the Guaporé and Aripuanã rivers, in the Madeira River basin. Much of this area corresponds to the modern-day state of Rondônia, Brazil. 5 of the 10 Tupian branches are found in this area, as well as some Tupi–Guarani languages (especially Kawahíb), making it the probable urheimat of these languages and maybe of its speaking peoples. Rodrigues believes the Proto-Tupian language dates back to around 5,000 B.P.

History, members and classification

When the Portuguese arrived in Brazil, they found that wherever they went along the vast coast of this newly discovered land, most natives spoke similar languages. Jesuit missionaries took advantage of these similarities, systematizing common standards then named línguas gerais ("general languages"), which were spoken in that region until the 19th century. The best known and most widely spoken of these languages was Old Tupi, a modern descendent of which is still used today by indigenous peoples around the Rio Negro region, where it is known as Nheengatu ([ɲɛʔẽŋaˈtu]), or the "good language". However, the Tupi family also comprises other languages.

Paul Wesley

Paul Wesley (born Paweł Tomasz Wasilewski; July 23, 1982) is an American actor, director, and producer.

Early life

Wesley was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, to Polish parents Tomasz and Agnieszka Wasilewski, and grew up in Marlboro Township, New Jersey. He has one older sister, Monika, and two younger sisters, Julia and Leah. In addition to English, he speaks Polish, having spent four months every year in Poland until the age of 16.

Wesley attended Christian Brothers Academy in Lincroft, New Jersey and Marlboro High School for a period during his high school years. He was actively involved in the New York City theater scene and transferred from Marlboro High School to Lakewood Prep School in Howell, New Jersey because the school was able to better accommodate his acting schedule. During his junior year in high school, he was cast in the soap opera Guiding Light as character Max Nickerson. He started college at Rutgers University in New Jersey but left after one semester when more roles were offered to him, and he realized he could make a career out of acting.