Aryon Rodrigues

{{Infobox academic

| name = Aryon Rodrigues

| image = Aryon Dall’Igna Rodrigues.jpg

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| birth_name = Aryon Dall'Igna Rodrigues

| birth_date = 4 July 1925

| birth_place = Curitiba, Brazil

| death_date = {{death date and age|2014|4|24|1925|7|4|df=y}}

| death_place = Brasília, Brazil

| occupation = Linguist

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| main_interests = Indigenous languages of South America, Tupian languages

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Aryon Dall'Igna Rodrigues (4 July 1925 – 24 April 2014) was a Brazilian linguist,{{cite web|url=http://www.dailyutahchronicle.com/news/student-documents-rare-amazonian-language-1.1356952|title=Student documents rare Amazonian language|last=Campbell|first=Rosemary|date=6 February 2009|work=Daily Utah Chronicle|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20110323181810/http://www.dailyutahchronicle.com/news/student-documents-rare-amazonian-language-1.1356952|archivedate=23 March 2011 |url-status=dead |access-date=23 March 2011}} considered one of the most renowned researchers of the indigenous languages of Brazil.D'Angelis, Wilmar R. 2006. [http://www.cpelin.org/estudosdalinguagem/v4n2dez2006/artigos/wilmar.pdf Aryon das Línguas Rodrigues] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222164039/http://www.cpelin.org/estudosdalinguagem/v4n2dez2006/artigos/wilmar.pdf |date=22 February 2014 }}. Estudos da Língua(gem), v. 4, n. 2, p. 13-19.{{cite web|url=https://www.dn.pt/inicio/interior.aspx?content_id=637648|title=Museu da Língua Portuguesa é inaugurado hoje em São Paulo|last=Barreto Motta|first=Sérgio|date=20 March 2006|work=Diário de Notícias|language=Portuguese|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812140109/http://www.dn.pt/inicio/interior.aspx?content_id=637648|archivedate=12 August 2011 |url-status=dead |access-date=28 July 2018}}

Education and early career

In 1959, Rodrigues was the first Brazilian to obtain a PhD in linguistics at the University of Hamburg.Head, Brian F. 2015. [http://www.etnolinguistica.org/biblio:head-2015 Mattoso Câmara e Aryon Dall'Igna Rodrigues: pioneiros da linguística no Brasil]. Fragmentum, no. 46, Jul./Dec. 2015, p. 19-35. Aryon Rodrigues was invited by Darcy Ribeiro to organize the first post-graduate program in Linguistics in Brazil, in the recently founded the University of Brasília (UnB). Aryon left UnB following the coup in 1964, in solidarity with his colleagues dismissed and persecuted by the military, moving to the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and later to the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP).

Research and publications

Throughout his career, which lasted nearly seventy years, he dedicated himself to the analysis of various languages such as Xetá and Tupinambá, of the Tupi–Guarani family, and Kipeá of the Kariri family (Macro-Jê). In addition to descriptive and theoretical works in linguistics, Rodrigues contributed to the study of historical and comparative linguistics of the indígenous languages of the continent, particularly of the Tupi family. He proposed the Je–Tupi–Carib hypothesis, which links Tupí, Macro-Jê and Karíb together as part of the same macrofamily.Rodrigues, Aryon D. 1985. [http://biblio.etnolinguistica.org/rodrigues-1985-evidence Evidence for Tupi-Carib Relationships]. In Klein, Harriet E. Manelis & Louisa R. Stark (editoras), South American Indian languages: retrospect and prospect. Austin: University of Texas Press.Rodrigues, A. D. Evidências de relações Tupi-Karib. In: Eleonora Albano; Maria Irma Hadler Coudry; Sírio Possenti; Tania Alkmim. (Org.). Saudades da Língua. 1 ed. Campinas, SP: Mercado de Letras, 2003, v. 1, p. 393-410.

Aryon Rodrigues published more than 150 scientific works, among them articles, book chapters and books. He created and directed the Laboratório de Línguas Indígenas (LALI) at UnB, and was one of the creators and editors of the Revista Brasileira de Linguística Antropológica ([http://www.rbla.unb.br/ RBLA] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402110936/http://www.rbla.unb.br/ |date=2 April 2015 }}). In January 2013, he participated in the creation of the Instituto Aryon Dall'Igna Rodrigues ([https://web.archive.org/web/20141218143451/http://aryon.org.br/ IADR]), which will serve as the repository of his papers. Rodrigues died on 24 April 2014.{{Cite web|url=http://www.etnolinguistica.org/aryon|title=Aryon Rodrigues (1925–2014) – Biblioteca Digital Curt Nimuendajú}}

Personal life

{{multiple image

| width = 150

| image1 = Homenagem do Instituto de Letras ao Prof. Aryon Rodrigues (28281154294).jpg

| image2 = Homenagem do Instituto de Letras ao Prof. Aryon Rodrigues (28281153144).jpg

| footer = Tribute by the Institute of Letters of the University of Brasília to Aryon Rodrigues in 2016

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{{As of|2012|post=,}} Rodrigues was divorced and the father of three children: the eldest, Marcelo Bruno Rodrigues, followed by Berenice Helena Rodrigues, and the youngest, Tiago Renato Rodrigues.{{cite news|access-date=13 February 2024 |date=9 December 2012 |first=Marcela |last=Ulhoa |title=Aryon Rodrigues: "existem mais de 200 línguas e só se ensina português" |url=https://www.correiobraziliense.com.br/app/noticia/ciencia-e-saude/2012/12/09/interna_ciencia_saude,338255/aryon-rodrigues-existem-mais-de-200-linguas-e-so-se-ensina-portugues.shtml |work=Correio Braziliense}} He died on 24 April 2014, after being hospitalized for intestinal obstruction surgery. Prior to the procedure, he suffered a cardiac arrest, and in the intensive care unit, multiple organ failure was diagnosed.{{cite web|access-date=1 June 2025 |archive-date=27 November 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241127170717/https://www.correiobraziliense.com.br/app/noticia/eu-estudante/ensino_ensinosuperior/2014/04/28/ensino_ensinosuperior_interna,425120/aryon-rodrigues-professor.shtml |date=28 April 2014 |first=Luiz |last=Calcagno |title=Aryon Rodrigues, professor |url=https://www.correiobraziliense.com.br/app/noticia/eu-estudante/ensino_ensinosuperior/2014/04/28/ensino_ensinosuperior_interna,425120/aryon-rodrigues-professor.shtml |url-status=live |website=Correio Braziliense}} His wake was held at the {{interlanguage link|Campo da Boa Esperança|pt}} Cemetery the following day, and on 26 April, Rodrigues's body was cremated at the Jardim Metropolitano Cemetery in Valparaíso de Goiás.{{cite web|access-date=1 June 2025 |archive-date=25 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250125115205/https://www.correiobraziliense.com.br/app/noticia/eu-estudante/professor/2014/04/25/professor_interna,424764/morre-aos-88-anos-professor-da-unb-referencia-em-linguas-indigenas.shtml |date=25 April 2014 |title=Morre aos 88 anos, professor da UnB referência em línguas indígenas |url=https://www.correiobraziliense.com.br/app/noticia/eu-estudante/professor/2014/04/25/professor_interna,424764/morre-aos-88-anos-professor-da-unb-referencia-em-linguas-indigenas.shtml |url-status=live |website=Correio Braziliense}}

On 5 August 2016, a posthumous tribute to Rodrigues took place at the University of Brasília. Flute players from the Xingu and the Brasília Symphony Orchestra performed, with pieces by Villa-Lobos and Carlos Gomes in the repertoire. Among the guests were anthropologist {{interlanguage link|Betty Mindlin|pt}} and linguist Terrence Kaufman. Tributes were also given in Tupi.{{cite web|access-date=3 June 2016 |archive-date=4 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240804024556/https://noticias.unb.br/ensino/831-instituto-de-letras-homenageia-aryon-dall-igna-rodrigues |date=3 August 2016 |first=Erika |last=Suzuki |title=Instituto de Letras homenageia professor Aryon Dall´Igna Rodrigues |url=https://noticias.unb.br/ensino/831-instituto-de-letras-homenageia-aryon-dall-igna-rodrigues |url-status=live |website=UnB Notícias}}