Konkani language

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Konkani
कोंकणी Konknni ಕೊಂಕಣಿ കൊംകണീ koṃkaṇī

Spoken in: India

Region: Konkan

Total speakers: 7.6 million(approx)

Language family: Indo-European
Indo-Iranian
Indo-Aryan
Southern Indo-Aryan
Konkani

Writing system: Devanāgarī(official), Latin alphabet, Kannada abugida, Malayalam and Arabic

Language codes

ISO 639-1: none

ISO 639-2: kok

ISO 639-3: variously:
kok — Konkani (generic)
knn — Konkani (specific)
gom — Goan Konkani

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Konkani language test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator

Konkani (Devanāgarī: कोंकणी ; Kannada:ಕೊಂಕಣಿ; Malayalam:കൊംകണീ ; Roman Script: Konknni ; IAST: koṃkaṇī ) is a language of India, and belongs to the Indo-European family of languages. It is an Indo-Aryan language and includes a significant number of loan words derived from various Dravidian languages. It has influences from many other languages including Portuguese, Kannada, Marathi and Perso-Arabic.

[edit] Location

The Konkani language is spoken widely in the Western Coastal region of India known as Konkan. This consists of Konkan division of Maharashtra, Goa, Canara (coastal Karnataka) and some pockets in Kerala. Each region has a different dialect, pronunciation style, vocabulary, tone and sometimes, significant differences in grammar.

[edit] Population

The Census Department of India, 1991 figures put the number of Konkani speakers in India as 1,760,607 making up 0.21% of India's population ^[1]. It ranks 15th in the list of Scheduled Languages as per strength. The figures of 2001 census are not yet public. A very large number of Konkanis stay outside India , either as expatriates or citizens of other countries(NRIs). Determining their numbers is difficult.

Ethnologue puts the number of Konkani speakers at 7.6 million (estimated). ^[2] ^[3]

[edit] Origins

There are conflicting theories on the origins of the Konkani Language.

The Konkani language developed in the region known as Konkan (which in the past meant the entire western coast of India , except for Gujarat) but was primarily centered in Gomantak(now Goa). That is how it got its name.

One theory suggest that a group of Aryans settled after migrating from their mythical homeland on the banks of the Sarasvati River (in north India) when the river dried up around 600BC ^[4]. They brought their own dialect of Sauraseni Prakrit , which over time evolved into modern Konkani. ^[5]

An alternate theory suggests that Konkani is a Sanskritised version of a language spoken by the Kokna tribe .The Kokna tribals (also referred to as Kokni or Kukni or Kukna) are now found in North Maharashtra and South Gujarat, but may have been the primary settlers in the Konkan region, judging by the name. The migrating Aryans who came to the Konkan picked up the language and added various Prakrit/Sanskrit words. ^[6]

[edit] History

[edit] Early Years

Konkani flourished in Goa. Brahmi script was initially used for writing in Konkani but it fell into disuse, giving way to the Devanagari script. It was used extensively for religious purposes as well as daily use.

[edit] Other Communities

Other Konkani communities came into being with their own dialects of Konkani. The Konkani Muslim communities of Ratnagiri and Bhatkal came about due to a mixture of intermarriage of Arab seafarers and locals as well as conversions of Hindus to Islam. ^[7] Another migrant community that picked up Konkani was the Siddis who were sailor-warriors from Ethiopia. ^[8]

[edit] Migration and Fragmentation

The arrival of the Portuguese lead to sea changes in Konkani. The conversion of Konkanis to Christianity and the religious policies of the Portuguese caused a large number of Konkanis to flee to neighbouring territories. The isolation of Hindu and Christian Konkanis added to the fragmentation of Konkani into multiple dialects.

The language spread to Canara (costal Karnataka), Kokan-patta (costal Konkan division of Maharashtra) and Kerala during the last 500 years due to migration of Konkanis. Although a few Konkanis may have been present in the neighbouring areas and there may have been migrations due to economic reasons in the past, the main cause of migration was the Portuguese control over Goa.

It was spread to these areas by Hindu Konkani and Christian Konkani speakers in three waves of migration. The first migration occurred during the early years of Portuguese rule and the Inquisition of 1560s. The second wave of migration was during the 1571 war with the Sultan of Bijapur. The third wave of migration happened during the wars of 1683-1740 with the Marathas. While the first wave was of Hindus fleeing religious persecution, the second and third waves were mainly those of Christians.^[4]

These migrant communities grew in relative isolation and each developed its own dialect. Since these communities had to interact with others in local languages on a daily basis, Konkani dialects show strong local influences in terms of script, vocabulary and also style.

[edit] Konkani in Portuguese Goa

Early in the era of Portuguese colonization, Christian missionaries realized the importance of propagating in local tongues and translated Christian Literature into Konkani and sometimes Marathi, the most notable among them being Fr Thomas Stephens.

However, in AD 1684, the Portuguese banned Konkani in Goa as it served as a medium for Hindu religious instruction. They also wanted to sever the links the new converts had with their culture through Konkani. Coupled with the imposition of Portuguese as an official language, it lead to a steady influence of Portuguese in the Konkani spoken by the Christians. At the same time, the Hindus of Goa veered towards Marathi as a language of religious ceremonies. Also the interaction between Marathis and Konkanis in the past, that had resulted in Konkanis being bilingual with Marathi, now cemented the status of Marathi as the daily language of Hindus in Goa, including Konkanis. Upper class Christians used Konkani only to communicate with the lower classes and poor, using Portuguese in social gatherings. ^[9]

Compared to this, the migrant communities outside Goa , kept Konkani alive , even if it resulted in fragmentation. The Devanagari script came into use in Maharashtra, while Kannada Script was used by migrants to Karnataka.

[edit] Konkani Revival

Shenoi Goembab

Konkani was in a sorry state, due to the use of Portuguese as the official and social language among the Christians; the predominance of Marathi over Konkani among Hindus and the Konkani Christian-Hindu divide. Seeing this Vaman Raghunath Varde Valaulikar set about on a mission to unite all Konkanis, Hindus as well as Christians, regardless of caste or religion. He saw this movement not just as a nationalistic movement against Portuguese rule, but also against the pre-eminence of Marathi over Konkani. Almost single handedly he crusaded, writing a number of works in Konkani. He is regarded as the pioneer of modern Konkani literature and affectionately remembered as Shenoi Goembab.^[10]

[edit] Post-Independence Period

Following India's Independence and its subsequent reconquest of Goa in 1961, Goa was absorbed into the Indian Union as a Union Territory, directly under central administration.

However, with the reorganization of states along linguistic lines, and growing calls from Maharashtra, as well as Marathis in Goa for the merger of Goa into Maharashtra, an intense debate was started in Goa. The main issues discussed were the status of Konkani as an independent language and Goa's future as a part of Maharashtra or as an independent state(see Konkani-Marathi Controversy). A plebiscite retained Goa as an independent state in 1967.^[11] However, English, Hindi and Marathi continued to be the preferred languages for official communication, while Konkani was sidelined.^[12]

[edit] Recognition as an Independent Language

With the continued insistence of some Marathis that Konkani was a dialect of Marathi and not an independent language, the matter was finally placed before the Sahitya Akademi. Sunit Kumar Chatterjee, the president of the Akademi appointed a Committee of linguistic experts to settle the dispute. On February 26, 1975, the Committee after due deliberation, came to the conclusion that Konkani was indeed an independent and literary language. ^[13]

[edit] Official Language Status

All this did not change anything in Goa. Finally fed up with the delay Konkani lovers launched an agitation demanding official status to Konkani in 1986. The agitation turned violent in various places resulting in the death of six agitators. Finally ,on 4th February 1987, the Goa Legislative Assembly passed the Official Language Bill making Konkani the Official Language of Goa.^[12]

Konkani was included in the Eight Schedule of the Constitution of India, as per the Seventy-First Amendment on 31st August 1992, adding it to the list of National Languages.

[edit] Scripts

Konkani is written in a number of scripts. Brahmi was originally used but fell into disuse. Devanagari is the official script for Konkani in Goa. Roman script is also popular in Goa . The Kannada script is used amongst the Konkani population of Karnataka. Malayalam script is used by the Konkani community, centered around the cities of Cochin and Kozhikode in Kerala state. Konkani Muslims in costal Maharashtra and Bhatkal taluka of Karnataka use Arabic script to write Konkani.^[9]

[edit] Dialects

Konkani, despite having a small population shows a very high number of dialects. The dialect tree structure of Konkani can easily be classified according the region, religion, caste and local tongue influence.^[9]

Different researchers have classified the dialects differently.

[edit] N.G. Kalelkar's Classification

Based on the historical events and cultural ties of the speakers N.G. Kalelkar has broadly classified the dialects into three main groups:^[9]

Northern Konkani :Dialects spoken in the Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra with strong cultural ties to Marathi.
Central Konkani : Dialects in Goa, where Konkani came in close contact with Portuguese language and culture.
Southern Konkani: Dialects spoken in the Canara region of Karnataka which came in close contact with Tulu and Kannada.

[edit] Ethnologue(ISO) Classification

ISO 639-3 classifies Konkani generic macrolanguage(ISO 639-3:kok) into^[14]:

Goanese Konkani (ISO 639-3: gom )
Konkani (individual language) (ISO 639-3: knn)

A list of Konkani dialects available from Ethnologue is as follows:

Dialects of Konkani (ISO 639-3: knn):^[2]
- Agari of Kolaba
- Parabhi (Kayasthi, Damani)
- Koli
- Kiristav
- Dhanagari
- Bhandari
- Thakuri (Thakari, Thakri, Thakua, Thakura)
- Karhadi
- Sangamesvari (Bakoti, Bankoti)
- Ghati (Maoli)
- Mahari (Dhed, Holia, Parvari)

Dialects of Goan Konkani (ISO 639-3: gom):^[15]
- Standard Konkani (Goan)
- Bardeskari (Gomantaki)
- Sarasvat Brahmin
- Kudali (Malvani)
- Daldi (Nawaits)
- Chitpavani (Konkanasths)
- Mangalore.

[edit] Related languages/dialects

Other languages/dialects which are included by ISO 639-3 in the Konkani family of the Language tree ^[3] but may be not be regarded as dialects of Konkani(they may be regarded as sister languages):

Katkari (kfu)
Kukna (kex)
Phudagi (phd)
Samvedi (smv)
Varli (vav)

[edit] Problems

The Konkani language has been in danger of dying out primarily due to

1) The fragmentation of Konkani into various, sometimes mutually unintelligible dialects.
2) The progressive Westernization of India.
3) The strong Portuguese influence in Goa , especially on Catholics.
4) Strong degree of bilingualism of Konkani Hindus in Goa and costal Maharashtra with Marathi
5) Progressive inroads made by Urdu into the Muslim communities.
6) Mutual animosity among various religious and caste groups; including a secondary status of Konkani culture to religion. Konkanis mostly prefer to intermingle with other members of their religious community and avoid interacting with Konkanis from other religions.
7) Migration of Konkanis to various parts of India and around the world.
8) Lack of opportunities to study Konkani in schools and colleges. Even till recently there were few Konkani schools in Goa. Populations outside the native Konkani areas have absolutely no access to Konkani education, even informally.
9) Preference among Konkani parents to speak to their children in "Potaachi Bhas" (language of the stomach) over "Maaim Bhas"(mother tongue) Konkani; primarily in English to help their children gain a grip over English in schools.^[9]
10) A sense of inferiority among Konkanis

Efforts have been made to stop this downward trend, starting with Shenoi Goembab's efforts to revive Konkani. There has been a renewed interest in Konkani Literature. The recognition granted by Sahitya Akademi to Konkani and the institution of an annual award for Konkani literature has helped.

Some organizations such as the Konkan Daiz Yatra , organized by Konkani Bhasha Mandal, Mumbai since 1939 and the newer Vishwa Konkani Parishad have laid great stress on uniting all factions of Konkanis.

[edit] Multilingualism

According to the Census Department of India , Konkani speakers show a very high degree of multilingualism^[16]. In the 1991 census, as compared to the national average of 19.44% for bilingualism and 7.26% for trilingualism; Konkani speakers scored 74.20% and 44.68% respectively. This makes Konkanis the most multilingual community of India.

This has been due to the fact that in most areas where Konkanis have settled , they seldom form a majority of the population and have to interact with others in the local tongue. Another reason for bilingualism has been the lack of schools teaching Konkani as a primary or secondary language.

While bilingualism is not by itself a bad thing, it has been misinterpreted as a sign that Konkani is not a developed language. The bilingualism of Konkanis with Marathi in Goa and Maharashtra has been a source of great discontent because it has led to the belief that Konkani is a dialect of Marathi ^[17] ^[9] (see Konkani v/s Marathi)and hence had a bearing on the future of Goa.

[edit] Konkani - Marathi dispute

It has been claimed by some quarters that Konkani is a dialect of Marathi and not an independent language. This has been attributed to several historical reasons (outlined in the History section), the close similarities between Marathi and Konkani, the geographical proximity between Goa and Maharashtra, the strong Marathi influence on Konkani dialects spoken in Maharashtra (such as Malwani), a supposed lack of literature in Konkani and a great degree of bilingualism of Konkani Hindus with respect to Marathi.

José Pereira, in his 1971 work "Konkani - A Language: A History of the Konkani Marathi Controversy", pointed to an essay on Indian languages written by John Leyden in 1807 wherein, Konkani is called a "dialect of Maharashtra" as an origin of the language controversy. ^[9] S. M. Katre's 1966 work, The Formation of Konkani, which utilized the instruments of modern historical and comparative linguistics across six typical Konkani dialects, showed the formation of Konkani to be distinct from that of Marathi. ^[9] ^[17] Shenoi Goembab, who played a pivotal role in the Konkani revival movement, rallied against the pre-eminence of Marathi over Konkani amongst Hindus and Portuguese amongst Christians.

Goa's accession to India in 1961 came at a time when Indian states were being reorganized along linguistic lines. There were demands to merge Goa with Maharashtra state. This was because Goa had a sizeable population of Marathi speakers and Konkani was also considered to be a dialect of Marathi by many. Konkani Goans were opposed to the move. The status of Konkani as an independent language or as a dialect of Marathi had a great political bearing on Goa's merger, which was settled by a plebiscite in 1967. ^[9]

The Sahitya Akademi (a prominent literary organization in India) recognized it as an independent language in 1975, and subsequently Konkani (in Devanagari script) was made the official language of Goa in 1987.

[edit] Script and Dialect Issues

The problems posed by multiple scripts and varying dialects have come as an impediment in the efforts to unite Konkanis. The decision to use Devanagari as official script and Antruz dialect has met with opposition both within Goa and outside it^[12]. The critics contend that Antruz dialect is unintelligible to most Goans, let alone other Konkanis, and that Devanagari is used very little as compared to Roman script in Goa or Kannada script in costal Karnataka^[12]. Prominent among the critics are Konkani Catholics in Goa, who have been at the forefront of the Konkani agitation in 1986-87 and have for long used the Roman script including producing literature in Roman script. They are demanding that Roman script be given equal status to Devanagari. ^[18]

In Karnataka, which has the largest number of Konkanis, leading organizations and activists have similarly demanded that Kannada script be made the medium of instruction for Konkani in local schools instead of Devanagari.^[19]

At present no single script or dialect can claim to be understandable or acceptable to all sections. No serious efforts have been made to achieve a consensus on this issue. The lack of a standard dialect which was acceptable to all has meant that, at many times Konkanis interact with other Konkanis in other languages.

[edit] Organizations and Institutions

There are various organizations working for Konkani but primarily, these were restricted to individual communities. The All-India Konkani Parishad founded on 23 January 1978 served the purpose of providing a common ground for all groups. A new organization known as Vishwa Konkani Parishad which aims to be an all-inclusive and pluralistic umbrella organization for Konkanis around the world was founded on 11th September 2005.^[20]

Some notable institutions working on Konkani are:

Konkani Bhasha Mandal,Mumbai^[21]
Konkani Triveni Kala Sangam, Mumbai ^[22]
Thomas Stephens Konknni Kendr.^[23]
World Konkani Centre: A culture and language centre to be set up in Mangalore.^[24]
Konkani Bhas Ani Sanskriti Pratistan(Konkani Language and Cultural Foundation): The organization building the World Konkani Centre.^[22]
Goa Konkani Akademi (GKA). ^[25]
Dalgado Konkani Academy.^[26]
Karnataka Konkani Sahithya Academy.^[27]
Konkani Ekvott – an umbrella organization of various Konkani bodies in Goa.^[28]
Vishwa Konkani Sammelan (World Konkani Convention): first held in 1995. ^[24]
Konkan Daiz Yatra: oldest Konkani organization which was started in the 1939 by Konkani stalwarts in Mumbai.^[29]

[edit] Notable works in Konkani

Cover of Dovtrina Christam by Fr. Thomas Stephens, first published work in Konkani

The first known printed book in Konkani was written by an English Jesuit priest, Fr. Thomas Stephens in 1622, and entitled Dovtrina Christam (Old Latin The Doctrine of Christ).^[24]
Konkani Mansagangotri - Prof. Olivinho Gomes
Vajralikhani - Shenoi Goembab
Konkani Bhashecho Itihas - Shenoi Goembab

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] External links