| Canara Konkani | ||||||
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| कॅनराचॆं कोंकणी, Canarachem Konknni, ಕ್ಯಾನರಾಚೆಂ ಕೊಂಕಣಿ, കേനരാചെം കൊങ്കണി, کينراچيں كونكنی | ||||||
| Pronunciation | koŋkɳi | |||||
| Spoken in | India | |||||
| Region | Karnataka and Kerala (See text). | |||||
| Native speakers | 2 million (date missing) | |||||
| Language family |
Indo-European
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| Writing system | Devanagari (official),[note 1] Latin[note 2] Kannada,[note 2] Malayalam and Persian | |||||
| Official status | ||||||
| Official language in | India | |||||
| Recognised minority language in | Karnataka, Kerala, | |||||
| Regulated by | Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy,[note 3] Kerala Konkani Academy[note 4] | |||||
| Language codes | ||||||
| ISO 639-3 | – | |||||
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Distribution of native Canarese Konkani speakers in India
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Canara Konkani (कॅनराचॆं कोंकणी (kênarācẽ kōṅkaṇī) ಕ್ಯಾನರಾಚೆಂ ಕೊಂಕಣಿ ( kyānarācẽ koṅkaṇi) കേനരാചെം കൊംകണി ( kēnarācẽ konkaṇi) كينراچيں کونكنی (kēnarācē̃ kōnkanī) is a geographic group of dialects of the Konkani, a minority language spoken by the Konkani people of Karnataka and Kerala.[note 5][1] The Karnataka dialects are referred to as Karnataka Konkani or Konkani from Karnataka. The Kerala dialects are referred to as Travancore Konkani or Kerala Konkani or simply Konkani from Kerala. Certain dialects like the Canara Saraswat dialects of the Gaud Saraswats and Bhanaps are called āmcigelẽ (lit. ours) and the dialect of the Cochin Gaud Saraswats is called koccimā̃y (lit. mother Cochin) by the members of those communities. Konkani is a minority language in the states of Karnataka,[note 5] Kerala[1] and Maharashtra[note 5]and one of the official languages of India .According to the 1991 Census, there are 7,06,397 Konkani speakers in Karnataka, 64,008 in Kerala and 3,12,618 who migrated from these areas in Maharashtra.[2] Konkani epigraphy in Canara has been found dating 981 CE.[3]
The word Canara is a Portuguese corruption of the word Kannada. Konkani speaking communities from Canara usually distinguish themselves from their Goan counterparts by adding the prefix Canara. e.g. Saraswats from Canara are call themselves Canara Saraswats and Christians, Canara Christians. The early Portuguese conquistadors referred to Konkani as lingoa Canarim as a reference to Canara.[4]
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Canarese Konkani is mainly spoken as a minority language in the Indian States of Karnataka, Kerala,Maharashtra and some parts of Gujarat The speakers are concentrated in the districts of Uttara Kannada district, Udupi and Dakshina Kannada in Karnataka, and, in districts of Cochin and [[Ernakulam district|Ernakulam],Alapuzha, Kollam,Calicut. Kasargod ] in Kerala. It also has a large diaspora in the US, Canada and the United Kingdom. Konkani is also spoken in Kenya,[5] Uganda, U.A.E, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Australia and New Zealand.
Influx of Konkani speakers into Canara happened in three time-lines :
Based on local language influence, Konkani speaking people are classified into three main regions:
This is the region north of the Gangolli river. North Canarites are called baḍgikār[note 6] (Northerners) or simply baḍgi in Konkani. Gaud Saraswat, Chitrapur Saraswat, Karwar Catholic, Daivajna, Gabeet, Kharvee, Vani, Nawayath, Shervegar and Konkani Maratha are the major Konkani speaking communities.[6][7] North Canara Konkani has minimal Kannada influence compared to South Canara Konkani.
Konkani speakers in North Canara are bilingual; they are well conversant in Kannada as well as Konkani. A few are conversant in Marathi too.
This is the region south of the Gangolli river. South Canarites are called ṭenkikār [note 6](Southerner) or simply ṭenki in Konkani. The Rajapur Saraswat, Kudalkar, Daivajna, Kumbhar, Mangalorean Catholics, Gaud Saraswats and Chitrapur Saraswats are some of the Konkani speaking communities of this region. 33% of Dakshina Kannada speaks Konkani.[8] South Canara Saraswats, both Gaud Saraswat and Chitrapur Saraswat affectionately refer to their dialect as āmcigelẽ (Ours) This region has recently been bifurcated into Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts.
Konkani speakers in South Canara are trilingual; they are conversant in Konkani, Kannada and Tulu. Some are also conversant in Malayalam, especially speakers south of mangalore in towns like Manjeshwar, Ullal, Someshwar. Some of the towns in South Canara have separate Konkani names. Udupi is called ūḍup and Mangalore is called koḍiyāl in Konkani.
Konkani speakers are found predominantly in the Cochin and Ernakulam Alapuzha, Kollam districts of Kerala, the earstwhile kingdom of Travancore. Gaud Saraswat, Kudumbis,Sonar, Vaniyas, Daivajna and Mangalorean Catholics are the major communities. The Konkani dialect of the Gaud Saraswats is affectionately referred to as koccimā̃y by members of that community.
The Gaud Saraswats of Cochin were part of the group of sāṣṭikārs who migrated from Goa during the Inquisition hence their dialect is, but for usage of certain Malayalam words, similar to the dialect spoken by Gaud Saraswats of South Canara.[9]
Konkani speakers in this region are bilingual; they are conversant in Konkani as well as Malayalam. Konkani in this region is peppered with Malayalam words.
There was a small population of Konkani speakers in Canara even before the first exodus from Goa. This group was responsible for the Shravanabelagola inscription. There was a large scale migration of Konkani communities from Goa to the coastal districts of North Canara, South Canara and Udupi as also the Shimoga district of Malnad region. This migration, caused by the persecution of the Bahamani and Portuguese rulers, took place between the twelfth and seventeenth centuries. Most of these migrants were merchants, craftsmen and artisans. These migrants were either Hindus, Muslims or Christians and their linguistic practices were influenced by this factor also.Each dialect is influenced by its geographical antecedents. There are subtle differences in the way that Konkani is spoken in different regions: “In Karwar and Ankola, they emphasize the syllables, and in Kumta-Honavar, they use consonants in abundance. The Konkani spoken by Nawayatis of Bhatkal incorporates Persian and Arabic words.[10] People of South Kanara do not distinguish between some nouns of Kannada and Konkani origin, and have developed a very business practical language. They sometimes add Tulu words also. It is but natural that Konkani has many social variations also because it is spoken by many communities such as Sonar, Serugar, Mestri, Sutar, Gabeet, Kharvi, Samgar, Nawayati, etc.The Konkani dialects spoken in Ernakulam incorporates Malayalam words.
There is a slight difference between the Konkani dialects spoken by the Christian and the Hindu communities. They are, however, mutually intelligible.[11]
Continuous inter action between the Konkani speaking communities with Dravidian Languages over a period of time has resulted in influences at the levels of morphology, syntax, vocabulary and larger semantic units such as proverbs and idioms.[12] This phenomenon is illustrated by Nadkarni, Bernd Heine and Tanya Kuteva in their writings.
Many Kannada words such as duḍḍu (money), baḍḍi (stick) and bāgilu (door) have found permanent places in Canarese Konkani. Canarese Konkani from Kerala has Malayalam words like sari/śeri (correct), etc.
These details do not take away the fact that Konkani is not a Dravidian language.
| Phrase | North Canara | South Canara | Cochin |
|---|---|---|---|
| What happened? | kitẽ dzālẽ | kasan / kalẽ dzālẽ | kasal dzāllẽ |
| correct | samma | samma | sari/ śeri |
| We are coming | āmi yetāti | āmmi yettāti / yettāci/ yetā̃v | āmmi yettāci |
| Come here | hekkaḍe yo | hāṅgā yo | hāṅgā yo |
From the above table we see that South Canara and Kerala Hindu dialects undergo doubling of consonants āppaytā (calls), dzāllẽ (done), kellẽ (did), vhaṇṇi (sister in law) where Canara Catholic and North Canara Hindu dialects use the un-doubled ones āpaytā, dzālẽ, kelẽ, vhaṇi' . The Gaud Saraswat and Kudumbi Kochi dialects uses ca and ja in place tsa and dza respectively.
Konkani speakers in Karnataka, having interacted with Kannada speakers in North Canara, Kannada and Tulu speakers in South Canara and Malayalam speakers in Kerala, their dialects have been influenced by Kannada, Tulu and Malayalam. This has resulted in Dravidian influence on their syntax.[13] According to the linguists Konkani in Karnataka has undergone a process of degenitivisation, and is moving towards dativisation on the pattern of Dravidian languages.Degenitivisation means the loss or replacement of the genitives,and Dativisation means replacement of the genitive in the donor language (ie.Konkani) by the dative case marker in the recipient language(ie.Kannada).[13] e.g.
The phonetics,sounds, nasalisation, grammar,syntax and in turn vocabulary differ from Goan Konkani.[13]
In Karnataka Konkani present continuous tense is strikingly observable which is not so prominent in Goan Konkani.[14] Present indefinite of the auxiliary is fused with present participle of the primary verb,and the auxiliary is partially dropped.[14] The southern dialects when came in contact with Dravidian languages this difference became more prominent in dialects spoken in Karnataka whereas Goan Konkani still retains the original form.e.g.
Early Konkani literature in Goa,Karnataka and Kerala has been found in the Nāgarī Script. At present however, Konkani in the Devanagari script has been promulgated as an Official Language[note 7]. Nevertheless, Konkani is also written in the Roman, Kannada and Persian scripts.
Amongst the inscriptions at the foot of the colossal statue of Bahubali at Shravanabelagola in Karnataka are two lines reading thus:
| “ | [note 8] | ” |
The first line was inscribed circa 981 AD and the second line in 116-17 AD.[3] The language of these lines is Konkani according to Dr. S.B. Kulkarni (former head of Department of Marathi, Nagpur University) and Dr. Jose Pereira (former professor, Fordham University, US). Considering these arguments, these inscriptions at Sravanabelegola may be considered the earliest Konkani[15] inscriptions in the Nāgarī script.
A piece of poetry attributed to the twelfth century and worded in Konkani runs as follows,
| “ | jaṇẽ rasataḷavāntũ matsyarūpē̃ vēda āṇiyēlē̃. manuśivāka vāṇiyēlē̃.
to saṁsārasāgara tāraṇu. mōhō to rākho nārāyāṇu. |
” |
It can be said beyond doubt, that nothing has been written for a long period up to 1900 which is an awareness, is perceived in the case of Konkani. The wilderness may be attributed to the lack of consciousness, amongst the Konkani speaking people, as to the importance of the preservation of records[6]
The earliest known Konkani epigraphy is the rock inscription at Shravanabelagola, Karnataka. Another writing of antiquity is a रायसपत्र Rāyasapatra (writ) By Srimad Sumatindra Tirtha swamiji to his disciples.
In Konkani, Ramayana narration is found in both verse and prose. The story has been told in full or part in folksongs of the Kudubis and ritualistic forms like goḍḍe rāmāyaṇ of Kochi, sītā suddi and sītā kalyāṇa of Northern Kerala/South Canara and the rāmāyaṇa raṇmāḷe of Cancon. Some other texts of Ramayana too are available in written form in Konkani. rāmāyaṇācyo kāṇiyo, ascribed to Krishnadas Shama is in 16th century prose. During 1930s Late Kamalammal wrote the raghurāmāyaṇa in vhōvi[note 9] style verse. There have also been an adapted version by late Narahari Vittal Prabhu of Gokarn and recently, the translation of rāmacaritramānasa by Kochi Ananta Bhat of Kochi.[6][16]
Hortus Malabaricus (meaning Garden of Malabar) is a comprehensive treatise that deals with the medicinal properties of the flora in the Indian state of Kerala. Originally written in Latin, it was compiled over a period of nearly 30 years and published from Amsterdam during 1678-1693. The book was conceived by Hendrik van Rheede, who was the Governor of the Dutch administration in Kochi (formerly Cochin) at the time.
Though the book was the result of the indomitable will power of Hendrik Van Rheede, all the basic work and the original compilation of plant properties was done by three Konkani Physicians of Kochi, namely Ranga Bhat, Vināyaka Pandit and Appu Bhat.[17] The three have themselves certified this in their joint certificate in Konkani, which appears as such at the start of the very first volume of the book.
This book also contains the Konkani names of each plant, tree and creeper are also included throughout the book, in all 12 volumes, both in its descriptive parts and alongside their respective drawings. While the names are in Roman script in the descriptive part, the names alongside the diagrams are in original Nāgarī script itself, indicated as Bramanical characters.[17]
The 17th century certificate was etched in the manner and style of those times, which may appear unfamiliar now. Further to this, some writing notations (mostly anuswara) are seen missing in the print. Hence, to make it easily readable, the body matter is reproduced herein with enhanced clarity, modern-day spacing between words, and with the missing notations added back, for the sake of coherence and comprehension.
The credit for documenting Konkani in Canara goes to The Italian Jesuit Fr. Angelus Francis Xavier Maffei, who studied the Konkani language of the Mangalorean Catholics of South Canara. He wrote two books, English-Konkani dictionary and thereafter a book on Konkani Grammar, in 1882. In 1883 he wrote koṅkaṇi rānāntulo sōbīt sundar tāḷo (A sweet voice from the Konkani Desert ) in 1893.
The captivity of sixty thousand Kanara Christians in 1784 by Tipu Sultan and their deportation and shipment in Srirangapatnam for more than 15 years testified as a boon in disguise for evolvement of Konkani literature in Karnataka. Several of the prisoners carried along with them religious hymns and other folklore to keep them going amidst dreadful surroundings. The well known hymn riglo jedzu maḷeyānt (Jesus entered the garden of Gethsemane) was most likely composed by Fr Joachim Miranda in the 18th century. Foundation of Konkani literature was primarily laid in these hymns. By the middle of the 19th century, Konkani Christians had grounded themselves into a well-knit and well-to-do community in and around the city of Mangalore.
The Dvaita seer Madhavacharya converted Smartha Konkani Gaud Saraswats to Dvaitism. This Dvaita Gaud Saraswat community was instrumental in kīrtanasāhitya and haridāsasāhitya. Vasudev Prabhu was a very famous Konkani poet of the Bhakti Movement. He wrote many devotional songs in Konkani and also translated Kannada devotional poetry of Vyāsarāya, Naraharitirtha, Puranadaradāsa, Kanakadāsa. These Konkani songs were, later, sung by nārāyantirtha[18]
The year 1912 witnessed the birth of the first ever periodical in Mangalore, the Konkani Dirvem, under the very much advancing and shining Konkani literature in Karnataka. Louis Mascarenhas and U Kannappa were the founders of this periodical. In 1938, the periodical named Rakhno was started in Mangalore. The year 1950 remained a witness to the birth of the first full-length, original social nover Angel by Joaquim Santan Alvares. He in fact had revolutionised the field of fiction in Konkani literature from Karnataka and subsequently penned numerous awe-inspiring novels. V J P Saldanha, popularly acknowledged as Khadap, has authored novels pretty much containing a powerful plot, characterisation and style of diction. Chafra, also acknowledged as C F D'Costa, has made applaudable contribution in the genres of poetry and plays. Some other prominent writers in Konkani literature from Karnataka comprise: A T Lobo, Edwin D Souza, Stan Ageira, Gabriel D'Souza or Gabbu, Ronald Pereira, Jerry Kulshekar, Irene Pinto, Tina D'Mello, Mic Max, Vitor Rodrigues, Francis Saldanha, Hemachandra, etc.
Pedro John D'Souza, Faustin D'Souza, J U Rego, J C Viegas, Nandini D' costa, C G Pereira, Sylvester DSouza, Francis Saldanha and other have penned emphatic short stories under Konkani literature in Karnataka. Another hugely captivating factor in this Karnataka Konkani literature is their supreme interest in poetry, which is acknowledged to be verily deep rooted. The early groundbreakers in this field were in actuality, the Catholic priests, who had sailed long long time back. They have handed down to their succeeding generations numerous hymns, which were poems in effect. They were further passed down to the other generations by word of mouth. Louis Mascarenhas was a great poet, in the context of Konkani literature from early Karnataka. Other prominent poets from this Konkani genre comprise: Fr P L Notelho, Fr Sylvester Menezes, Fr Anthony John D'Souza, Fr Pratap Naik, Ambrose D'Souza, Lancelot Pinto, Elo D'Souza, J B Sequeira, Ambrose D'Souza, J B Rasquina and Henry D'Silva, J B Moraes, C F D'Costa.
Contemporary Konkani literature in Kerala made a rather late entry, as compared to its other concentrated states like Karnataka. However, according to historical annals, there can be established no exact evidence to relate exactly when Konkani language and literature began its predominating journey in Kerala. But a possible contact and interlinking between Goa with Kerala cannot be thrown to the wind, as collaborators in foreign trade. G Kamalammal is known to have contributed whole-heartedly to Konkani literature, in the domain of devotional writing. V. Krishna Vadyar, Bhakta R Kanhangad, S. T Chandrakala, S Kamat are some of the most renowned novelists in the Konkani dialect. Moving further ahead, V Venkates, K Narayan Naik, N Prakash and others have penned forceful short stories; P G Kamath has contributed to the sphere of essay writing.
Some of the most great and legendary poets in Konkani literature from Kerala, comprise: K Anant Bhat, N Purushottam Mallya, R Gopal Prabhu, P N S Sivanand Shenoy, N N Anandan, R S Bhaskar etc. Translations, folklore, criticism also have enriched the Konkani literature in Kerala.Stepping aside a little bit and directing the attention towards analytic and detailed study, Konkani literature in Kerala has been legendary and celebrated to have formulated dictionaries and encyclopedias in considerable numbers.
Konkani speakers have retained their language and culture in Karnataka and Kerala. Music, theatre and periodicals keep these communities in touch with the language.
Notable periodicals are rākṇo, pāntskadāyi, divo, paiṇāri and sansakār bōdh.
Konkani theatre made a rather late entry into the Indian art scenario. Konkani thearte groups like rangakarmi kumbaḷe śrīnivās bhaṭ pratiṣṭhān, sant judze nāṭak sabhe, raṅgayōgi rāmānand cūryā vēdike, māṇḍ sobhāṇ played an instrumental role in bringing Konkani theatre to the masses. raṅgakarmi Kumble Shrinivas Bhat, Late Hosad Babuti Naik, Late Cha. Fra. D’Costa, Late Late K. Balakrishna Pai (kuḷḷāppu), Sujeer Srinivas Rao (cinna kāsaragōḍ) and Vinod Gangolli are some noteworthy names. Ramananda Choorya was an eminent artist who encouraged people to develop Konkani theatre. He wrote the famous play dōni ghaḍi hāssunu kāḍi. Some other notable theatre-plays are paiśāntso sansār , jêkpoṭ jana, bāvuḷẽ phūl, tsōru guru tsāṇḍāḷa śiṣya, kāḷki rāta, śānti nivās, dharmam śaraṇam gacchāmi, gāṇṭi, kāḷakā phāṭlẽ udzvāḍa, hāsanātilo to piso.
Konkani films are rarely made in Karnataka and Kerala. tapasvini and jana mana, are the only two films in the āmcigelẽ dialect. 'mog āni mayapās, bhogasāṇe, kāzārā uprānt, pādri are films in the South Kanara Christian dialect.
Konkani has been initiated as the third language in Karnataka and Kerala due to efforts by Konkani promoting organisations. Government of Karnataka has introduced Konkani as a subject and provided text books. However due to lack of qualification, avenues hereto to Konkani teachers, it has not provided grants to schools for appointing Konkani Language teachers.
The Mangalore-based Konkani Language and Culture Foundation is approaching this issue with a two prong approach and hopes to achieve government grants to schools to appoint teachers for Konkani language.
Though the Government of Karnataka has introduced Konkani as a subject (optional third language 6th Std onwards) in some schools of a few districts of Karnataka, it does not give any grant to appoint teachers for teaching Konkani. This has been an obstacle in promoting the Konkani language in schools.
The Konkani Language and Cultural Foundation has initiated a project to appoint Konkani teachers to teach Konkani in schools managed by Konkani people in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada.
Beginning of academic year 2010-2011, the Foundation will appoint 10 Teachers on a trial basis and lend their services to Konkani management schools. The teachers will be given regular training and coaching on monthly basis. These teachers will not only teach Konkani language but also train the students in Konkani art and culture i.e. singing, dance and acting in Konkani drama etc.
This scheme will involve
Though the World Konkani Centre will appoint the teachers and disburse monthly salaries, school managements look after the discipline, attendance, quality of teaching and attitude of the teacher allotted to their schools.
This project looks at establishing an academic base to Konkani in the School Education System. The Teacher Education dimension of the Konkani Language is evolved afresh and strengthened adequately through a systematic scholastic exercise. In order to achieve this, a series of thinking is prescribed which could be treated as a Road Map for setting up disciplinary status to Konkani Teaching Methodology in Teacher Training Institutes and thus pave the way for producing efficient Konkani Teachers through preliminary meeting with scholars and academicians. A series of Workshops will be organized to develop the Resource Material for Konkani Teaching Methodology.
In kerala 2009 Aug. Govt. has instructed to SCERTto prepare cariculam and text book to introduce Konkani from standard V to X.Also Govt. expect to introduce the same in2011-2012 Academic Year in std V.
Konkani well wishers in kerala established the Kochi based Kerala Konkani Academy in 1980. Konkani language in the state of Karnataka is regulated by the Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy, Mangalore established by the government of Karnataka in 1994. Co-ordinating and liaising with these are private and semi-governmental organisations like Konkani Bhashoddhara Trust, Konkani Parishad (Kumta), Karnataka State Konkani Linguistic Minority Educational Institutions Association, Dr T.M.A. Pai Foundation, Konkani Bhasha Mandal, Karnataka, Mand Sobhann (Kalangann) in Karnataka, and Konkani Bhasha Prachar Sabha (Kochi), Konkani Bhasha Pratisthan (Kozhikode) in Kerala.The Mumbai based Konkani Bhasha Mandal is a private organisation in Maharashtra.
Govt. of Kerala has taken a step ahead to establish Konkani Sahithya Akademy(Konkani Akademy)by issueing a G.O in Oct 2011, to constitute a Advisory committee which includes 16 persons from Kearala.
In addition to these there are educational institutions which have Konkani language departments, notable amongst which are Department of Konkani Studies (1992) at St. Aloysius College (Mangalore) and Saraswat Education Society's (1870) Ganapathi High School. Sukrathindra Oriental Research Institute (1974) is a Notable Kochi based organisation.
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