jaime couto
Mon, 23 May 2005 00:20:21 -0700
The earliest reference to the language of Goa by the missionaries of the 16th century as “lingoa pollida” or “polished/refined language” appears to be an indication that Konkani was well developed and probably a literary language when the Portuguese arrived in the land. The missionaries called it also “Lingoa Brahmana”. Marathi on the other hand was called ‘Marasti’ or in very few places ‘Marasta Brahmana’ “but not exclusively ‘Brahmana’, which latter qualification is given to Konkani alone, tantamounting to an alternative name” (Prof. Dr. Olivinho Gomes in “Old Konkani Language and Literature”, p.47). Possibly that was the ‘lingua franca’ of the whole of Konkan. It is this ‘Brahmin Language’ or the ‘polished/refined language’ that the missionaries adopted as a Standard to write their Literature, Grammars and Vocabularies according to a select system of Transliteration into Roman Script. That was the “Pramann Language” or “Pornni Pramann Language” as Dr.Jose Pereira calls it. As the initial fervour of the missionaries towards the language gradually cooled down and the genocidal attempts from misguided powers started gaining vigour, the “Pramann” was affected by the phenomenon of a slow, steady and unplanned natural ‘proliferation’ into several dialects. There are more than half a dozen of them today. The prominent among them for our purpose here are ‘Saxtti’, ‘Barhdexi’, ‘Antruzi’ and an offshoot of each, known as ‘Kristanv Konkani’ or ‘Kristanv Bhas’. Some knowledgeable authors underscore the importance of ‘Saxtti”, as being closer to the ‘old pramann’. For that matter, the first ‘Collegio’ for the study of the ‘lingoa canarina’ was established by the Jesuits in Salsete, in 1576. No doubt ‘Saxtti’ has its own honourable niche apart, as a melodious variant. It is in this dialect that the most famous ‘Mandos’ and ‘Dulpods’ and the other songs were composed. One may say that the best musicians came But scholars like Dr. Jose Gerson da Cunha, Eduardo Jose Bruno de Sousa, , Msgr Sebastiao Rudolfo Dalgado, Can. Jose de Sta Rita e Sousa, Dr. Mariano Jose Saldanha, Prof. Joaquim Antonio Fernandes, Fr. Antonio Pereira and others however have favoured the ‘Barhdexi’ variant of “Lingoa Brahmana”.. Msgr. Dalgado followed Jonesian system for ‘romanisation’, which however was simplified by the subsequent writers and presently we have a much simpler one that is phonetically quite adequate for the practical effects. The Catholic Church of Goa has been following this Konkani for its Biblical Translations and the Liturgical Texts used not only in Goa but also in the neighbouring Konkani speaking regions for nearly 40 years now. The same language had been used by late Felicio Cardoso in his first Konkani daily (1963) in Goa, in Roman Script, “Sot”, and later on in “Divtti”. The periodicals of today, such as ‘Vavraddeancho Ixtt’, ‘Gulab’, ‘Renovacao’, etc., have the same Konkani as their current medium of communication. It is quite amusing that the ‘Tiatrists’ use the ‘Barhdexi’ for the main or ‘decent’ cast whereas the colloquial ‘Saxtti’ is preferred for the role of ‘comedians’. I may say therefore that the Barhdexi version of the “Lingoa Brahmana” in Roman Script is almost standardized among the Catholics. There have been of course occasional outbursts against the language adopted by the Church. But these complaints are mostly from people who presume knowing Konkani for the simple reason that they can ‘communicate’ in it with their fellow Goans and do not realize the difference that does exist all over the world between the spoken and the written language. We should admit that we need a sincere study of our own mother-tongue. The father of the Modern Konkani Movement is undisputedly Vaman Ragunath Varde Valaulikar, the Shennoy Goymbab who awakened in Goans the Konkani Identity. He is the greatest exponent of ‘Antruzi’. Antruz of the olden days, presently Ponda taluka, was sort of a ‘refugee camp’ for the Hindus who maintained faithful to their Religion in the earlier centuries of the Portuguese regime. Unable to withstand the onslaught, they moved lock, stock and barrel into Antruz with their deities and the little they could save from the destroying flame. May I say, with them probably went the original pre-Portuguese ‘Lingoa Pollida Brahmana’ too? There they built their Temples and had to ‘import’ Marathi priests to man them. Today Ponda has well over hundred temples. It is also known as the ‘Cultural Capital’ of Goa. “Antruzi” Konkani was naturally more exposed to Marathi than its “Barhdexi” counterpart, which however suffered the influence of the Portuguese language Mgsr. Dalgado tried to ‘liberate’ the language from the latter phenomenon, replacing the unnecessary foreign expressions with the local ones used in the old Konkani and importing vocables from Sanskrit and Marathi. The Devanagri Konkani presently followed by most of writers has an “antruzi” overtone. The work towards the standardization started in a way with the “Konkani Basha Mandals”, the first of them being established in Karwar, in 1939, by the fiery lawyer, M. M. Shanbhag. The “Konkani Sahitya Samiti” was founded in 1944 in Bombay. With an eighteen years old Konkani Daily, a Konkani Encyclopedia, couple of Dictionaries and a lot of outstanding Konkani Literature, a part of which has been translated into European languages, a sort of a standard pattern is emerging among the writers in devanagri script irrespective of their social and cultural affiliations. Both the ‘Bardhexi’ and ‘Antruzi’ variants have a common vocabulary and structure, inherited from the ‘Pornni Pramann Language’ referred to above. The need of the hour is therefore a ‘Standardized’ or ‘Unified’ Konkani for all the communities. The two main communities in a true spirit of give and take, laying to rest all the emotional reservations, should come together and devise a system of unification and standardization for a ‘Navi Pramann’ which, as the visionary Dr. Jose Pereira says, would be a blend of ‘Old and New’ Let us forget the petty issues of Religion, Region, Caste and Scripts. Konkani has been recognized by the “Sahitya Akademi” as an independent “Indian” Language and has been included, as such, in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. Therefore its Script should be ‘Indian’ too. Msgr Dalgado over a century back had said, referring to various systems of romanisation, that Konkani, being an Oriental Language, “ought not to be governed by any European Language: Konkani must be written in its own devanagri alphabet or its analogous canari”. In the same breath however he advocated only Devanagri Script for Konkani on a par with its sister languages having common Aryan origin.( In *Diccionário Komkani-Portuguez* – Introdução). Besides, Devanagri being the official script of our National Language, it is familiar to all the Indians. It is however sad to remark that the petty regionalism or casteism tries sometimes to raise its ugly head instigated by some vested interests. Some say that the Konkani in Devanagri belongs to the ‘elite’ and Shennoi Goybab was a partisan and casteist. However the truth is that fortunately today a sizable percentage of its stalwarts and literary award winners come from the so called “Bhoujan Samaj.” Leaving aside the inconclusive debates on “Myths and Facts” it is high time that we concentrate on devising a practical formula to bolster the proposition: “One language, one script and one literature will unite Konkanis” The task may not be easy. But sincere efforts, with an unbiased mind, with a generous ‘give and take’ approach and without any hidden ulterior motives and emotional considerations, will lead to success. The Goa Konknni Akademi, Thomas Stephen’s Konknni Kendr, the Dalgado Konkani Akademi, the other similar Bodies and the Konkani Scholars at large are called upon to take up this challenge. Jaime Couto http://campussocial.ulusofona.pt/ Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Precedence: bulk ------------------------------------------------------------------- To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from Goa-Research-Net ------------------------------------------------------------------- * Send us a brief self-intro to justify your interest in this "specialized" forum. This should be sent to [EMAIL PROTECTED] or to [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] (NOT goa-research-net@goacom.com) * Leave SUBJECT blank * On first line of the BODY of your message, type: subscribe goa-research-net [EMAIL PROTECTED] or unsubscribe goa-research-net [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------------------------------------------------