Hello all, I am a 59 year old Goan who has lived the Goan life to the fullest from my birth till the age of 27, when I left my beloved birth-place to other distant shores in search of better prospects. With regard to the question: Waht is the Konkani version of the english 'Hello" and " How are you", I have the following to say. Mind you, I am refering to the period 1950s to 1980s.
I have nver found a konkani translation for "Hello" and I do not know that one exists. If it does, I would like to be enlightened. Every time I crossed some one elses' path, during the day I would say nothing, if the the person was a stranger to me. I would perhaps make eye contact, smile and go on my way. If the person was known to me or a co-vilager, I would say somethng like, " Dev boro dis diunk" or " or "Cosso assai" or " fuim voitai" or " Fuim geloloi" or "boro assia mure?", etc. In the night time, it was customary to wish the person "Dev Bori rat diunc". It is also known that among co-villagers and friends, it was customary to ask upon encoutering: "Ago Fislu, brem assai mungo?....Aiz nisteak kitem adleim?" This was in reference to the fact that in Goa, especially in the villages, most of the households, bought, cooked and ate fresh fish every day. ( I really do miss that!). So, in my memory, there has never been an exact or appropriate translation in Konkani of the engilish "Hello". I fully agree with Naguesh's take that we Goans have a unique way of greeting. We say: Deu boro dis diunc or Deu bori rat diunc" It translates as : May God bless you with a good day or night" , instead of the plain 'Good morning/night". We acknowledge in our greeetings, that we are not in charge of our lives or desity, but God is and therfore, ask HIM to bestow upon us and our friends and others the blessings that will help us make it through the day or night. I hope I have helped but am willing to discuss this further, if so desired. Viva Goa and Goans. Romel Maryland, USA Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2008 14:53:32 +0000 From: Naguesh Bhatcar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [Goanet] How are you? To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, <goanet@lists.goanet.org> Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Fred, Growing up in Verem/Reis Magos, I remember folks greeting each other in the mornings with, "Deu boro dis diun". This is just a unique way of greeting each other, that I have not experienced anywhere else. This was in the 60s and 70s and I know that greetings in English must have taken over now! Naguesh Naguesh Bhatcar [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2008 01:31:27 +0530 > Subject: [Goanet] How are you? > > Eddie D'Sa of Wimbledon asked me a query on how "Hello. How are you?" > would be rendered into Konkani. Any versions for this? Are there > alternatives in the Konkani style of greeting one another on first > encounter in the day? Looking forward to your views... FN _________________________________________________________________ Color coding for safety: Windows Live Hotmail alerts you to suspicious email. http://windowslive.com/Explore/Hotmail?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_hotmail_acq_safety_112008
