John, it's one of those unsigned pieces of writing that appears online -- without any one given credit (or otherwise) for the same. FN
On Monday 4 December 2023 at 16:42:47 UTC+5:30 John M. de Figueiredo wrote: > To Frederick: > Who is the author of this article? > John M. de Figueiredo > Sent from my iPhone > > On Dec 3, 2023, at 11:35 PM, William Robert Da Silva <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > > Instead of the term dialects, the term speech forms would be more > adequate. Oral speech forms, when a language is not written, cannot be made > into a language and dialect distinction where language stands for written > form. In Konkani the written forms themselves are multiple. > William Robert Da Silva > > > On Sat, Dec 2, 2023 at 4:31 AM Frederick Noronha <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> Open to discussion. FN >> I. HISTORY AND LINGUISTIC CLASSIFICATIONINTRODUCTION >> >> Konkani is a name given to a group of several cognate dialects spoken >> along the narrow strip of land called Konkan, on the west coast of India. >> This is, however, somewhat an over-generalisation. Geographically, Konkan >> is defined roughly as the area between the river Damanganga to the north >> and river Kali to the south; the north-south length being approx. 650 Kms. >> and east-west breadth about 50 Kms., going unto 96 Kms. in some places. >> Major part of Konkan is in Maharashtra and naturally, most people in the >> area speak some dialects of Marathi. But the language spoken in Goa and >> further south in coastal Karnataka and in some parts of northern Kerala has >> its distinct features, and is rightly identified as a separate language >> called Konkani. >> >> The total number of Konkani speakers seems to have remained remarkably >> stable for over a century. This is borne out by the census reports over the >> years. >> Census 1891: 1.565 millions >> Census 1971: 1.523 millions >> Census 1981: 1.584 millions >> Census 1991: 1.760 millions >> The state wise breakup of Konkani speakers in 1971, 1981 and 1991 is >> available. >> Census 1971Census 1981Census 1991 >> Number % Number % Number % >> Goa 556396 incl.Diu, Daman,Guj*. 36.54 600004 37.88 602626 34.23 >> Karnataka 575111 37.77 640738 40.45 706397 40.12 >> Maharashtra 277048 18.20 212214 13.40 312618 17.76 >> Kerala 80000 5.25 100934 6.37 64008 3.64 >> Gujarat & Others 34129* 2.24 30173 1.90 74958 4.25 >> Total 1522684 100.0 1584063 100.0 1760607 100.0 >> >> Konkani speakers are mostly multilingual (68.4% as calculated from the >> data reported in 1981 census) since they have to learn other languages for >> educational and other official purposes: Marathi in Maharashtra and to some >> extent in Goa, Kannada or Tulu in Karnataka, Malayalam in Kerala and >> English in all the areas. Earlier under the Portuguese rule, many people >> learnt Portuguese language but they quickly switched over to English after >> the liberation of Goa. The literacy level in Konkani speaking areas was >> claimed to be higher than the national average (57% people in Goa were >> literate according to the 1981 census), but the overall literacy level in >> India as a whole seems to have gone up in recent years. >> >> It is claimed that Konkani originated in Goa and spread into the >> neighbouring parts of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala where Konkani >> speakers from Goa, particularly the high class Brahmins, migrated after the >> Portuguese arrived. The Portuguese conquered the central portion of Goa in >> the first half of the sixteenth century. This consists of the taluks of >> Bardes and Tiswadi to the north of the river Zuari and the taluks of Saxtti >> and Marmugao to the south. They called this area* Velhas Conquistas *(old >> conquests). The peripheral portions of Goa consisting of all the other >> taluks were conquered in the latter half of the eighteenth century and were >> called Novas Conquistas (new conquests). The migrations of the Konkani >> speakers therefore must have taken place in several waves and this could >> perhaps be the reason for the dialectal variation in Konkani. In the Hortus >> Indicus Malabaricus of the seventeenth century, there is evidence of >> Konkani Brahmins settling down in Cochin (Malabar), the same time as some >> others moved to South and North Kanara and Ratnagiri districts. The >> Portuguese called the language of the natives mainly as Lingua Canarim, but >> sometimes also as Lingua Konkana, Lingua Konkani, Lingua de Goa etc. In any >> case, Konkani neither had a single standard name nor could it be seen as a >> monolithic language. Konkani never was a language of a single homogeneous >> community, but of a heterogeneous group, including Brahmins and >> non-Brahmins of various castes. Differences, however, remain in the speech >> of Brahmins and non-Brahmins among both the major religious groups viz. >> Hindus and Christians. >> GENEOLOGICAL AND TYPOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION >> >> Konkani belongs to Indo-Aryan (IA) family of Indo-European family of >> languages. It forms the southern most tip of the IA languages and borders >> with the Dravidian languages viz. Kannada, Tulu and Malayalam. Taking into >> account, all the major features of Konkani, it can definitely be assigned >> to the south-western group, and is most closely related to Marathi within >> this group. There is also a hint of some affiliation to the central group, >> especially Hindi. Like Marathi and Gujarati, the other members of the >> south-western group, Konkani has preserved the old Indo-European arbitrary >> three-gender system and the ergative construction. In commonality with the >> eastern Indic languages, however, Konkani has lost the length distinction >> in the high vowels. From the evidence available, it seems certain that both >> Marathi and Konkani evolved from Old Indo Aryan (OIA) through Maharashtri >> Prakrit and Maharashtri Apabhramsha, the Middle Indo Aryan (MIA) languages. >> Konkani retained some of the archaic features of its precursors while >> Marathi lost them. Several words and collocations found in the earliest >> Marathi literary works like Dyaneshwari (13th century) are no more used in >> Marathi, but are still well prevalent in Konkani of modern times. >> >> Typologically, Konkani is a synthetic/ inflectional language. Like >> Sanskrit and most major Indian languages, Konkani shows a rich inflectional >> character, and has a well developed case system for nouns and conjugation >> system for verbs. >> >> As stated earlier, Konkani is the language spoken predominantly in Goa, >> the districts of North Kanara, South Kanara and Udupi in Karnataka and the >> northern areas of Kerala. It is not a monolithic language and in fact, >> shows amazing variation along the geographical lines and caste lines, but >> the different varieties remain mutually intelligible. The variation in >> Konkani is actually a subject of special attention and is to be dealt with >> separately in the later chapters. Since Goa is the only area where Konkani >> is spoken predominantly and enjoys the status of the official language, the >> variety of Konkani primarily considered here is the Goa Konkani. >> SCRIPT / SCRIPTS USED TO DOCUMENT THE LANGUAGE >> >> Konkani remained a non-literary language for most part in its history. It >> was primarily used as a language of oral communication. For writing >> purposes, people generally used one of the major literary languages of the >> neighbouring areas such as Marathi or Kannada. The Goan Hindus use the >> Nagari script in their writings while the Goan Christians use the Roman >> script. The Saraswats of Karnataka use the Nagari script in North Kanara >> district and the Kannada script in Udupi and South Kanara. Malayalam script >> is used in Kerala, but now there is a move to use the Nagari script. >> Konkani thus has a unique distinction of being written in four different >> scripts >> >> In Goa, the Nagari script has been adopted as the official script for >> Konkani. This has some practical advantages. It is the script of some of >> the major Indian languages with rich literary tradition: Marathi, Hindi and >> of course Sanskrit. Because of the introduction of Hindi as the National >> language, and in many case as a language of wider communication, the Nagari >> script is being readily accepted by the new generations of literate Konkani >> speakers in all the regions >> HISTORY >> >> An early reference to the language Konkani by its name is found in Sant >> Namdeo’s *Gatha Gaulan 263* (late 14th century). It is commonly averred >> that before the advent of Portuguese there was a flourishing Konkani >> literature in Goa. Unfortunately, there is no trace of it today because it >> was destroyed by the Portuguese inquisition which commenced by their ruling >> from 30th June 1541. When the Portuguese came in the early 16th century, >> they were quite zealous in imposing their religion and culture on the >> native population, and used coercion to spread Christianity. Initially some >> of the missionaries made considerable effort to study the local language, >> Konkani, as they considered it essential in their proselytizing activities. >> These missionaries wrote grammars and dictionaries of Konkani – the >> earliest among any modern Indo-Aryan language. The earliest available >> grammar of Konkani, *Arte de Lingoa Canarim* written by Thomas Stephens >> (Thomaz Estevao to the Portuguese), an English Jesuit, was published in >> 1640. Other Konkani grammars and dictionaries written around that time are >> available only in manuscripts. An early Portuguese-Konkani bilingual >> dictionary, Vocabulario da Lingoa Canarim, was compiled by Diogo Ribeiro in >> 1626, which gives a commentary on the customs and religious beliefs of the >> local Konkani people. Thomas Stephens and Rebeiro also wrote books on the >> doctrine of Christianity. >> >> In spite of such noteworthy initial contributions, the Portuguese did >> great disservice to Konkani when they later attempted to suppress the >> language. In 1684, the viceroy, Francis de Tavora, was persuaded by some of >> the clergy to issue a decree requiring all the people in Goa to learn >> Portuguese language so that “ in course of time, the Portuguese idiom would >> be common to one and all, to the exclusion of the mother tongue”. It was >> argued that if the Christians used only the Portuguese language they would >> then be cut off from the Konkani speaking Hindus and their Hindu religious >> influence. The Portuguese inquisition in Goa suppressed many native customs >> of the Christian converts which it regarded as pagan. The 1736 edict of the >> Goa inquisition even forbade singing “either publicly or in private” of >> joyous songs called vovios ( songs in the vhovi meter) which were >> customarily sung on the occasion of marriages. In 1745, Archbishop de Santa >> Maria went to the extent of ordering that native Christians who did not >> know Portuguese should not be allowed to marry at all. The viceroy, D. >> Manuel de Portugal e Castro, through a circular in 1831, ordered all the >> teachers and professors to teach only Portuguese language to the students >> and to forbid the use of their vernacular in the schools. During the >> subsequent years of Portuguese rule, Konkani remained a neglected language >> in Goa. Cunha Rivara, the chief secretary to Portuguese government in Goa, >> tried to revive interest in Konkani. In 1857, he published the second >> edition of Thomas Stephens’ Konkani grammar under the title Grammatica da >> Lingoa Concani and in an introductory article therein he wrote a >> ‘Historical essay’ documenting the plight of Konkani in Goa. He wanted to >> introduce teaching of Konkani in primary schools but his efforts did not >> succeed. >> >> As a result, Konkani remained mostly a language of oral communication >> among the familiars, and failed to develop as a literary language. It is >> apparent from the near-absence of Konkani literature until the 19th century >> that Konkani at no time enjoyed the status of being a medium of education >> or a court language. There was, therefore, no binding force which could >> evolve one standard variety, and Konkani remained fragmented into several >> dialects. Yet, books and periodicals started appearing in the major >> dialects like Goa Hindu, Bardes Christian and Karnataka Christian dialects >> in the 19th and early 20th century. The first All India Konkani Conference >> was held in Karwar in 1939 to instill a feeling of solidarity among the >> Konkani speakers and resolved to strive for language standardization and >> development of a single script (Nagari) which would help giving an impetus >> to the literary efforts. It urged the British government of India to >> provide Konkani as a medium of instruction in primary schools in the >> majority Konkani speaking areas and to appoint a committee for preparing >> Konkani text books etc. >> >> Even after the Portuguese were expelled from Goa in 1961, Konkani did not >> get much impetus for development. It had been a long pending debate whether >> Konkani be regarded as a separate language or a mere dialect of Marathi and >> the linguists remained divided on the issue. In Goa – the only area where >> Konkani had a potential of achieving a dominant status – a large >> population, particularly Hindus, regarded Marathi as their literary >> language and favoured merger of Goa with Maharashtra, since the states in >> India were anyway organized on the basis of language. However, the >> referendum held in 1967 went against the merger proposal and the status of >> Goa as a separate political unit was assured. The Sahitya Akademi (academy >> of literature) recognized Konkani as a literary language in 1976. Konkani >> was introduced as an elective subject up to 12th grade in the schools in >> Goa. The University of Mumbai approved introduction of Konkani at the >> university level in 1980. After the establishment of a separate university >> in Goa, a chair for Konkani was instituted and a post-graduate programme in >> Konkani was introduced. A number of institutions also came up in Goa for >> promoting the language. In February 1987, Konkani became the official state >> language of Goa through the official language act which states that “The >> official language for all or any of the official purposes of the union >> territory of Goa shall be Konkani. Marathi will also be used for all or any >> of the official purposes”. Thus Marathi was assured virtually the same >> status, but it was not declared a second official language. Finally in >> 1992, Konkani was included in the eighth schedule of the Indian >> Constitution as one of the national languages. >> >> In spite of all this, however, the current situation remains uncertain. >> The main reasons for this are: >> >> 1. The language loyalty among the Konkani speakers is still weak. Goa >> Christians, earlier during the Portuguese regime, educated their children >> in Portuguese language. After the liberation in 1961, they were in the >> forefront of the Konkani language movement. And yet, they all chose to >> educate their children in English. >> 2. Konkani has only a shaky foothold in schools. It is introduced as >> a medium of instruction in some primary schools, but the number of such >> schools and the number of students are ever declining. In 1985-86, the >> number of Konkani medium schools was 10 (students 314), Marathi medium >> schools 1004 (students 73514) and English medium schools 578 (students >> 46036). >> 3. But probably the greatest problem of Konkani is the variety of >> literary dialects, each having only a very small readership. With a >> population of fewer than 2 millions, Konkani cannot afford such >> fragmentation and the publishers find it difficult to even recover the >> cost >> of publishing the writings in Konkani. >> 4. Since Konkani is a minor language, Konkani schoolchildren have >> relatively greater need of learning some of the major Indian languages. >> The >> need to master several literary dialects of their mother tongue in >> addition >> would be an undue burden on them. >> >> [image: Top] >> *top* <http://lisindia.ciil.org/Konkani/Konkani_hist.html#top> >> >> *------------------------------Copyright CIIL-India Mysore* >> http://lisindia.ciil.org/Konkani/Konkani_hist.html >> -- >> >> FN * +91-9822122436 <+91%2098221%2022436> * 784 Saligao 403511 Bardez Goa >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Goa-Research-Net" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> To view this discussion on the web, visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-research-net/CAMCR53K%3D2C293vzu1t9hBTSG0%2BQeL_rcGxCBXXtv%3DCF5vNc6uQ%40mail.gmail.com >> >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-research-net/CAMCR53K%3D2C293vzu1t9hBTSG0%2BQeL_rcGxCBXXtv%3DCF5vNc6uQ%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Goa-Research-Net" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > > To view this discussion on the web, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-research-net/CA%2BvNr4L5XUTndG6dLTyJ9s-ia53ADKj1K%2BSpuFE_JoDcy6B%2BXg%40mail.gmail.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-research-net/CA%2BvNr4L5XUTndG6dLTyJ9s-ia53ADKj1K%2BSpuFE_JoDcy6B%2BXg%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Goa-Research-Net" group. 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