I hope that Prof. Olivinho Gomes was misquoted when he was purported to have said that the English language is not as rich as Konkani because the word sunset has several words to describe it in Konkani and only one in English. Surely a linguist and scholar of his repute could not have made a simplistic remark such as this? And surely one sunset a summer does not make? In my view every language is rich and reflects the sprit and culture of its people and its country and the more you master it the better you enjoy it. Of course OG enjoys Konkani because he has mastered it but comparisons with other languages would be counterproductive for any linguist. Someone in Goa once told me that the Portuguese word 'saudades' was irreplaceable in any language. Then I went to Japan and found 'Natsukashi'! Japanese is a very intricately written language with one character or kanji having two meanings - the kunyomi and onyomi. But does it make it richer than Chinese with one meaning per character? As to the translation of proverbs I think we can all be credited with the common sense to know that translated proverbs lose much of their nuance. I know this from my experience as a language teacher. Even so my exercise of translating the ones that I am confident about was to address two sets of people 1) Goa and Konkani aficionados who do not speak Konkani or speak just a bit but who dearly enjoy everything about their country of origin. This is evidenced from the wide spectrum of postings we get on every Goa related topic and from the requests by a few Goanetters for translations of the proverbs posted. If these people do not learn to use the proverbs correctly it doesnt really matter but through our amateur translation they would glean the flavor of the Goa of the past. It would help if sociologists would give more background information. One example is the 'Chodd firangi bhas, haddank urta mas' and Teotonio's explanation for it. But if in in his enthusiasm say that the super-Aficionado de Goa Tim makes a choice of a proverb that just doesnt click does it really matter? Our wise ancestors told us 'chodti val katorchi nhoim' 2) People like me who speak Konkani, know some proverbs and would like to know more. A bit of an explanation is enough for us to then use them appropriately. Finally calling proverbs 'wisecracks' is a travesty that I think goes beyond that of translating them. -Helga do Rosario Gomes
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