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Dears,
The puritanical word for telephone in Konkani is "door vani" ['Voice from a
distance' on the lines of 'door darshan' for TV]. If you use this word in Goa,
99 out of 100 listeners will not understand you and think a] that you are nuts
b] you do not know their language c] you are trying to show off something that
you learnt at a Konkani course or d]you have been brainwashed by some devanagri
walla or Parish Priest [the two 'types' who use such words]
MOST SANE PEOPLE SIMPLY BORROW COMMON WORDS FROM OTHER LANGUAGES SPOKEN IN
THE AREA.
When the English came to India, they saw traders in cotton vests negotiating
business under a Banyan tree. With a little help from their local guide, they
coined three words Banyan, banian and Bania for the tree, vest and the traders
;-))
Similarly, when they encountered the first big rodent in Andhra Pradesh, they
asked what it was. The local man said "Pandi kokku" meaning "Pig rat" and so it
was called "Bandicoot" [ 'P', 'B' and 'V' are interchangeable in the East
Indian languages and 'Vrindavan' in Hindi/Sanskrit becomes 'Brindavan' in
Bengali while 'Bipin Basu' becomes 'Pipin Pasu' in Tamil where there is no
equivalent of the alphabet 'B']. The towel or scarf wrapped round the waist is
simply a "Kamer bandh" in Hindi/Haryanvi and "Cummerband" in English. If there
were PURITANS in English, it would be almost as dead as.....as Antruzi Konkani
in the Devangri script.
After training in Goa's OFFICIALESE [Antruzi Konkani in the Devanagri script]
in 1990 on my return from Post Graduate degree course in Bangalore, I spoke
boldly to the farmers about the role of "Natre, Spurad ani Palas" only to
receive their blank stares and finally a question, "Ani tem kitem?" from the
largely Hindu or Bhandari community farmers. When I told them it referred to
"Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium" came the bombshell question, "Tor tumi him
kotteen utram kiteak vaportat? Nitrogen, Phosphorus ani Potash sarkim sompim
uttram kiteak vapri-nant?" [Why do you use difficult-to-understand words? why
do you not use simple words like Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potash?]
If simple farmers have such simple logic, why does it escape our puritanical
linguists??
Mog asundi.
Miguel
PS
Does anyone know the puritanical words for INTERNET, EMAIL and WEBSITE? The
simple motorcycle that every kid in town knows is puritanically known as the
"Danvterem" [Danv = run, Terem= Caladium, you see clumps of these soft, large,
green-leafed plants all over the place during the rainy season]...I better run
away ;-))
Cecil Pinto <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> in response to Judaline Alphonso's post:
"When I tell her 'tuka apoilem' - I don't even know how to say the word
correctly, it's not my fault that we don't have many Goans around here.Mum will
have a laugh when I tell her about this though I still don't know how to say "I
phoned (called) you" in Konkani." wrote:
Dear Judy,
Firstly, don't be afraid of using the English word 'phone'. Very few
languages have an alternate word as they were all fully formed long
before telephones were invented. There might actually be a Konkani term for
phone, something like 'prastrikya door sanchar', but nobody actually uses
these terms. Such terms are constantly being coined by the 'brahminical'
section of the Devnagri Konkani camp to keep Konkani pure and Sanskritized.
While all other languages thrive by borrowing from each other, Konkani will
die due to this puritanical obsession with not using borrowed words. Saying
'phone' in Konkani is just fine
Now is the tricky part. Usage depends on context.
If you have phoned your mother and she answered the phone then the
correct phrase is 'Hanvem phone marlo' (I hit the phone). Whereas if you phoned
your mother and she did not answer the phone then you say, 'Hanvem
phone kelo' (I made the phone).
If you phoned your mother and...
Why don't you just shift to e-mail or chat?
Cecil
==========
Mog asundi,
MIGUEL BRAGANZA, Mhapsa
Horticulturist/Editor/Columnist
Botanical Society of Goa
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