The matter arises due to a sort of undervaluation given to Konkani in Romi script. For a start, from my point of view and to eliminate any doubt, I defend that *presently *Devanagari should be the endogenic script of Konkani and surely it will be so in the future. But this does not account for a sub-estimation of the Romi script which represents at least 1/3 of Goa population and understood by the other 1/3. Besides, accepting the official status of the Devanagari script does not allow us to immediately appeal for Konkani's Indo-Aryan (sic. Indo-european) origin. In fact, according to Prof. Dr. Nandkumar Kamat, " The true history of the Konkani language, tracing its origin, evolution, development and diffusion, is yet to be written. Although Konkani has been classified as an Indo-Aryan language, very little work has been done to trace its origin to any specific ethnis group, despite the availability of modern research tools''. In fact, Konkani is spoken along the Konkan Coast, including Karnataka, Maharashtra, Mangalore, Kerala and Gujarat. There is not only the Goan Konkani, but many Konkani languages. In accordance with the most recent and categorized opinions on the linguistic affair concerning Konkani, it all started with the arrival of Austric people - the Kokna and Gamit tribes into India some 50 or 60 thousand years back. These tribes seem to have settled along the Western Coast of Southern India, including the territorial space known as Goa. These tribes spoke the Austro-Asiatic language, known as *Munda. . * Later on, the Indian subcontinent was a stage of various sucessive and different occupations (meaning the movement of peoples and/or invasions) - The Mauryas,(Emperor Ashoka), following the Satavahana, Kadamba and Vijayanagar, the Muslim Sultanate (Adil Shah) just to mention the most expressive ones. When Emperor Ashoka ( 266-232 BCE) took hold of the major part of Southern India, it is evident that there was an expressive mixture of various languages and scripts, constituted not only by the ones brought by the Conqueror Ashoka, such as Pali and Magadhi Prakrit, essentially based on the ancestral Sanskrit language, but also by the languages and scripts of Southern India, especially belonging to the existing tribes and local population much influenced by the Munda language of Austro- Asian brand, (a brand that gave rise to languages such as the Vietnamese,Santali, Thai,Munda,Cambodian) and the Dravidian language. Miscegenation of various races and peoples took place, naturally influencing changes in language expression. In Emperor Ashoka's time there was a clear predominance of Sanskrit influence. During Kadambas' reign (10th to 14th century) it was the domain of Kannada. It is when *Goyakannadi* takes a stand as the language prevailing in Goa (Goya - and not Goa, because in Kannada the last vowels of a word have to be separated by a consonant), along with Sanskrit, Marathi and Kannada. With the advent of the Portuguese, the need for local communication and religious purposes were pursued at the cost of expressing and writing in Roman characters (ROMI ) since the Goyakannadi characters were difficult to write or print. But mention should be made of the expression in Marathi, and hence the use of the Devanagari script for official purposes, given the 'good Hindu Princes/Portuguese relationship' against the Muslim Sultans and Shahs. There is even the notice that there are Goyakannadi inscriptions and documents written in Devanagari. This brings us to the conclusion that in Goa, at a certain historical point, Konkani (Goyakannada became a dead language) had two scripts - Devanagari and Roman-script. But this fact does not allow us to opt automatically for the Indo-Aryan origin of Konkani, simply relinquishing its Austric provenience. We all know that a *language *is a form of communication and a *script *is a medium* of *expressing this communication in drawn characters (we call it "writing") to which sound is attributed, firming written "words". It is well known that 'one spoken language can be written in different scripts and one script can be used for many languages'. For example: Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi and Nepali are different languages with the same script - Devanagari; and Konkani is,.undoubtedly, a language written in, at least 5/6 different scripts - including, Devanagari and Roman. And this brings us to another conclusion, that Language is not dependent on its conjuntural script. The above said, brings us to the starting point of our considerations concerning *a) *the Konkani scripts and *b) *the origin of Konkani. The cultural and the linguistic essence of Goa is determined by the two major social (religious) communities. The fact - good or bad - however remains that Konkani was brought to us by the two scripts - Devanagari and Romi, irrespective of their proportionality. Therefore, the fact that at a certain historical stage Goyakanadi being expressed in Devanagari, does not necessarily account for a different origin namely Indo-Aryan. It can simply mean that the Devanagari script had achieved a better official standing. So much for the dignity of Konkani-Romi script and the need to be recognized on an equal basis of Konkani- Devanagari, until the latter lasts. I'm well aware that this point of view does not accompany the major flux of the river, but as an opinion, it may well serve to densify the research on the matter and will surely contribute for a more democratic standing and harmonious communal interaction.
António Bernardo Colaço -- normetica.blogspot.com
