Strange that Paulo should choose two "colonial" languages in which to make his point!
Let's be realistic and honest: English and Marathi (now) are the preferred written languages. Earlier, it was Portuguese primarily, specially for official and historical purposes. Konkani is undeniably the preferred spoken language. Hindi, Portuguese (a bit) and French get studied in schools too. Lot of migrant workers have languages like Kannada as their mother tongue; and Goa also had historic connection with this, being the language of its former rulers. On the coastal belt, one can see (a few) signboards in Russian and Hebrew, while earlier German and the Scandinavian languages would be visible too. And, not to forget, Konkani gets written in five scripts (including Malayalam and Perso-Arabic, though there are some who would like to forget that reality). Language is indeed a complex issue in Goa. FN On 17/10/2007, Paulo Colaco Dias <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Caro João Botelho Gomes, > > Estou verdadeiramente surpreendido com o seu email. > A língua oficial de Goa é e sempre será o concani. > O concani é talvez o principal indicador da indentidade goesa. > > O português bem como o inglês são linguas coloniais que ainda têm muita > relevância em Goa mas de maneira nenhuma reflectem a origem goesa. > > Com os melhores cumprimentos > Paulo Colaco Dias - Londres, Reino Unido. > > --------------- English translation -------------- > > Dear João Botelho Gomes, > > I am truly surprised with your email. > The official language of Goa is and will always be Konkani. > Konkani is perhaps the most important marker of our Goan identity. > > Portuguese just like English are colonial languages that are still very > relevant in Goa but in no way reflect the Goan origin. > > With best regards > Paulo Colaço Dias - London UK > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Joao Botelho Gomes > Sent: 16 October 2007 23:52 > To: Goa's premiere mailing list, estb. 1994! > Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: [Goanet] Goan Origin > Importance: High > > Para além dos dos documentos citados, acho que ajudaria se usasse a lingua > portuguesa, a dos seus antepassados ea sua também. Sem vergonha da sua > nacionalidade e das suas raízes. É que, sabe, se lhe roubarem a carteira,ou > outra coisa qualquer, apenas perde a sua posse física. Mas ela não deixa de > ser sua. > Era bom, já que pretende provar a sua origem Goesa, pelo menos que se > expressasse em Português. > Cumprimentos > João Botelho Gomes -- Frederick Noronha http://fn.goa-india.org Ph 0091-832-2409490 List of Indian e-lists http://wikiwikiweb.de/MailingListsInIndia
