'Romi is a script, cannot be spoken' What Konkani needs is a battery of welltrained, competent teachers, not an additional script, writes Kiran Budkuley
Of late, a lot of dust is being kicked up for an additional script for Goa's official language Konkani. Those who demand official recognition for Konkani in Roman (Romi) script, argue as though 'Romi Konkani' were an independent dialect. These misconceived arguments are based less on linguistic or cultural facts and more on unscientific reasoning. For example, the protagonists consider — as is evident from their oft-aired arguments — that Devnagari is a 'Hindu script' and hold that there exists a 'Romi Konkani' of the Christians as distinct from 'Devnagari Konkani'. While it is true that a majority of those who write Konkani in the Romi script are Christians, several illustrious non-Christian writers, following the trend set by Shenoi Goembab, have also been using it. Similarly, while almost all Goan Hindus write in the Devnagari script, a large percent of Christians in the age group of 10-50 years, also do. It is often argued (wrongly) that Christian children find it hard to write in the Devnagari script, implying thereby that enmass, they lack some faculty that their counterparts in other religions happen to possess. Is the script of a language tied indelibly to the umbilical chord of a certain faith? We have been conveniently ignoring one fact: The level of writing-competence among average students, in any script, depends hugely (almost exclusively) on teaching-competence and not merely on student-competence. So, what we presently need is a battery of well-trained, competent Konkani teachers. Not an additional script. Romi script protagonists also contend that it is an aspect of Goan Christian culture. While one respects the sentiments of Christians who believe that their dialectic variations of Konkani are distinct and need to be preserved, one can not but laugh at the view expressed that there is something called Romi Konkani that is 'spoken' by Christians. The simple fact, is that 'Romi' is a term derived from 'Roman' to denote a 'script' — a mode of writing. Further a 'script' cannot be spoken by any one. Bardexi (Baardeshi?), Saxtti (Sashti), Antruzi (Antruji) are some of the dialects of Konkani, recognized by linguists and scholars. However, those who believe in the distinctness of Christian variant(s) rightly want it to be preserved and passed to posterity as a mark of their cultural exclusiveness. But this 'exclusive' component comprises the Konkani lexicon. It finds expression in the stylistic or grammatical mode of Konkani. It is used in the day-to-day vocabulary, in the manner of speaking, and in the pronunciation of words. But it cannot be expressed in or through script. For instance, 'hem oxem ghodta' can be also written as 'hen ashem ghadtta,' or even as 'hem oshem ghodtta'. Script cannot ensure that what is written will be pronounced the way it is intended by the writer; just as what is pronounced in a certain way will be accurately captured in the script. If the mere use of the Roman script could have brought in a perfect coordination of sounds and spellings, then languages as diverse as English, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian would not have had nouns such as 'Don Quixote' written uniformly while being pronounced differently. Conversely, why would they use different spellings/names for definite names such as London/Panaji. Even the holy name of Christ is written and pronounced differently while using an identical script. The reason for these variations is not on account of any flaw in these languages or in the script; it lies in the 'distinctness of the linguistic and cultural context' of these European languages, in spite of their use of a common Roman script. Moreover, these examples show beyond doubt, that sounds associated with alphabets of the Roman script, can and do vary from language to language, as do the letters of the alphabet itself, even with regard to native terms. Mere script does not give any cultural exclusiveness to a language-culture group. Devnagari script is acknowledged as near-perfect, particularly for indigenous/native sounds and words. It is the most accommodative even for non-indigenous or foreign sounds, due to a well-demarcated consonantvowel-diphthongal structure ascribed within its alphabet scheme which makes for consistent phonetic patterns. In other words, the Devnagari script has a syllabicsound base to its alphabet. Moreover, since this script is indigenous to the Indo-Aryan languages, it can account for all the sounds native to Konkani, which is also an Indo-Aryan language. Fixing the native Konkani words and phonetics into the Romi script had been a historical necessity for the European Christian missionaries well-versed with the Konkani language. Their efforts to write in an alien language by using the script of their own language (i.e. Portuguese) are commendable. So is the worth of their literary and hagiographic work. But, if script was an inalienable part of a culture, wouldn't they have learnt the local script in addition to the Konkani language, mythology, literary forms (Puranas) verse patterns (abhangs/bhajans)? We must certainly emulate their 'selectiveness' in matters of culture, language and script. Without writing English, Portuguese, French in Devnagari, let us write Konkani in Devnagari as we do Hindi, Marathi and a host of other Indo-Aryan languages. To camouflage our own intent of passing off a script as the dialect/variant of a language, let us not brand any script as an emblem of any religious-cultural group in Goa. Just because some do not wish to promote the use of Devnagari among the Christian populace, let them at least not berate the capacity of our bright youth to write in Devnagari. It is an insult to the prowess of the likes of Agnel de Borim, Vincy Quadros, Guadalupe Dias, Geopha Gonsalves who write beautifully in Devnagari without foregoing the 'cultural and dialectic' exclusiveness of Konkani spoken by Christians. They represent the bloom of post-liberation Goan Christian writings in Devnagari. Thick on their heels is the generation that has formally studied Konkani in Devnagari at the primary level. Let us not "shut in the cockrel in a bid to prevent the sunrise", as we say in Konkani. The writer is a Konkani critic, and teaches English at the Goa University. The views expressed are those of the writer. This weekly column allows readers to have their say on important issues. 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