Dear Seby, Thanks for your feedback and comments. For those who might not know, CIIL at Mysore is the Central Institute of Indian Languages [ http://www.ciil.org/] and Seby is one of Goa's young men doing useful work there in the field of Konkani. Seby, please share more on Konkani and CIIL via Goanet sometime, as readers here too would be more than interested in knowing.
While I don't challenge your expertise in this field, I'd like to state a few points from my own understanding and perspective: For political and strategic reasons it may be fine to deny the existence of diversity of script and dialect in Konkani; but are these really as non-existent as made out to be? I have experience in teaching my two kids Konkani in the Devanagari script, and realise that BOTH script and dialect make it far more difficult for me to use. It is not just that the script is different, but together with the script goes a certain dialect and point of view. Some day I will illustrate this point with excerpts from their text books. The denial of such differences only makes things worse in my view... because it places the onus on the party doing the complaining. Theoretically, spoken Konkani should be script-neutral. But is this the case? Would anyone say, to shift gears slightly, that English speakers use exactly the same language regardless which part of the world they come from? Even the Brazilians and Portuguese won't agree on this, though I agree in such cases the issue isn't script, but geography. (For that matter, isn't script tied up with geography too, even in a tiny place like Goa? Of course, there are pockets spread out all over...) Devanagari invariably (or most often) gets linked to the Antruzi dialect, which is being restructured somewhat to incorporate more diversity, but not enough. Meanwhile, Romi is mostly tied to Bardezi. Sashti, though popular in speech and widely used in its parts, doesn't seem to have too much in written form for reasons I've not understood... maybe hegemony-building within Catholics. Canacona and Pednem dialects are largely orphaned or snobbishly looked down upon. And so on. I remember a Konkani conference in Pernem, somewhere in the 1980s, where organisers made it a point to use their own 'boli' (dialect) to make their speeches. In those days, the script issue was pushed largely under the carpet, of course. You are citing the examples of minority communities who might choose to adopt the dialect of the community around them (Catholics in the 'new conquests' or Hindus in Salcete). While this is true, it doesn't deny the existence of differences at the level of script and dialect... which, I feel, we need to acknowledge if Konkani is to have a chance to grow and expand. Before Prof Borges et al pounce on me, let me say that it is not my intention to convert this into a Romi-versus-Devanagari debate. I'm just taking it forward in the spirit of a polite debate. FN PS: Just a couple of questions -- (i) do you acknowledge the existence of different dialects among Konkani speakers, which use somewhat differing vocabularies and external influences? (ii) if you wouldn't like it to be defined as below, would you feel it okay to say that the audio-book is rendered in the Bardezi script? PPS: When you say "unite the Konkanis", I think a first crucial question before this is whether our assumptions are based on one-language-one-script-one-dialect approaches, or that of allowing "a thousand flowers bloom" and acknowledging diversity of many scripts and dialects within the Konkani language. On 16 July 2012 05:07, Seby Fernandes <[email protected]> wrote:. > > But I am very much upset with this line in this mail. > "( It uses a vocabulary close to the spoken tongue that Romi-script users > are familiar with)" > I don't know, why we want to classify and divide the Konkani speaking > community with this script issue. Konkanis speak a Konkani language and > there is no language which is based on any script. We have dialectal > changes and not on language basis. Our vocabulary is same and there is no > difference between the various communities of Konkani. Just have a glance > at the Catholics living in Ponda, Canacona and Sanguem and the Hindus > residing in Cuncolim and Majorda. You will see the difference, which will > clear your doubts. > We should rectify ourselves and try to unite the Konkanis and build a good > and promising future for our generations to come. > You may disagree with my views and thoughts, but I believe in what I say, > as I have a base to defend my words too. > recaad > Seby Fernandes > CIIL, Mysore. > seby.shabbu at gmail.com
