The two words are pronounced differently in Salcete: mono = dumb; mhono = bogeyman. No masculine noun in Konkani ends in a nasal vowel. Mono is used both as a noun (dumb person) and as an adjective, whereas Mhono is used only as a noun.
Sebastian Borges On Thursday, 6 December 2012 Wed, 5 Dec 2012 Silviano Barbosa <[email protected]> wrote: First of all Konkani words can have multiple meanings in Salcete and in Bardez. In Salcete villages the Intruz (Carnaval) Monom or Mono, with an acute accent on second "o" makes it Monom, a feared figure at Carnaval time or boogey-man. But if you have an acute accent on first "o" as in "Mo" , yes the meaning is "dumb" certainly. In Portuguese there are accents, so it conveys the clear word pronunciation. I don't know how they will differentiate it in Devanagri script. But "Mono" can have 2 meanings. So when a Saxtti mother used to say to a child "Baba mono etolo tuka khauncheak" it means the boogey-man and not the dumb person.
