Konkani (Devanāgarī: कोंकणी, Kōṅkaṇī), is an Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Indo-European family of languages and is spoken on the western coast of India. It is one of the official languages of India, the official language of the Indian state of Goa, and a minority language in Karnataka and northern Kerala (Kasaragod district).
Konkani is a member of the southern Indo-Aryan language group. It retains elements of the old Indo-European language structure and shows similarities with both western and eastern Indo-Aryan languages.
Appellations
It is quite possible that Old Konkani was just referred to as Prakrit by its speakers. Reference to the name Konkani is not found in literature prior to 14th century. We have first reference to the name Konkani in the abhanga 263,of the 14th century Marathi saint poet,Namadeva(1270–1350). Konkani has been known by a variety of names: canarim, concanim, gomantaki, bramana, goani. It is calledamchi bhas (our language) by native speakers (amchi gele in Dakshina Kannada), and govi or Goenchi bhas by others. Learned Marathi speakers tend to call it Gomantaki.
Konkani was commonly referred to as lingua canarim by the Portuguese. while it was also known as lingua brahmana by the Catholic missionaries. Portuguese later started referring to Konkani as Lingua Concanim.
The name canarim or lingua canarim, which is how the 16th century European Jesuit, Thomas Stephens refers to it in the title of his famous grammar Arte da lingoa Canarim has always been intriguing. It is possible that the term is derived from the Persian word for coast,kinara; if so, it would be means the language of the coast. The problem is that this term overlaps with Kanarese or Kannada.
All the European authors, however, recognized in Goa two forms of the language: the plebeian,called canarim, and the more regular, used by the educated classes, called lingua canarim brámana or simply brámana de Goa. Since the latter was the preferred choice of the Europeans, and also of other castes, for writing, sermons and religious purpose
History
Etymology
There are different views as to the origin of the word Konkan and hence Konkani
- The word Konkan comes from the Kukkana tribe, who were the original inhabitants of the land Konkani originated from.
- According to some Hindu legends, Parashurama shot his arrow into the sea and commanded the Sea God to recede up to the point where his arrow landed. The new piece of land thus recovered came to be known as Konkan meaning piece of earth or corner of earth,kōṇa (corner)+ kaṇa (piece). This legend has been mentioned in Sahyadrikhanda of the Skanda Purana.
Pre-history and early development
Substratum
Austro-asiatic
The Substratum of the Konkani language lies in the speech of Proto-Australoids tribes called Kurukh, Oraon,Kukni,whose modern representatives are languages like Kurukh and its dialects like Kurux, Kunrukh, Kunna and Malto According to the Indian Anthropological Society,these Australoid tribes speaking Austro-Asiatic or Munda languages once inhabited Konkan,migrated to Northern India (Chota Nagpur Plateau, Mirzapur) and are not found in Konkan anymore Olivinho Gomes in his essay Medieval Konkani literature also mentions Mundari substratum. Goan Indologist Raakrishna Shenvi Dhumeexplains many Austroloid Munda words in Konkani like mund,mundkar,dhumak,goem-bab etc. This substratum is very prominent in Konkani.
These primitive Australoid tribes,once were pre-historic inhabitants of Goa and Konkan. Nothing more is known about them. Modern communities like Gaudes, Kunbis, Mahars of Konkan today are supposed to be the modern representatives of Proto-Australoids. Originally hunter-gatherers later developed a primitive form of agriculture. Few Konkani words related to agriculture find their roots in Proto-Australoid dialects, e.g.: kumeri-type of farming,mer-field boundary,zonn-share of the surplus production,khazan-type of farm land,kudd-room,body,khomp-hut.
Dravidian
The later tribes who reached Konkan speaking early Dravidian languages are believed to be the Mediterraneans. Historians(Sbjobreg1990:48) maintain that thepaleo-Mediterraneans who came to India from north-west passes as early Dravidians formed a heterogeneous racial sub-type. These Mediterraneans orDravidians as many historians call them,knew the craft of systematized agriculture,and inhabited most of the neolithic India. The grammatical impact of the Dravidian languages on the structure and syntax of Indo-Aryan languages is difficult to fathom. Some linguists explain this anomaly by arguing that Middle Indo-Aryan and New Indo-Aryan were built on a Dravidian substratum. Some examples of Konkani words of Dravidian origin are:tandul-rice,naall-coconut,madval-washerman,choru-cooked rice,methi-fenugreek,mulo-raddish,chinch-tamarind,vayange-brinjal,bel,pal-house lizard. ]Linguists also suggest that Substratum of Marathi and Konkani is more closely related to Dravidian Kannada.
The Indo-Aryan element
Though Konkani shows Dravidian substratum it definitely belongs to Indo-Ayan branch and is inflexive and non-dravidian,and is less distant from Sanskrit as compared to other modern Indo-Aryan languages. Konkani as per linguists is a fusion of variety of Prakrits. This could be attributed to confluence of the immigrants that Konkan coast has witnessed since times immemorial.
Migrations of Indo-Aryan vernacular speakers have occurred in the history of the Indian west coast. Around 2400 BC the first wave of Indo-Aryans dialect speakers might have occurred, and the second wave around ca 1000–700 BC. Many of them spoke Indo-Aryan Prakrit vernacular languages, akin to Vedic Sanskrit,still some spoke Dravidian,Desi dialects. Thus the ancient ofKonkani Prakrit was born as a confluence of the Indo-Aryan dialects while accepting many words from the Dravidian speech. Some linguists associate Shauraseni to be its progenitor whereas some call it Paisaci. The influence of Paisachi over Konkani can be proved from the findings of Dr. Taraporewala who, in his book Elements of Science of Languages, Calcutta University,he ascertains that Konkani shows many Dardic features which are found in present day Kashmiri language. Thus archaic form of old Konkani is referred to as Paishachi by some linguists. This progenitor of Konkani or Paishachi apabhramsha has preserved an older form of phonetic and grammatic development showing greater variety of verbal forms found in Sanskrit and larger number of grammatical forms that are not found in Marathi, examples of which are found in many works like Dnyaneshwari, and Leela Charitra. The thus developed is endowed with overall Sanskrit complexity and grammatical structure, that developed a lexical fund of its own. The second wave of Indo-Aryans is believed been accompanied by Dravidians from the Deccan plateau. Paishachi is also considered it to be an Aryan language spoken by Dravidians.
Goa and Konkan was ruled by the Mauryas and the Bhojaa, as a result numerous migrations occurred from North-east and Western India. Immigrants spoke various vernaculars,which led to an admixture of features of Eastern and Western Prakrits. It was substantially influenced later by Magadhi Prakrit and the overtones of Pali (the liturgical language of the Buddhists) that played a very important role in development of Konkani Apabhramsha grammar and vocabulary. A major number of linguistic innovations in Konkani are shared with Eastern Indo-Aryan languages like Bengali, Oriya which have its roots in Magadhi.
Maharashtri was the official language of the Satavahana Empire that ruled Goa and Konkan in the early centuries of the Common Era. Under the patronage of the Satavahana Empire, Maharashtri became the most widespread Prakrit of its time. Studying early Maharashtri compilations many linguists have called Konkani as the first-born daughter of Maharashtri. This old language that was prevalent contemporary to old Marathi is found to be distinct from its counterpart. The Sauraseni impact on Konkani is not so prominent than that of Maharashtri. Very few Konkani words are found to follow the Sauraseni pattern. Konkani forms are rather more akin to Pali than the corresponding Sauraseni forms. The major Sauraseni influence on Konkani, is the ao sound found at the end of many nouns in Sauraseni, which becomes o or u in Konkani, e.g.: dando, suno, raakhano and dukh, rukhu, manisu from prakrit dandao, sunnao, rakkhakao, dukkhao, vukkhaoor vrukkhao, mannisso respectively. Another example could be the sound of ण in the beginning of the words, is still retained in many Konkani words as in archaic Shauraseni. E.g.: णव nine. Archaic Konkani born out of Shauraseni vernacular Prakrit at the earlier stage of the evolution and later Maharashtri prakrit, commonly spoken until 875 CE at its later phase ultimately developed into Apabhramsha which could be called as predecessor old Konkani
Development
Later Dravidian influence
Though it belongs to Indo-Aryan group, Konkani was influenced by Kannada, a member of Dravidian family. A branch of the Kadambas who ruled Goa for a long period had their roots inKarnataka. Konkani was never used for official purposes. Another reason Kannada influence on Konkani is proximity of original Konkani speaking territory to Karnataka.
Old Konkani documents show considerable Kannada influence on grammar as well as the vocabulary. Like southern Dravidian languages Konkani has prothetic glides y- and w-. Kannada influence is more evident in Konkani syntax. The question markers in yes/no questions and the negative marker are sentence final. Copula deletion in Konkani is remarkably similar to Kannada.
Phrasal verbs are not so commonly used in Indo-Aryan languages, Konkani spoken in Dravidian regions has however borrowed numerous phrasal verb patterns.
Konkani and Gujarati analogy
It is said that Gujarat has got many historical ties with the port of Goa, mainly because of trade, and it is also said that many people have migrated to Goa via the port of Dwaraka.
Ethnologue puts the number of Konkani speakers at 3.6 million in 2000.
Phonology
The Kols, Kharwas, Yadavas, and the Lothal migrants settled in Goa during the pre-historic and the later period. Chavada, a tribe of warriors (now known as Chaddi or Chaddo), migrated to Goa from Saurashtra,during 7th and 8th century CE, after their kingdom was destroyed by the Arabs in 740 AD. Royal matrimonial relationships between the two states, and the trade relationships had a major impact on Goan society. Many of these groups spoke different Nagar Apabhramsha dialects,which could be seen as precursors of modern Gujarati.
- Konkani and Gujarati have many words in common, not found in Marathi.
- Konkani O (as opposed to Marathi A which is of different Prakrit origin), is similar to that in Gujarati.
- The case terminations in Konkani lo, li, le, and Gujarati no, ni, ne have same Prakrit roots.
- In both the languages the present indicatives have no gender, unlike Marathi.
Since Goa was a major trade centre for visited by Arabs and Turks since early times, many Arabic and Persian words infiltrated the Konkani language. A large number of Arabic and Persian words now form an integral part of Konkani vocabulary and are commonly used in day-to-day life; examples are dukan (shop), karz (debt), fakt (only), dusman (enemy) and barik (thin). Single and compound words are found wherein the original meaning is changed or distorted: mustaiki, (from Arabic mustaid – ready), kapan khairo – eater of one's own shroud, meaning a miser, and so on.
Portuguese influence
Most of the old Konkani Hindu literature does not show any influence of the Portuguese language. Even the spoken dialects by the majority of Goan Hindus have a very limited Portuguese influence. On the other hand, the spoken dialects of the Catholics from Goa (as well as the Canara to some extent), and their religious literature shows a strong Portuguese influence. They contain a number Portuguese lexical items but these are almost all religious terms. Even in the context of religious terminology, the missionaries adapted native terms associated with Hindu religious concepts. (For example Krupa for grace, Yamakunda for hell, Vaikuntha for paradise and so on). The syntax used by Goan Catholics in their literature shows a prominent Portuguese influence. As a result, many Portuguese loanwords are now commonly found in vernacular Konkani speech.
The LanguageEarly Konkani
The earliest inscription in Konkani found in the village of Aravalem, in Goa dated back in the Gupta period in Brahmi script, ascribed to the 2nd Century AD in the late Brahmi script:
Medieval Konkani
This era was marked by the invasion of Goa and subsequent exodus to Marhatta territory and Canara (today's coastal Karnaraka) and Cochin.
- Exodus ( between 1312–1327 when General Malik Kafur of the Delhi Sultans Alauddin Khilji and Muhammed bin Tughlaq destroyed Govepuri and the Kadambas
- Exodus subsequent to 1470 when the Bahamani kingdom captured Goa, and subsequently in 1492 by Sultan Yusuf Adil Shah of Bijapur
- Exodus due to Christianization of Goa by Portuguese subsequent to 1500
- Hindu, Muslim and Neo-Catholic Christian exodus during the Goa Inquisition, which was established in 1560 and abolished in 1812.
These events caused the Konkani language to evolve into multiple dialects. The exodus to coastal Karnataka and Kerala required Konkani speakers in these regions to learn the local languages and hence this caused penetration of local words into the dialects of Konkani spoken by these speakers. e.g. the word dār (door) gave way to the word bāgil. The phoneme "a" in the Salcette dialect was replaced by the phoneme "o".
Other Konkani communities came into being with their own dialects of Konkani. The Konkani Muslim communities of Ratnagiri and Bhatkal came about due to a mixture of intermarriage of Arab seafarers and locals as well as conversions of Hindus to Islam. Another migrant community that picked up Konkani was the Siddis who were sailor-warriors from Ethiopia.
Contemporary Konkani
Contemporary Konkani is written in the Devanagari, Kannada, Malayalam, Persian and Roman scripts. It is written by speakers in their native dialects. However, the Goan Antruz dialect in the Devanagari script has been promulgated Standard Konkani.
Geographical distributionEthnologue puts the number of Konkani speakers at 3.6 million in 2000.
The Konkani language is spoken widely in the Western Coastal region of India known as Konkan. This consists of the Konkan division of Maharashtra, the state of Goa, and the Uttara Kannada (formerly North Canara), Udupi and Dakshina Kannada (formerly South Canara) districts of Karnataka, together with many districts in Kerala(Kasargod, Kochi, Alappuzha, Trivandrum, Kottayam etc.). Each region has a different dialect, pronunciation style, vocabulary, tone and sometimes, significant differences in grammar. The Census Department of India, 1991 figures put the number of Konkani speakers in India as 1,760,607 making up 0.21% of India's population. Out of these, 602,606 were in Goa, 706,397 in Karnataka, 312,618 in Maharashtra and 64,008 inKerala. It ranks 15th in the list of Scheduled Languages by strength. According to the 2001 estimates of The Census Department of India, there are 2,489,015 Konkani speakers in India. A very large number of Konkanis live outside India, either as expatriates or citizens of other countries (NRIs). Determining their numbers is difficult.
A significant number of Konkani speakers are found in Kenya and Uganda, Pakistan, Persian Gulf and Portugal. During Portuguese rule many Goans had migrated to these countries. Many families still continue to speak different dialects that their ancestors spoke, which are now highly influenced by the native languages.
Konkani revival
Konkani was in a sorry state, due to the use of Portuguese as the official and social language among the Christians; the predominance of Marathi over Konkani among Hindus and the Konkani Christian-Hindu divide. Seeing this Vaman Raghunath Varde Valaulikar set about on a mission to unite all Konkanis, Hindus as well as Christians, regardless of caste or religion. He saw this movement not just as a nationalistic movement against Portuguese rule, but also against the pre-eminence of Marathi over Konkani. Almost single handedly he crusaded, writing a number of works in Konkani. He is regarded as the pioneer of modern Konkani literature and affectionately remembered as Shenoi Goembab. His death anniversary, 9 April, is celebrated as World Konkani Day (Viswa Konknni Dis).
Madhav Manjunath Shanbhag, an advocate by profession from Karwar, who with a few like-minded companions travelled in all the Konkani speaking areas, seeking to unite the fragmented Konkani community under the banner of "one language, one script, one literature". He succeeded in organising the first All India Konkani Parishad in Karwar in 1939]
Successive Adhiveshans of All India Konkani Parishad held at various places in the following years. 27 Annual Adhiveshans of All India Konkani Parishad have been held so far.
Late Pandu Putti Kolambkar an eminient social worker of Kodibag, Karwar strove for the upliftment of Konkani in Karwar (North Kanara) and the Konkan.
Post-independence period
Following India's independence and its subsequent annexation of Goa in 1961, Goa was absorbed into the Indian Union as a Union Territory, directly under central administration.
However, with the reorganisation of states along linguistic lines, and growing calls from Maharashtra, as well as Marathis in Goa for the merger of Goa into Maharashtra, an intense debate was started in Goa. The main issues discussed were the status of Konkani as an independent language and Goa's future as a part of Maharashtra or as an independent state. A plebiscite retained Goa as an independent state in 1967. However, English, Hindi and Marathi continued to be the preferred languages for official communication, while Konkani was sidelined.
Recognition as an independent language
With the continued insistence of some Marathis that Konkani was a dialect of Marathi and not an independent language, the matter was finally placed before the Sahitya Akademi. Suniti Kumar Chatterji, the president of the Akademi appointed a Committee of linguistic experts to settle the dispute. On 26 February 1975, the Committee after due deliberation, came to the conclusion that Konkani was indeed an independent and literary language with it being classified as an Indo-European language which in its present state is heavily influenced by the Portuguese language.
Official language status
All this did not change anything in Goa. Finally fed up with the delay, Konkani lovers launched an agitation demanding official status to Konkani in 1986. The agitation turned violent in various places, resulting in the death of six agitators from Catholic Community, Mr. Floriano Vaz from Gogal Margao, Aldrin Fernandes, Mathew Faria, C. J. Dias, John Fernandes and Joaquim Pereira all from Agacaim. Finally, on 4 February 1987, the Goa Legislative Assembly passed the Official Language Bill making Konkani the Official Language of Goa.
Konkani was included in the Eight Schedule of the Constitution of India, as per the Seventy-First Amendment on 20 August 1992, adding it to the list of National Languages.
Structure
The Konkani language has 16 basic vowels (excluding equal number of long vowels), 36 consonants, 5 semi-vowels, 3 sibilants, 1 aspirate and many diphthongs. Like the other Indo-Aryan languages, it has both long and short vowels and syllables with long vowels may appear to be stressed. Different types of nasal vowels are a special feature of the Konkani language.
- The palatal and alveolar stops are affricates. The palatal glides are truly palatal but other the consonants in the palatal column are alveopalatal.
- The voiced/voiceless contrasts is found only in the stops and affricates. The affricates are all voiceless and the sonorants are all voiced
- The initial vowel-syllable is shortened after the aspirates and the fricatives. Many speakers substitute unaspirated consonants for aspirates.
- Aspirates in non-initial position are rare and only occur in careful speech. Palatalisation/non palatisation is found in all Obstruents, except for palatal and alveolars. Where a palatalised alveolar is expected, a palatal is found instead. In case of sonorants, only unaspirated consonants show this contrast, and among the glides only labeo-velar glides exhibit this. Vowels show a contrast between oral and nasal ones.