| Konkani – A Language of the Earth |
| This article seeks to trace the evolution of Konkani from the days of the fledgling Indian civilization in the Saraswati River valley to its present status as the official language of Goa. |
| The word "Konkani" is used to describe both a language of the Indian subcontinent and a group of people. The word is derived from "kum", meaning “Mother Earth” and "Kana", meaning 'dust' or 'atom'. Thus, Konkani would mean "a part of Mother Earth". This appellation could well describe the hardy people of the Konkan region, who are primarily farmers and fishermen. |
| The Konkani people trace their history as far back as the fourth millennium BC. With their population concentrated in Mangalore, South coastal Maharashtra, North coastal Kerala and northern Karnataka, they share their name with the coastline and the language they speak. At present, Konkani is the official language of Goa where the Konkani people are thought to have settled around the 11th century AD. |
| The Konkani language belongs to the Indo-Aryan family of languages. The members of this branch of languages draw heavily from the influences of Sanskrit, widely considered to be one of the oldest languages in the world. Striking similarities are evident between the languages derived directly or indirectly from Sanskrit (for instance, several similarities have been noted between Bengali and Konkani) in the Indo-Aryan family. |
| Konkani began its evolution as a vernacular form of Sanskrit and showed little traces of influence of any other language till around the 16th century. Around then, the Portuguese Empire had defeated the Bijapur kings and established a strong foothold in the Konkani region. In the year 1560, the notorious Goa Inquisition was initiated in and around Goa. The Inquisition remains one of the most brutal episodes in Indian history and resulted in the exodus of a significant proportion of the local Goan populace to the closely located safe zones of present-day Maharashtra, coastal Kerala and Karnataka (an area where the Portuguese influence did not reach). However, the uniqueness of the Konkani language and culture seemed to be a lost cause. Konkani, a traditional Devanagari script was propagated under the Roman script thanks to the forceful influence of the Portuguese in Goa. In the areas of present-day Karnataka, the resident Konkanis adopted the Kannada script. In the Maratha lands, a significant proportion of Konkanis adopted Marathi. As a result, the literary traditions of the Goan Konkanis seemed doomed. |
| However, reprieve for the Goan people, fighting a vicious war against the Portuguese colonists, came in the shape of a British invasion of Goa in 1812 that sounded the death knell for the fast-waning Inquisition. However, the consequences of the Inquisition left Konkani with a large variety of influences. The Konkani spoken by the Nawayati community in Bhatkal borrows heavily from Farsi. The people of South Kanara freely interchange the nouns of Kannada and Konkani, occasionally borrowing words from Tulu as well. The Konkani spoken by the community in Kerala and north Karnataka extensively use verbs from Malayalam and Kannada respectively. |
| On the flipside, the Inquisition ensured the rich diversification of Konkani into distinctive and melodic dialects across the Indian sub-continent. Although lacking a script, Konkanis derives pride in the fact that their language is considered to be the original tongue of the ancient Saraswat Brahmins. With a strong Konkani movement in Goa, called the "Kuwait Konkani Kendr", initiated by Goan expatriates in Kuwait, and the backing of all religious organizations in the Konkani regions, the Konkani language and culture has undergone a healthy revitalization. A further affirmation of this fact lies in the proclamation of Konkani as the official language of Goa by the Government of India. |
| Under the aegis of the Indian Government and the enthusiastic efforts of the Goan revivalists, the days ahead seem to hold a rosy and glorious future for Konkani, both as a language and culture. |