Konkani in the Roman script
Encyclopedia
Konkani
is a language that is spoken by 3.6 million speakers mostly on the western coast of the Indian
states of Maharashtra
, Goa
, Karnataka
and Kerala
. Konkani is written in five scripts
– Devanagari
, Roman
, Kannada
, Malayalam
and Perso-Arabic
. Of these, the Roman script has the oldest preserved and protected literary tradition beginning from the 16th century. Konkani written in the Roman script is known as Romi Konkani, Romi Konknni or Roman Konkani. An estimated 500,000 people use Romi Konkani. The use of Devanagari for Konkani, which is now its official script, was first made in 1187 A.D. Roman script is not mandated as official script by law. However, an ordinance passed by the Government of Goa allows the use of Roman script for official communication.
The terms 'Konkani in the Roman script' and 'Romi Konkani' do not merely refer to the fact that the language is written in the Roman script but they also refer to the dialects traditionally written in this script eg. the Bardeshi and Xaxtti variants as opposed to the dialects written in Devanagari.
missionaries studied the Konkani language in depth. They even prepared Konkani grammar, dictionaries and studied various facets of literature. The Jesuits established the first printing press in Asia
in Goa in 1556. Since then, a rich tradition of Konkani literature in the Roman script has developed.
. Reginaldo Fernandes wrote konkani novels called Romanses.
Some organisations that promote and support Romi Konkani are:
Some periodicals in Konkani written in the Roman script in continuous publication are:
awards and assistance.
Recently, there has been a renewed surge in the support for Romi konkani and in the demand for official recognition for the Roman script alongside the Devanagari script. Some examples of this are the growing online readership for Vavraddeancho Ixtt and several groups and pages on social networking website Facebook
, in support of Romi Konkani. The critics of sole recognition of Devanagri script contend that Antruz dialect is unintelligible to most Goans, let alone other Konkanis, and that Devanagari is used very little as compared to Roman script in Goa or Kannada script in coastal Karnataka Prominent among the critics are Konkani Catholics in Goa, who have been at the forefront of the Konkani agitation in 1986–87 and have for long used the Roman script including producing literature in Roman script. They are demanding that Roman script be given equal status to Devanagari. Tiatr artists and tiatr aficionados are another group which supports Romi konkani. It is argued that giving official recognition to Romi Konkani will help strengthen the language by creating an inclusive environment for users of the Roman script and also to the Christian community of Goa. It will avoid people who have difficulty in using the Devanagari script or don't know the Devanagari script from feeling alienated and giving up on the language. Romi konkani is almost the only flavour of the Konkani language present on the internet. It is also the most convenient script for use with computers.
There have been three state-level Literary and Cultural conventions of Konkani in the Roman script (Romi Lipi Konkani Sahitya ani Sonvskrutik Sommelan) held in 2008, February 2010 and February 2011 in Goa.
However, the criticism against official recognition of Konkani in the roman script is that having more than one official script for Konkani will lead to fragmentation of Konkani.
Konkani language
KonkaniKonkani is a name given to a group of several cognate dialects spoken along the narrow strip of land called Konkan, on the west coast of India. This is, however, somewhat an over-generalisation. Geographically, Konkan is defined roughly as the area between the river Damanganga to the north...
is a language that is spoken by 3.6 million speakers mostly on the western coast of the Indian
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
states of Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
, Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
, Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
and Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
. Konkani is written in five scripts
Konkani script
The Konkani alphabet may be any one of three alphabets currently used to write the Konkani language....
– Devanagari
Devanagari
Devanagari |deva]]" and "nāgarī" ), also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal...
, Roman
Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
, Kannada
Kannada script
The Kannada script is an alphasyllabary of the Brahmic family, used primarily to write the Kannada language, one of the Dravidian languages of southern India and also Sanskrit in the past. The Telugu script is derived from Old Kannada, and resembles Kannada script...
, Malayalam
Malayalam script
The Malayalam script is a Brahmic script used commonly to write the Malayalam language—which is the principal language of the Indian state of Kerala, spoken by 36 million people in the world. Like many other Indic scripts, it is an abugida, or a writing system that is partially “alphabetic” and...
and Perso-Arabic
Perso-Arabic script
The Persian or Perso-Arabic alphabet is a writing system based on the Arabic script. Originally used exclusively for the Arabic language, the Arabic alphabet was adapted to the Persian language, adding four letters: , , , and . Many languages which use the Perso-Arabic script add other letters...
. Of these, the Roman script has the oldest preserved and protected literary tradition beginning from the 16th century. Konkani written in the Roman script is known as Romi Konkani, Romi Konknni or Roman Konkani. An estimated 500,000 people use Romi Konkani. The use of Devanagari for Konkani, which is now its official script, was first made in 1187 A.D. Roman script is not mandated as official script by law. However, an ordinance passed by the Government of Goa allows the use of Roman script for official communication.
The terms 'Konkani in the Roman script' and 'Romi Konkani' do not merely refer to the fact that the language is written in the Roman script but they also refer to the dialects traditionally written in this script eg. the Bardeshi and Xaxtti variants as opposed to the dialects written in Devanagari.
History
In the 16th century, ChristianChristian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
missionaries studied the Konkani language in depth. They even prepared Konkani grammar, dictionaries and studied various facets of literature. The Jesuits established the first printing press in Asia
Printing in Goa
The art of printing first entered India through Goa. In a letter to St. Ignatius of Loyola, dated 30 April 1556, Father Gasper Caleza speaks of a ship carrying a printing press setting sail for Abyssinia from Portugal, with the purpose of helping missionary work in Abyssinia...
in Goa in 1556. Since then, a rich tradition of Konkani literature in the Roman script has developed.
Present
Today, Konkani in the Roman script is mainly used by the Christian community because the liturgy of the Catholic church in Goa is entirely in the Roman script and the work of the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman is also carried out in the Roman script. However, a large number of writers outside the Christian Community also write in Romi Konkani. Konkani in the Roman script is also used in TiatrTiatr
Tiatr is a type of musical popular in the state of Goa on the west coast of India where they originated as well as in Mumbai and with expatriate communities in the Middle East. The dramas are performed in the Konkani language and include music, dancing and singing...
. Reginaldo Fernandes wrote konkani novels called Romanses.
Some organisations that promote and support Romi Konkani are:
- Thomas Stephens Konknni Kendr
- Goa Konkani AkademiGoa Konkani AkademiThe Goa Konkani Akademi is an organization set up by the Government of Goa in 1986 to promote Konkani in Goa. Its stated aim is to accelerate the pace of development of Konkani by encouraging writers, researchers, etc. and to bring Konkanis from all areas together.-Nature:The Goa Konkani Akademi...
- Dalgado Konkani Academy
Some periodicals in Konkani written in the Roman script in continuous publication are:
- Vavraddeancho IxttVavraddeancho IxttVavraddeancho Ixtt is a Goan weekly magazine in Romi Konknni. It has been published continuously since 1933 and is one of the oldest publications in the state.It was started on January 4 1933 by Fr Arsencio fernandes and Fr Graciano Moraes...
, since 1933 - Gulab, since 1983
Movement for official recognition of Romi Konkani
There are a huge number of people who solely or primarily use the Roman script. As a result of the recognition of only the Devanagari script, the rich body of Konkani literature written in the Roman script goes unrecognised, unpromoted and unrewarded. For instance, since the Devanagari script is the sole official script, writers in the Roman script (as also in the Kannada script) are not eligible for the Sahitya AkademiSahitya Akademi
The Sahitya Akademi ', India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India...
awards and assistance.
Recently, there has been a renewed surge in the support for Romi konkani and in the demand for official recognition for the Roman script alongside the Devanagari script. Some examples of this are the growing online readership for Vavraddeancho Ixtt and several groups and pages on social networking website Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
, in support of Romi Konkani. The critics of sole recognition of Devanagri script contend that Antruz dialect is unintelligible to most Goans, let alone other Konkanis, and that Devanagari is used very little as compared to Roman script in Goa or Kannada script in coastal Karnataka Prominent among the critics are Konkani Catholics in Goa, who have been at the forefront of the Konkani agitation in 1986–87 and have for long used the Roman script including producing literature in Roman script. They are demanding that Roman script be given equal status to Devanagari. Tiatr artists and tiatr aficionados are another group which supports Romi konkani. It is argued that giving official recognition to Romi Konkani will help strengthen the language by creating an inclusive environment for users of the Roman script and also to the Christian community of Goa. It will avoid people who have difficulty in using the Devanagari script or don't know the Devanagari script from feeling alienated and giving up on the language. Romi konkani is almost the only flavour of the Konkani language present on the internet. It is also the most convenient script for use with computers.
There have been three state-level Literary and Cultural conventions of Konkani in the Roman script (Romi Lipi Konkani Sahitya ani Sonvskrutik Sommelan) held in 2008, February 2010 and February 2011 in Goa.
However, the criticism against official recognition of Konkani in the roman script is that having more than one official script for Konkani will lead to fragmentation of Konkani.