Your mother tongue is a form of identity you claim. You were taught your mother language first, so that you could not only bond with your motherland better, but also the people who reside near the place you call home. With the world observing International Mother Language Day recently, TGLife looks at the linguistic and cultural diversity of our own mother tongue, Konkani
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Konkani is the native language of Goa. It is also a minority language in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
The Karnataka Saraswat dialects are referred to as Canara Konkani. Karwar Konkani, which hails from the same state is different from Mangalorean Konkani. Although similar to Goan Konkani, the Karwar dialect is mixed with Kannada accented words. The Kerala dialects are referred to as Travancore Konkani or Kerala Konkani.
Linguists describe Konkani as a fusion of a variety of Prakrits, which is the collective name for several Middle Indo-Aryan languages formerly used in India.
Being of Indian origin, the language did have influences from the Portuguese. This influence began in the 14th century, with their arrival and rule of more than four centuries. This impact was influential due to the educational, vocational and religious systems placed by the Portuguese during their reign.
Konkani is written in Devanagari, Kannada, Malayalam, Persian, and Roman scripts of which Devnagri is considered more prominent.
Konkani is also written in the Romi script, a standardised Latin-based writing system that uses the Roman script to represent Konkani sounds. Used by tens of thousands of Goans even today, Romi Konkani has its own set of spelling conventions and literary history in print. Romi Konkani is also used in the dissemination of the teachings of Christianity on a much larger scale.
Despite such deep roots in both history and culture, the influence of Konkani can be considered to be oppressed. The state still possesses only one Konkani daily, as the others could not sustain due to either shortage of staff or capital.
There have been several groups instated to ensure the survival of the language. Stalwarts like Shenoi Goembab, Pundalik Naik, Damodar Mauzo and many others can be considered responsible for this sustenance. The Konkani Bhasha Mandal also dedicates itself to keeping the language alive. Founded in 1962, KBM organises various activities, programmes and workshops to develop the language skills of students as well as teachers.
I feel Konkani has to be made compulsory in primary schools since it’s the language that’s mostly spoken amongst the masses. Plus, it’s also the official language of the state. Thus, if it needs to be implemented well, then the culture needs to be developed since the beginning. The young ones need to realise the uniqueness of this language and it can be done through early education.
— Dr Tanvi Bambolkar, professor
It is a known fact that any child learns better in his or her mother tongue so as to grasp the local concepts easily. Any child learning in their mother tongue never has a problem grasping other languages and are able to learn more than 2 to 3 languages very easily during their formative years.
— Anwesha Singbal, writer
It is a known fact that the medium of instruction in early childhood has to be in one’s mother tongue. However in Goa, there are 3 being taught and they all change to English in the 4th standard, making Konkani an optional subject. The Official Language Act in existence in Goa is not being implemented. There is a need of political will for it, which is lacking.
— Hrishikesh Kadam, advocate
