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Hello Goanetters I do second Mr Gadgil’s opinion. So is it back to school for all those who will have to pick up on this new script? Do we need to learn new script for learning our Konkani? What is wrong with the present roman script? Countless writers wrote books and many Konkani lovers read them, namely, Late Reginaldo Fernandes, Jose Inacio, and our very own James Hadley Boniventure D’Pietro and many others. Anvem tor zaiteoch romansi vachleat, ani log azun passun vachtat lek amche roman konkani baxen, zoxem Vavradeancho Ixtt, Gulab, Dor moineachi Rotti, ani er jem Konkani lekin boroun eta tem, ani soglim bore baxen vachtat. Igorjen passun povitr korar jem roman baxen boroilolem assa tem lahn lahn burgim vachtat, jim soddeak devanagri Konkani shinktat, tor amkam ani novi lek kiteak zai? Please don’t make a joke of our demand for Konkani in Roman script. Congratulations on the 11th anniversary of Goanet. Kalzan san Dev Borem Korum muntam sogleank je kalji gheun Goanettak aplo tenko ditat, toxench sogleam boroinarank je urben goanettak boroitat ani amkam sogleank part gheupak seoeg ditat. Thanks to all those who are active volunteers of Goanet, and all writers who used to write and have fantastic arguments on goanet, many of who, have gone missing for the last many days. Thanks for keeping Goanet alive for so many years and pray it will spread all over and bring all Goans as its members and it leaves to complete a century. Special thanks to Frederick Noronha (Goa, India), Viviana Coelho (San Francisco, CA, USA), Bosco D'Mello (Toronto, Canada), Daisy Rodrigues (CA, USA), Michelle D'Souza (Boston, MA, USA), Christina Pinto (Australia), Vincente Fernandes (Goa, India), Godfrey Gonsalves, and ofcourse to the creator of Goanet Herman Carneiro. Special thanks to all who have been writing in Konkani like Domnic Fernandes, Eddie Verdes, Lino Dourado, Cypriano, ani er sogleank je vavurtat amchi Konkani jivi dovorpak. Also special Thanks to our very own sports columinst, Eustaquio Santimano, who has been covering spots events for all Goanetters. God Bless you all Cheers Jerry Fernandes From: Vidyadhar Gadgil <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [Goanet] Re: Roman script Konkani... in new form To: Goanet mails <goanet@goanet.org> This new Roman script Konkani is bizarre. It really appears like shooting oneself in the foot. Mere phonetics should not drive one to such absurdities; after all, we read and write English accurately enough in Roman script, even though it is far from phonetic. (George Bernard Shaw once suggested that 'fish' be spelt as 'ghoti', with the 'gh' pronounced as in 'rough', the 'o' pronounced as in 'women' and the 'ti' pronounced as in motion!) If one is serious about popularising Roman script Konkani, such stuff should be avoided. Experience with diacritics and unconventional marks is that these things only cause confusion in the minds of the average reader; as such, they are best reserved for academic journals, etc. Look at the way Hindi is written in Roman script (in newspapers, magazines, etc. there are always a few Hindi words nowadays). Nobody who knows Hindi (and can read Roman script) has the slightest difficulty in understanding them. What is wrong with Roman Konkani as it is currently written? I am not a native Konkani speaker, but with some practice have never had any particular difficulty in reading Roman Konkani (though understanding it is more difficult, but then I have that problem with Devanagari Konkani as well). When getting Roman Konkani accepted is such a big struggle in itself, this really seems to be creating an additional unnecessary handicap, like tying heavy weights round one's legs before starting to scale a mountain.