Re: Konkani in Devnagiri script will kill Konkani (Camillo Fernandes) Konkani in the Devnagri/ Romi script has evoked strong emotions among the Goanetters.
There is a need to look at the whole issue in a balanced manner. >It would nice to know whether he and his family members are learning Devanagri script and whether they use and write it. I assume that all his family members have opted to learn this script rather than the universal and most accepted Roman script. Mr. Fernandes, at a certain point in time, the Goan child had no choice but to opt for Konkani in the Devnagri script. This was thrust upon the Goan populace by machinations of the politicians. We were told that the Government would fully support the students in studying Konkani. Language labs would be set up and modern methodology including computers would be used to teach children Konkani. All this remained fool's gold. We were bluffed lock, stock and barrel. The reason given for teaching primary students in Konkani was touted to be pedagogical, given the principle that children form concepts best in their own mother tongue. Fair and good. But the very concept of mother tongue needs redefining in these days of shrinking global boundaries. Then again, this is very well when there is no shift in the medium of instruction as there is in Goa. What a shame when the Official language cell cannot even provide Devnagri software to schools to promote Konkani! The greatest loser in this whole game has been the Catholic Goan student. He is neither here nor there. Goans were dangled carrots in the form of jobs for those who know Konkani. I have second generation non-Goan friends who would put quite a few Goans to shame when it comes to speaking Konkani with the most meticulous accent. I have yet to hear of a Catholic Goan who landed a Government job because of Konkani. A fair amount of blame for this situation must also fall on the Diocesan Society of Education for succumbing to Government pressure against the interests of the very students it is supposed to protect. The biggest detractor against Konkani in the Roman Script could be that the spelling is not rendered as accurately as in the Devnagri script which is phonetic. But this can be standardized. There are other asiatic communities in South East Asia which use the Roman script. For example Bhasa Indonesia. Konkani in the Devnagri script was supposed to bring about uniformity in a language which varies by the kilometre from Pernem to Canacona. What it has done, often unwittingly through the agency of the Catholic church, is to import words from Sanskrit, Marathi and other languages. All this is bewildering to the common man. I have found in my many, many years of teaching in Goa, Catholic students generally (not necessarily as a rule) find the Devanagari script difficult and this affects their performance not only in Konkani but in Marathi and Hindi. Unfortunately, the Konkani which is being taught in the schools today is not the Konkani I (and many others like me) speak. I say 'ponnos', the children are taught 'fanas' for jackfruit. I say 'ouduvo' for yellow, but the children are taught 'pachvo' and one could go on and on, Let us not be paranoid. During the 450 years of Portuguese rule, it was mostly Konkani written in the Roman script that helped the language to survive. To deny that is to deny history. Unfortunately, the stalwarts of Konkani seem to be divided vertically into the Devnagri and the Romi camps and the way things are going, it seems never the twain shall meet. Wake up you guys. Let Konkani be included in the Official Language Act without any reference to script if you really want Unity among Goans. The inherent difficulties of the Devnagri script has been pushing Catholic students towards English educaton. This surely will kill Konkani. -- \\\ Tony de Sa [email protected] M : +91 9975 162 897 Ph. : +91 832 2470 148 ^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v
