You thought that Konkani is divided by scripts, dialects, geography and accents (maybe even caste-based and definitely regional dialects). Now take a look at this -- it even has to face up to divisions of the decades.
This morning, I woke up to read an email, which hit me straight in the eye. It must have been composed in 36 point bold, and said: "WHAT'S THIS HAIRANN? A Konkani word? God only save the Goans and the Konkani lovers. Do not desimate [sic] such info. At some point in time, we will have the Marathi/Sanskitized version (as Dr. Jose Colaco always put it) in Amchi Bhas KONKANI." Fortunately, by the time I got to reading this, another reply came from Lino Dourado -- known for his many Konkani posts in cyberspace, including Goanet -- who said: "1930 vorsantli Konknni bhas ti. Xik pora xik. Bestoch mhaka bejar (hairann) korina. Konknnint pandit khub asat. Dekun.............. Mogan, Lino" (Losely translated: It's a dictionary which reflects the Konkani of 1930. Learn, sonny, learn. Don't unnecessarily cause me to be 'hairann' (troubled). The field of Konkani has many scholars. Which is why....) Later in the evening, as I was in Margao, a call came through. It was Isidore Dantas, calling from Bombay/Mumbai. Known for his short and frequent calls, Isidore called after ages, and this was a long one. He patiently pointed out that the dictionary being quoted from reflected the older version of Konkani, and its spellings were influenced by the conventions of those times. (Like in Portuguese, the 'c' is used to represent the 'ka' sound, instead of the more Anglicised 'k' of today.) Likewise, there were words which are no longer in use, or not widely known or probably changed over time. This could cause confusion, he noted. Isidore agreed that there was need for an updated Romi dictionary reflecting the times. (There probably is one or more around, which we are not aware of... and hence not using!) He said he himself had been working on one, but it had got him tired after he reached till the letter 'D' of the English alphabet. Reena Martins sent me a note saying: "I had a good laugh at the first word [DOUDIRO, -I, -EM unfortunate, unhappy]. Always amuses me. What about dor diunk? I think it means -- go end your life or something -- not sure." Victor Rangel Ribeiro replied via another network where this was posting, to say: "As a child living in Saligao I heard the term "doidiro", which meant "slightly crazy," and sometimes "devil-may-care" and "happy-go-lucky". A "doulo" would be better described as a "ladle". I use one in my home very day, to ladle out soups, and sometimes canji." Joel D'Souza of Assagao also took trouble to point out the 'c' and 'k' thingy in spellings. Anyway, given the many responses that have come up, it's really fun doing this. I'm glad someone asked me to look out for suitable dictionaries for them in Goa, even if this is a 1930 one! Stoking controversy is one model in sound pedagogy, I guess :-) Meanwhle, today itself I bought an inexpensive Hindi-English students dictionary, for just Rs 30! It claims to cover "over 15,000 words" and is very cheaply printed. But it does serve the purpose. I doubt Goa has a large enough market to sell a product at such low prices. But if anyone could create a basic and useful learner's dictionary, specially in the Romi script (simply because it is easier to access), please do get in touch! FN FN +91-832-2409490 or +91-9822122436 (after 2pm) #784 Nr Lourdes Convent, Saligao 403511 Goa India http://fn.goa-india.org http://goa1556.goa-india.org