Konknni in Roman Script and the Church
NT, Panorama,
In the opinion of researchers in linguistics, Konknni is a very old independent language. It had probably its own script called Kandevi. When the Portuguese landed in
Out of several compulsions from within and without, the European missionaries studied the local languages. They preferred transliterating or writing their Konknni in Roman script for their own perusal, for that of those who would join or succeed them later on and also for that of new-converts. The latter in the meantime were banned from reading any vernacular literature in local script for the fear of their re-conversion to their previous faith.
Consequently the local Christians were gradually weaned away from the script of the soil. Later on, from the last quarter �exquisite� class of people whom Dr. Mariano Saldanha sarcastically called �analfabetos que sabem ler e escrever� meaning �illiterates who know to read and write�. Here is a specimen of one of them:
Mogal ixta, magta tuca bori saud ani bolaqui. Atam tuca cobor ditam qui anv casar zata. Chedun moidechem tacho pai bair podla. Chadien(read saddien) casar zata, tuca moji covid etc etc�
However a part of this category became �boroinnars� with their �kantaram�, �tiatr�, �romans�, articles and even magazines and periodicals. Deficiency of sound education, absence of formal study of the language, segregation from the local culture, reduced contact with the Hindu community, lack of exposure to any other literature, resulted in their faulty orthography, erroneous grammatical structures, impoverished vocabulary and substandard expressions.
A priest, a leading figure of �Konknni Katlilk Boroinnarancho Ekvott� wrote a booklet titled �F�chem. Nirop�. Analysing this book from the linguistic point of interest, Prof. Dr. Mariano Saldanha said in Heraldo- a newspaper now extinct- that the book was full of errors right from the Title to the End. Mind you this happened to a cultured writer known for enjoying a certain aura in the Konknni circles.
No doubt in the last four to five decades the Konknni writing in the Roman script has improved tremendously. About two weeks before the tragedy that snatched him away from us, the Konknni stalwart, the late Felicio Cadozo, in a casual chat with me, was bitterly complaining about most of the Konknni �writers� in Roman script whose write-ups he had to edit. He had confided to me that correcting his students� compositions as a school teacher of Konknni, had been a much lighter job.
Over a century back, Msgr. Sebastiao Dalgado had said that Konknni, being an Eastern language, should not be governed by any European counterpart but ought to be written in its �own Devnagri alphabet or its analogous Canarin�. Although he admitted that �canari might have been a better alternative, its Dravidian origin made it unsuitable for the �language of
If the language has been seriously taught and used adequately at different levels, the children and the teenagers of today should be well skilled to read and write Konknni in Devnagri at ease. Actually they appear to do so to some extent, as I have said above. Further most of the literate Goans below fifty years of age are today well familiar with this script.
Msgr. Dalgado, in his above �Dictionary�, says that he gave the �romanised� version of each Konknni vocable for the benefit of those who were not familiar with the Nagri characters. Today he would have found it superfluous. In view of the above, I fail to understand the reasons behind the clarion call given for the revival and fresh development of the Roman script at this stage. Ironically this move has come from the �Dalgado Konknni Akademi�, an organization that should have rather worked to make Msgr. Dalgado�s dream come true the earliest, as a catalyst for the smoother and faster transition already begun nearly two decades back the �Akademi� looks to be a misnomer. It would better re-christen it as the �roman Konknni Akademi�.
It is worth underscoring here that this movement seeks and hopefully counts on the full support from the Church. The Church was no doubt instrumental in introducing the Roan script and now she is called upon to infuse refreshed breath into it. The tendency towards Acculturation that might have been justified in the bygone centuries has since long become an anachronism and has been replaced by the much recommended process of Inculturation. We should not forget that the major sector of culture of a land is its language and literature. It is a challenge before the Church to put back the clock and contribute effectively for the Indianisation of the script for the benefit of the young.
Nobody says however that the multi-centennial Roman script should be suppressed. It has undoubtedly rendered yeoman services to the cause of Konknni. It played the lifebuoy that save the language from the tempestuous waters that once nearly engulfed it. The classical Roman Konknni literature should be zealously preserved at all cost as an item of our heritage. Modern literature worth the name should be re-edited if the readership so demands or rather transliterated for the benefit of the present and future generations. Rightful claim for awards for the deserving literary works should be boldly pursued at appropriate levels. The smooth transition from Roman to Devnagri should be earnestly encouraged specially by the Church.
We have however to admit two facts with an open, realistic and unbiased mind. On the one hand the Christians fished out from the mainstream of the social and linguistic culture, for a couple of centuries, became more westernized, their Konknni losing its original flavour along with its rich vocabulary in the course of time. On the other hand what the Christians last was preserved by the Hindus being rooted deeply in the local ethos with Konknni as their only medium of oral communication though they used Marathi for social, religious, business and literary effects. While the Christians studied Portuguese or at least the Roman alphabet for their reading and writing, the Hindus continued with the Devnagri and learned Marathi, Portuguese being an additional language for the higher middle and the upper class.
Consequently the hindus suffered some influence of Marathi but not to the extent of classifying their Konknn as Marathised Konknni. For that matter Msgr. Dalgado�s Konknni was also of that category. Why, the liturgical Konknni of Goa for some is �Marathi� too! �Nachonk nokllo tor angonn vankddem�. We, Christians, ought to admit the weakness of our Konknni.
Jaime Cout
(Excerpts from Renovacao)
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