Canarese Konkani

The Karnataka Saraswat dialects are referred to as Canara Konkani. The Kerala dialects are referred to as Travancore Konkani or Kerala Konkani. Certain dialects like the Canara Saraswat dialects of the Gaud Saraswats and Bhanaps are called आमचीगॆलॆं āmcigelẽ (lit. ours) and the dialect of the Cochin Gaud Saraswats is called कॊच्चिमांय koccimā̃y (lit. mother Cochin) by the members of those communities.

The word Canara is a Portuguese rendering of the word Kannada. The early Portuguese conquistadors referred to Konkani as lingoa Canarim as a reference to Canara.[2]

The dialect is mainly spoken as a minority language in the Indian States of Karnataka, and in some parts of Kerala. The speakers are concentrated in the districts of Uttara Kannada district, Udupi and Dakshina Kannada in Karnataka.

Influx of Konkani speakers into Canara happened in various immigration waves:

• Exodus between 1312 and 1327 when General Malik Kafur of the Delhi Sultans Alauddin Khalji and Muhammed bin Tughlaq destroyed Govepuri and the Kadambas
• Exodus subsequent to 1470 when the Bahamani kingdom captured Goa, and subsequently in 1492 by Sultan Yusuf Adil Shah of Bijapur
• Hindu exodus due to Christianization of Goa by Portuguese missionaries subsequent to Portuguese conquest of Goa in 1510[3]
• Exodus of Christians who wanted to keep following Hindu customs even after the establishment of the Goa Inquisition in 1560; or wanted to escape epidemics, wars and taxation taking place in Goa[3]

According to the 1991 census of India, 40.1% Konkani speakers hail from the state of Karnataka. In Karnataka over 80% of them are from the coastal districts of North and South Canara, including Udupi. 3.6% of the Konkani speakers are from Kerala, and nearly half of them are from Ernakulam district.[4]

Based on local language influence, Konkani speaking people are classified into three main regions:

Konkani in Karnataka has been in contact with Kannada and Tulu, thus showing Dravidian influence on its syntax.[9]

The phonetics, sounds, nasalization, grammar, syntax and in turn vocabulary obviously differs from Goan Konkani.[9]

There was a small population of Konkani speakers in Canara even before the first exodus from Goa. This group was responsible for the Shravanabelagola inscription. There was a large scale migration of Konkani communities from Goa to the coastal districts of North Canara, South Canara and Udupi. This migration, caused by the persecution of the Bahamani and Portuguese rulers, took place between the twelfth and seventeenth centuries. Most of these migrants were merchants, craftsmen and artisans. These migrants were either Hindus, Muslims or Christians and their linguistic practices were influenced by this factor also. Each dialect is influenced by its geographical antecedents.

There are subtle differences in the way that Konkani is spoken in different regions: "In Karwar and Ankola, they emphasize the syllables, and in Kumta-Honavar, they use consonants in abundance. The Konkani spoken by Nawayatis of Bhatkal incorporates Persian and Arabic words."[10] People of South Kanara do not distinguish between some nouns of Kannada and Konkani origin, and have developed a very business practical language. They sometimes add Tulu words also. It is but natural that Konkani has many social variations also because it is spoken by many communities such as Daivajna, Serugar, Mestri, Sutar, Gabeet, Kharvi, Samgar, Nawayati, etc.

Continuous inter action between the Konkani speaking communities with Dravidian Languages over a period of time has resulted in influences at the levels of morphology, syntax, vocabulary and larger semantic units such as proverbs and idioms.[11] This phenomenon is illustrated by Nadkarni, Bernd Heine and Tanya Kuteva in their writings.

Many Kannada words such as duḍḍu (money), baḍḍi (stick) and bāgilu (door) have found permanent places in Canara Konkani. Konkani from Kerala has Malayalam words like sari/śeri (correct), etc.

Dialect Variation

From the above table we see that South Canara and Kerala Hindu dialects undergo doubling of consonants āppaytā (calls), dzāllẽ (done), kellẽ (did), vhaṇṇi (sister in law) whereas North Canara Hindu dialects use the un-doubled ones āpaytā, dzālẽ, kelẽ, vhaṇi' . The Gaud Saraswat and Kudumbi Kochi dialects uses ca and ja in place tsa and dza respectively.

Konkani in the Old Nagari Script

The earliest known Konkani epigraphy is claimed to be the rock inscription at Shravanabelagola, Karnataka. However, the claim is disputed since as per many linguists its language is indistinguishable from that of the Old Marathi literature from Yadava era (1200–1300 CE)- the language is nearly identical, the script is early Devanagari, so it only makes sense to call it Marathi and not Konkani. This has always been a heated debate between Marathi Speakers and Konkani Speakers. Another writing of antiquity is a रायसपत्र Rāyasapatra (writ) By Srimad Sumatindra Tirtha swamiji to his disciples.

Goḍḍe Rāmāyaṇ

In Konkani, Ramayana narration is found in both verse and prose. The story has been told in full or part in folksongs of the Kudubis and ritualistic forms like goḍḍe rāmāyaṇ of Kochi, sītā suddi and sītā kalyāṇa of Northern Kerala/South Canara and the rāmāyaṇa raṇmāḷe of Cancon. Some other texts of Ramayana too are available in written form in Konkani. rāmāyaṇācyo kāṇiyo, ascribed to Krishnadas Shama is in 16th century prose. During 1930s Late Kamalammal wrote the raghurāmāyaṇa in vhōvi[note 8] style verse. There have also been an adapted version by late Narahari Vittal Prabhu of Gokarn and recently, the translation of rāmacaritramānasa by Kochi Ananta Bhat of Kochi.[5][13]

Hortus Malabaricus

The Hortus Malabaricus Konkani Document corrected for contemporary grammar

Hortus Malabaricus (meaning Garden of Malabar) is a comprehensive treatise that deals with the medicinal properties of the flora in the Indian state of Kerala. Originally written in Latin, it was compiled over a period of nearly 30 years and published from Amsterdam during 1678–1693. The book was conceived by Hendrik van Rheede, who was the Governor of the Dutch administration in Kochi (formerly Cochin) at the time.

Though the book was the result of the indomitable will power of Hendrik Van Rheede, all the basic work and the original compilation of plant properties was done by three Konkani Physicians of Kochi, namely Ranga Bhat, Vināyaka Pandit and Appu Bhat.[14] The three have themselves certified this in their joint certificate in Konkani, which appears as such at the start of the first volume of the book.

This book also contains the Konkani names of each plant, tree and creeper are also included throughout the book, in all 12 volumes, both in its descriptive parts and alongside their respective drawings. While the names are in Roman script in the descriptive part, the names alongside the diagrams are in original Nāgarī script itself, indicated as Bramanical characters.[14]

KonkaniNames of Plants in the Hortus Malabaricus

The 17th century certificate was etched in the manner and style of those times, which may appear unfamiliar now. Further to this, some writing notations (mostly anuswara) are seen missing in the print. Hence, to make it easily readable, the body matter is reproduced herein with enhanced clarity, modern-day spacing between words, and with the missing notations added back, for the sake of coherence and comprehension.

Bhakti Movement

This rare Konkani lithograph manuscript, dated 1904 was printed in Mangalore. It contains devotional songs in Konkani in the glory of popular Hindu deities.

The Dvaita seer Madhavacharya converted Smartha Konkani Gaud Saraswats to Dvaitism. This Dvaita Gaud Saraswat community was instrumental in kīrtanasāhitya and haridāsasāhitya. Vasudev Prabhu was a very famous Konkani poet of the Bhakti Movement. He wrote many devotional songs in Konkani and also translated Kannada devotional poetry of Vyāsarāya, Naraharitirtha, Puranadaradāsa, Kanakadāsa. These Konkani songs were, later, sung by nārāyantirtha[15]

Konkani speakers have retained their language and culture in Karnataka and Kerala. Music, theatre and periodicals keep these communities in touch with the language.

Notable periodicals are pānchkadāyi, kodial khabar and sansakār bōdh.

Konkani theatre made a rather late entry into the Indian art scenario. Konkani theatre groups like rangakarmi kumbaḷe śrīnivās bhaṭ pratiṣṭhān, and raṅgayōgi rāmānand cūryā vēdike played an instrumental role in bringing Konkani theatre to the masses. raṅgakarmi Kumble Shrinivas Bhat, Late Hosad Babuti Naik, Late Late K. Balakrishna Pai (kuḷḷāppu), Sujeer Srinivas Rao (cinna kāsaragōḍ) and Vinod Gangolli are some noteworthy names. Ramananda Choorya was an eminent artist who encouraged people to develop Konkani theatre. He wrote the famous play dōni ghaḍi hāssunu kāḍi.

• Konkani Chavadi
• Konkani Language And Cultural Foundation
• Mangalorean.com
• Konkani Friends
• Save My Language
• GSB Konkani
• Kanara Saraswat Magazine
• Raknno
• Learn GSB Konkani
• Online Manglorean Konkani Dictionary Project