| Southern Saraswat Brahman Konkani | |
|---|---|
| Amchigele | |
| Native to | India |
| Region | South Canara andNorth Canara ofKarnataka, andKasargod/Kochi areas ofKerala. |
Indo-European
| |
| Kannada,Devanagari | |
| Official status | |
Recognised minority language in | |
| Regulated by | Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy,[note 1] Kerala Konkani Academy[note 2] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | sara1313 |
 Distribution of Southern Saraswat Konkani speakers in India | |
Southern Saraswat Konkani[1] is a set of dialects spoken bySaraswat Brahmins of theCanara sub-region ofKarnataka, and also in Kerala.[note 3][2]
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 calledGoan Konkani:आमचीगॆलॆं,romanized: āmcigelẽ,lit. 'ours' and the dialect of the Cochin Gaud Saraswats is calledGoan Konkani:कॊच्चिमांय,romanized: koccimā̃y,lit. 'mother Cochin' by the members of those communities.
The wordCanara is a Portuguese rendering of the wordKannada. The early Portuguese conquistadors referred to Konkani aslingoa Canarim as a reference to Canara.[3]
The dialect is mainly spoken as a minority language in the Indian States ofKarnataka, and in some parts ofKerala. The speakers are concentrated in the districts ofUttara Kannada district,Udupi andDakshina Kannada in Karnataka.
Influx of Konkani speakers into Canara happened in various immigration waves:
According to the 1991 census of India, 40.1% Konkani speakers hail from the state ofKarnataka. 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.[5]
Based on local language influence, Konkani speaking people are classified into three main regions:
This is the region north of theGangolli river, starting from theKali river ofKarwar. The North Canarese are calledbaḍgikār[note 4] (Northerners) or simplybaḍgi in Konkani. North Canarese Konkani has more of Goan Konkani influence than Kannada influence compared to South Canarese Konkani. The major Konkani speaking communities include:[6][7]
Karwar Konkani is different from Mangalorean or South Canara Konkani. It is similar to Goan Konkani but mixed with Marathi accented words. Although people of Karwar have their mother tongue as Konkani, a few are conversant in Marathi too.
This is the region south of the Gangolli River. The South Canarese are calledṭenkikār[note 4] (Southerner)tenkabagli or simplyṭenki in Konkani. Rajapur Saraswat, Kudalkar,Kharvis,Kudubis,Mestas, Daivajna, Kumbhar, Gaud Saraswats and Chitrapur Saraswats are some of the Konkani speaking communities of this region. 15% of Dakshina Kannada speaks Konkani.[8] South Canara Saraswats, both Gaud Saraswat and Chitrapur Saraswat affectionately refer to their dialect asāmcigelẽ (Ours)This region has recently been bifurcated into Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts.
Konkani speakers in South Canara are trilingual; they are conversant in Konkani, Kannada and Tulu. Some of the towns in South Canara have separate Konkani names. Udupi is calledūḍip and Mangalore is calledkodiyāl in Konkani.
Konkani speakers are found predominantly in theCochin andErnakulam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kollam districts of Kerala, the erstwhile kingdom of Travancore.Kudumbis, Gaud Saraswats, Vaishya Vani of Cochin, and Daivajna are the major communities. The Konkani dialect of the Gaud Saraswats is affectionately referred to askoccimā̃y by members of that community.
The Gaud Saraswats of Cochin were part of the group ofsāṣṭikārs who migrated from Goa during the Inquisition hence their dialect is, but for usage of certain Malayalam words, similar to the dialect spoken by Gaud Saraswats of South Canara.[9]
Konkani speakers in this region are bilingual; they are conversant in Konkani as well as Malayalam.
Konkani in Karnataka has been in contact withKannada andTulu, thus showingDravidian influence on its syntax.[10]
Thephonetics, sounds,nasalization,grammar, syntax and in turnvocabulary obviously differ from Goan Konkani.[10]
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 byNawayatis of Bhatkal incorporates Persian and Arabic words."[11] 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 asDaivajna, Serugar, Mestri, Sutar, Gabeet, Kharvi, Samgar,Nawayati, etc.
Continuous interaction between the Konkani speaking communities with Dravidian Languages over some time has resulted in influences at the levels of morphology, syntax, vocabulary and larger semantic units such as proverbs and idioms.[12] This phenomenon is illustrated by Nadkarni, Bernd Heine and Tanya Kuteva in their writings.
Many Kannada words such asduḍḍu (money),baḍḍi (stick) andbāgilu (door) have found permanent places in Canara Konkani. Konkani from Kerala has Malayalam words like sari and śeri (correct), etc.
Dialect Variation
| Phrase | North Canara | South Canara | Cochin |
|---|---|---|---|
| What happened? | kasal jālẽ | kasan jāllẽ | kasal jāllẽ |
| correct | samma | samma | sari/ śeri |
| We are coming | āmi yetāti | āmmi yettāti / yettāci | āmmi yettāci |
| Come here | hekkaḍe/henga yo | hāṅgā yo | hāṅgā yo |
From the above table we see that South Canara and Kerala Hindu dialects undergo doubling of consonantsāppaytā (calls),dzāllẽ (done),kellẽ (did),vhaṇṇi (sister in law) whereas North Canara Hindu dialects use the undoubled onesāpaytā,dzālẽ,kelẽ,vhaṇi' . The Gaud Saraswat and Kudumbi Kochi dialects uses ca andja in place tsa and dza respectively.
Konkani speakers in Karnataka, having interacted with Kannada speakers in North Canara, Kannada and Tulu speakers in South Canara and Malayalam speakers in Kerala, their dialects have been influenced byKannada,Tulu andMalayalam. This has resulted inDravidian influence on their syntax.[10] According to the linguists, Konkani in Karnataka has undergone a process ofdegenitivization, and is moving towardsdativization on the pattern of Dravidian languages.Degenitivization means the loss or replacement of thegenitives, anddativization means replacement of the genitive in the donor language (i.e. Konkani) by the dative case marker in the recipient language (i.e. Kannada).[10] E.g.:
N
YIn Karnataka Konkanipresent continuous tense is strikingly observable, which is not so prominent in Goan Konkani.[13]Present indefinite of the auxiliary is fused withpresent participle of the primary verb, and the auxiliary is partially dropped.[13] This difference became more prominent in dialects spoken in Karnataka, which came in contact with Dravidian languages, whereas Goan Konkani still retains the original form.
Script
Early Konkani literature in Goa, Karnataka and Kerala has been found in theNāgarī Script. At present however, Devanagari has been promulgated as the official script.[note 5]
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 the 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 रायसपत्रRāyasapatra (writ) By SrimadSumatindra Tirtha swamiji to his disciples.
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 likegoḍḍe rāmāyaṇ of Kochi,sītā suddi andsītā kalyāṇa of Northern Kerala/South Canara and therāmāyaṇa raṇmāḷe of Cancon. Some other texts of the Ramayana are also available in written form in Konkani.rāmāyaṇācyo kāṇiyo, ascribed to Krishnadas Shama is in 16th century prose. During the 1930s Late Kamalammal wrote theraghurāmāyaṇa invhōvi[note 6] style verse. There has also been an adapted version by late Narahari Vittal Prabhu of Gokarn and recently, the translation ofrāmacaritramānasa by Kochi Ananta Bhat of Kochi.[6][14]
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 byHendrik 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 were done by three Konkani Physicians of Kochi, namely Ranga Bhat, Vināyaka Pandit and Appu Bhat.[15] 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 their 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.[15]
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.
TheDvaita seerMadhvacharya convertedSmartha KonkaniGaud Saraswats toDvaitism. This Dvaita Gaud Saraswat community was instrumental inkīrtanasāhityaandharidāsasāhitya. 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[16]
Contemporary Konkani literature in Kerala made a rather late entry, as compared to its other concentrated states like Karnataka. However, according to historical annals, there can be established no exact evidence to establish exactly when Konkani language and literature began their predominant journey in Kerala. But a possible contact and interlinking between Goa with Kerala cannot be thrown to the wind, as collaborators in foreign trade. G Kamalammal is known to have contributed whole-heartedly to Konkani literature, in the domain of devotional writing. V. Krishna Vadyar, Bhakta R Kanhangad, S. T Chandrakala, S Kamat are some of the most renowned novelists in the Konkani dialect. Moving further ahead, V Venkates, K Narayan Naik, N Prakash and others have penned forceful short stories; P G Kamath has contributed to the sphere of essay writing.
Some of the greatest and legendary poets in Konkani literature from Kerala, comprise: K Anant Bhat, N Purushottam Mallya, R Gopal Prabhu, P N S Sivanand Shenoy, N N Anandan, R S Bhaskar etc. Translations, folklore, and criticism also have enriched the Konkani literature in Kerala. Stepping aside a little bit and directing the attention towards an analytic and detailed study, Konkani literature in Kerala has been legendary and celebrated for having formulated dictionaries and encyclopedias in considerable numbers.
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 arepānchkadāyi, 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.raṅgakarmiKumble 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 playdōni ghaḍi hāssunu kāḍi.