 TSKK campus at Alto Porvorim | |
| Abbreviation | TSKK |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1982 |
| Type | NGO |
| Purpose | Promoting the Konkani language. |
| Headquarters | Alto Porvorim, Bardez, Goa. |
| Location |
|
Region served | Goa and rest of the Konkani speaking areas in coastal western India. |
Director | Pratap Naik |
| Website | http://tskk.org |
Thomas Stephens Konknni Kendr (TSKK) is aJesuit research-institute working on issues related to theKonkani language, literature, culture and education. It is based in AltoPorvorim, on the outskirts of the state capital ofGoa, India.
The TSKK says it "is devoted to the promotion of education and research in the Konknni language, literature and culture". It was registered under the Societies Registration Act in 1982 and first functioned from 1986 at the locality ofMiramar, before its current premises was built. It is located alongside the also JesuitXavier Centre of Historical Research.
TSKK is a Society registered under the IndianSocieties Registration Act of 1860. From June 1999, it has been recognized by theGoa University as a Konknni research institute.
This institution gets its name from the sixteenth-century English Jesuit priest,Thomas Stephens (1549–1619), a linguist and Marathi poet. Stephens came to Goa, then a Portuguese colony, on 24 October 1579. According to the institution, Stephens learned the Konknni and Marathi languages and wrote in them. He produced the first grammar to be produced in an Indian language, in Konknni printed in 1622. Stephens died in Goa in 1619.
One of the activities of the TSKK is the publication of a research bulletin calledSod. This journal is edited, produced and published as part of TSKK's "research efforts ... devoted to the promotion of education and research in (the) Konknni language, literature and culture". Its articles are a mix of Konknni written in Devanagari-script,the Roman (Romi) script, and occasionally in English too.[citation needed]
GenerallySod issues are priced at Rs 50 each (in Goa).
TSKK also offers courses in theKonknni language, and on project methodology for researchers, and study methodology for students. Currently (September 2006), the TSKK is working on language-teaching books for adults and children to learn Konkani (in theRomi orRoman script).
Earlier, this institute was headed byFr Mathew Almeida, sj who has been succeeded byFr Pratap Naik sj.
Thomas Stephens Konknni Kendr is located at B.B.Borkar Road, Alto Porvorim, Goa (India) 403 521.
TSKK has come out with a number of publications in theKonknni language, or in languages like English introducing themes related toKonknni, which is India's smallest language, spoken mainly along the west coast of this country.
Some of its publication include a 1988 guide to writingDevanagari scriptKonknni (20 pp, then priced at Rs 3, now out of print),A Description of Konknni byMatthew Almeida, sj (1989),Teacher's and Parent's Manual (1996, pp 150) by Pratap Naik, S.J.,TSKK Konknni Basic Course (Matthew Almeida, SJ, 1991),Tisvaddeacheo Igorzo (Moreno de Souza, SJ, 1994, on the churches of the sub-district ofTiswadi in Goa),TSKK Romi Lipi (TSKK's orthography for Roman-script Konknni by Pratap Naik, SJ 2005 pp 52).
In addition it has also brought out five cassettes and CDs, of Konknni music containing devotional songs and nursery rhymes and children's songs.
Jesuit priestPratap Naik sj, director of the TSKK currently, has been building a collection of over 328 trees and plants, all in the yard of a research institution studying the localKonknni language. Naik argues that the culture of a place is reflected "not only" in its language, but also in its flora—apart from its fauna, architecture, food habits and dress.
He has been quoted saying that he wants to grow one of every fruit-bearing tree that grows inGoa which is rich in plant diversity. This richness is thanks in significant part to plant exchanges by the former rulers who centuries back controlled international seaways and had an empire straddling the continents.
Many months of hard work has seen Naik piece together a well-maintained and neatly labelled botanical garden. Visible are the local names in Konknni, the botanical names, theirEnglish names. Elsewhere, he keeps a list of the original native countries of theseGoa-adopted plants.
Among the collection are theainno madd (the Fan Palm inEnglish, orLivistona rotundifolia as it's known by its botanical name). It comes from tropicalAmerica. There's theambaddo, dismissively perhaps called thehog-plum that traces its origins toIndia itself. Theambor (mulberry, orMorus alba) hasChinese origins.Kalljirem (black cumin,Nigella sativa) is again ofIndian origin.
Kiraitem (canscora in English, orCanscora decussata) is fromIndia, but thezaifoll (nutmeg,Mystica fragans) comes from theMoluccas, the so-calledSpice Islands of past centuries, in theFar East.Gozgo (thefever nut orCaesalpinia bonduc) is, again, ofIndian origin.
Naik says he has already found the names of 325 species from among the 329 he planted. "Some don't have names in Konknni (the local language)," he is quoted as saying, obviously because of their exotic origins.
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