Konkani Language Services

Konkani (Kōṅkaṇī) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Konkani people, primarily along the western coastal region (Konkan) of India. It is one of the 22 Scheduled languages mentioned in the 8th schedule of the Indian Constitution[9] and the official language of the Indian state of Goa. The first Konkani inscription is dated 1187 A.D. It is a minority language in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala, Gujarat and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.

Konkani is a member of the Southern Indo-Aryan language group. It retains elements of Vedic structures and shows similarities with both Western and Eastern Indo-Aryan languages.

There are many Konkani dialects spoken along and beyond the Konkan, from Damaon in the north to Cochin in the South, most of which are only partially mutually intelligible with one another due to a lack of linguistic contact and exchanges with the standard and principal forms of Konkani. Dialects such as Malvani, Chitpavani, East Indian Koli and Aagri in coastal Maharashtra, are also threatened by language assimilation into the linguistic majority of non-Konkani States of India.

Konkani belongs to the Indo-Aryan language branch. It is part of the Marathi-Konkani group of the southern Indo-Aryan languages. It is inflexive, and less distant from Sanskrit as compared to other modern Indo-Aryan languages. Linguists describe Konkani as a fusion of variety of Prakrits. This could be attributed to the confluence of immigrants that the Konkan coast has witnessed over the years.

It is quite possible that Old Konkani was just referred to as Prakrit by its speakers. Reference to the name Konkani is not found in literature prior to the 13th century. The first reference of the name Konkani is in “Abhanga 263” of the 13th century Hindu Marathi saint poet, Namadeva (1270–1350). Konkani has been known by a variety of names: Canarim, Concanim, Gomantaki, Bramana, and Goani. Learned Marathi speakers tend to call it Gomantaki.

Konkani was commonly referred to as Lingua Canarim by the Portuguese and Lingua Brahmana by Catholic missionaries. The Portuguese later started referring to Konkani as Lingua Concanim. The name Canarim or Lingua Canarim, which is how the 16th century European Jesuit Thomas Stephens refers to it in the title of his famous work Arte da lingoa Canarim has always been intriguing. It is possible that the term is derived from the Persian word for coast, kinara; if so, it would mean “the language of the coast”. The problem is that this term overlaps with Kanarese or Kannada. All the European authors, however, recognised two forms of the language in Goa: the plebeian, called Canarim, and the more regular (used by the educated classes), called Lingua Canarim Brámana or simply Brámana de Goa. The latter was the preferred choice of the Europeans, and also of other castes, for writing, sermons, and religious purposes.

There are different views as to the origin of the word Konkan and hence Konkani

The word Konkan comes from the Kukkana (Kokna) tribe, who were the original inhabitants of the land where Konkani originated.

According to some texts of Puranas, Parashurama shot his arrow into the sea and commanded the Sea God to recede up to the point where his arrow landed. The new piece of land thus recovered came to be known as Konkan meaning piece of earth or corner of earth, kōṇa (corner) + kaṇa (piece). This legend is mentioned in Sahyadrikhanda of the Skanda Purana.