Konkani

Konkani is a modern Indo-Aryan language which is a state language of the Indian state Goa. Earlier it was a dialect of Marathi, the state language of Maharashtra. Konkani has quite a few varieties classified and named by different people. The state language is highly influenced by Marathi. To the south of Goa there is Manglore variety. And then there is GawdI, a variety spoken by a tribe called Gawda. Since the three varieties are more separated from each other than other varieties, they are considered in this book. The book, however, concentrates on the Goan (Panaji) variety which is used in schools, media, and state administration and which is influenced by Marathi. The book gives a descriptive linguistic analysis of Konkani based on the spoken and written data collected in the extensive field work. Since Konkani is being standardized, and since it has contacts with Marathi, significant similarities and differences between the languages are discussed. These comparisons would be useful for dialectologists and sociolinguists working on standardization. The linguistic aspects of Konkani are highlighted and, where significant, they are compared with the Manglore and Gawdi varieties. The main aim of this book, however, is to present a linguistic grammar of Konkani. The book presents analysis of Konkani phonology, morphology, word-formation, and syntax. Konkani is a language which has the honour of having the oldest European grammatical work on any Indian language; Thomas Stephens' Arte da Lingoa Canarim published in 1640. This linguistic grammar is an addition to the long tradition of Konkani grammars.