Mangaluru: Konkani – Konkani – English – Kannada dictionary getting ready

By Sunil Menezes
Bellevision Media Network

Mangaluru, 11 Apr 2018: India is undoubtedly an etymological museum, more than 1500 languages and dialects are used by the people of this country. Of all these rich languages, Konkani, belonging to North Western Indo Aryan language group, is also prominently used. It has around 50 lakh native speakers and is predominantly present at the west coast of India. Though it is recognized as the Official Language of Goa, it is also having majority speakers in the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala. This language spoken by the people spread from Kutch to Cochin is also one of the National Languages of India. Since long the native Konkani writers have been writing Konkani using five deferent scripts (Kannada, Devanagari, Malayalam, Perso-Arabic and Roman) Though Konkani had not received any royal patronage, it has grown and matured to be one of the substantial Modern Indian Languages.

 

Konkani can boast of its rich heterogeneity, in styles of writing, speakers and scripts, undoubtedly this fact may be considered as its strength, it is also the fact that the same strength has turned out to be greatest hurdle in its progression as one of the major languages of the subcontinent. The negative effect of this encompassing complex heterogeneity has been the most in the field of Education and Lexicography in Konkani. Till the beginnings of the 21st Century there have been no substantial growths in the field of Konkani Education or in the arena of Konkani Lexicography. No dictionaries of substantial size appeared in this language till 2007. 

 

In the year 2007 a 25000 head entry English – Konkani Dictionary compiled by Prof Stephen Quadros Permude was published by the Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy. The desires of the Konkani native speakers for a substantial dictionary could be well seen in the fact that the 2007 dictionary saw four prints within 2 months of its publication. In 2008 Prof Quadros compiled ‘Welcome to Konkani’, first Konkani vocabulary and the same was also published by the Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy.

 

In 2014 Patha Darshini Seva Trust, a public charitable trust published world’s first English – Kannada – Konkani dictionary with 50000 head entries. This was compiled by Prof Stephen Quadros and Rev Fr Basil Vas. The trust spent around Rs 17 lac to complete this well appreciated ‘magnum opus’.

 

Presently the trust is involved in publishing world’s first Konkani – Konkani- English-Kannada Dictionary. This dictionary is expected to be released by 2018 end. Apart from regular synonyms, meanings and alternatives this dictionary is expected to have details on parts of speech, gender, tense, common forms, antonyms, compounds and other required elements related to a word. Idioms, phrases, and other traditional vocabulary will also be used in this dictionary. The trust is involved in conducting motivation programmes for the youth and help marginalized youth in their educational needs. The surplus from this dictionary work will be used for the projects of the Trust. For having a copy of this dictionary and helping the Trust, send your contributions to

 

Bank Account: Patha Darshini Seva Trust® 64121682660 (State Bank of India - Kaikamba-IFSC: SBIN-0040779). Any donation to this Trust is tax exempt under 80 G of the Income Tax Act.

 

For more info, contact 9480761017