English-Konkani dictionary

2001·27.4 MB·English

by  Maffei, Angelus Francis Xavier

ENGLISH-KONKANI
DICTIONARY
ANGELUS FRANCIS XAVIER MAFFEI
ASIAN EDUCATIONAL SERVICES
NEW DELHI ★ MADRAS ★ 2001
ASIAN EDUCATIONAL SERVICES
* 31, HAUZ KHAS VILLAGE, NEW DELHI -110016
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Price : Rs. 695
First Published: Mangalore, 1883
First AES Reprint: New Delhi, 1983
Second AES Reprint: New Delhi, 1990
Third AES Reprint: New Delhi, 2001
ISBN : 81-206-0626-4
Published by J. Jetley
for ASIAN EDUCATIONAL SERVICES
31, Hauz Khas Village, New Delhi -110 016.
Processed by Gautam Jetley
For AES Publications Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi-110016
Printed at Subham Offset Press DELHI - 110 032
Imprimatur:
N. Pagani, s. j., Pro-Vicar Apostolic
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2019 with funding from
Public.Resource.Org
https://archive.org/details/englishkonkanidiOOafxa
PREFACE
In presenting this Dictionary, the first attempt of its kind in
Konkani, to the public, it would, the Author conceives, he suf¬
ficient claim to their indulgence to state that the bulk of the
work is the fruit of an extremely short acquaintance with En¬
glish, and of a still shorter one with Konkani. But it should
further he borne in mind that the Author has had no written
materials whatever to assist him in his work. The Konkani
language hitherto has existed only in the mc’Mh of the people,
and it has been part of the Author's task, first, to pick up the
language by personal intercourse with them, and secondly, to
endeavour to reduce it to method and uniformity. Moreover,
circumstances have rendered it impossible for him to carry the
manuscript, at least the English-Konkani portion of it, through
the press himself, so that he has been debarred from correcting
faults which he would otherwise have seen proper to correct in
the course of publication.
In spite of these drawbacks, however, the Author would call
attention to the fact that all the words given in the Dictionary
as Konkani, with the exception of a few expressly marked, are
really such. It may be urged in opposition to this statement,
’1) that many of them are, if not identical with, at least very
like the Canarese or Tulu equivalents; 2) that, as a matter of
fact, many of them are not understood by the people themselves;
3) that the meaning of certain words, in familiar use with the
common people to express certain material objects, have had
VI PREFACE.
their meaning extended, and been used to express analogous ab¬
stract ideas; and lastly, that words have been compounded and
given in the Dictionary, which did not exist as such before. To
the first objection he would answer, that such words cannot be
considered purely Canarese or Tulu, since they are to be found in
both the Dravidian and Gaurian languages. The second objection
anay he met by the following considerations; that the reason why
some words are not understood by the people themselves, is, not
that those words are not Konkani, but that the language embraces
so great a variety of dialects, that what is understood by some
is not understood by others, and what is spoken in one place is
not spoken in another. The Author has not confined himself in
his researches to one particular district or to particular classes
of men. It is quite true, however, that not all the Konkani
words that exist, have been inserted, nor are all those inserted
equally good £' correct. A selection, perhaps, will have to be
made later on. As to the third and fourth objections, it should
be remembered that either no equivalent at all, or a Sanskrit
or Marathi one, which very few, if any, would have understood,
had to be given for such words. The Author may reasonably
justify his adoption of these methods on the ground that they
seemed to him the only means calculated to raise the tone and
enrich the vocabulary of a long neglected language. As re¬
gards the compound words more particularly, he would remind
his readers that this manner of compounding words is not alien
to, but in conformity with the spirit of Konkani. Moreover, all
such compounds have been carefully tested and examined with
the assistance of different native gentlemen.
As regards the use of the Dictionary, frequent references
have been made throughout to the Author’s Konkani Grammar,
lately published, which it presupposes, and of which indeed it is
the proper completion. To show the proper use of a word, the
most important part of a Dictionary, a literal second translation