Culture of Goan Catholics - Language and Literature

Language and Literature

Goan Catholics have strong feelings towards the Konkani language, which is often venerated in literature. It has historically been, and to large extent still is, central to the Goan Catholic identity. They speak Konkani, which is an Indo-Aryan language, belonging to the Indo-European family of languages, spoken predominantly on the west coast of India. The Konkani spoken by Goan Catholics has a larger infusion of words of Portuguese origin as compared to the Konkani spoken by other communities. The number of Goan Catholics that can speak Portuguese is dwindling and increasing numbers of Goan Catholics speak English as a first language.