Culture of Mangalorean Catholics - Language and Literature

Language and Literature

Mangalorean Catholics speak the Konkani language, which they retained as their mother tongue despite the migration. The Konkani language is central to the community's identity. Konkani is an Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Indo-European family of languages, which is spoken predominantly on the west coast of India. They speak a dialect of Konkani, known as Mangalorean Catholic Konkani, which the Ethnologue identifies as the Mangalore dialect. It is largely derived from the Bardeskaar (North Goan) dialect and bears a good degree of intelligibility with the modern Bardeskaar Christian dialect and to a slightly lesser extent with the standard Konkani dialect. This dialect has a significant infusion of Tulu and Kannada loanwords. Some Kannada rootwords which have disappeared from the Goan dialects due to the influence of Portuguese have re-entered the Mangalorean lexicon. It is significantly different from the dialect spoken by the Goud Saraswat Brahmins in South Canara. The Mangalorean Catholic dialect is much closer to the dialects of the Goan Hindus than to that of the Goan Catholics. 350–400 Portuguese lexical items are found in the Mangalorean Catholic dialect.

The origin of their literature dates to 1883, when Angelus Francis Xavier Maffei, an Italian Jesuit, published the first English-Konkani Dictionary in Mangalore. In 1912, the first Konkani periodical, Konknni Dirvem (Konkani Treasure), was published in Mangalore by Louis Mascarenhas. Popular Konkani periodicals published in Mangalore include Raknno (1938) by Mons Sylvester Menezes, Konkan Daiz (Heritage of Konkani) (1958), and Kannik (Donation) (1965) by Raymond Miranda. In Bombay, periodicals like Sukh-Dukh (1948) by G.M.B. Rodrigues, Konknni Yuvak (1949) by George Fernandes, Poinnari (1950) by V.J.P. Saldanha, and Divo (1995) by J.B. Moraes were published. Modern literature is diverse and includes themes such as Indian Politics in books like What Ails the Socialists by George Fernandes, historical awakening, in books such as Sarasvati's Children: A History of the Mangalorean Christians by Alan Machado Prabhu, and sexual desires, in The Revised Kama Sutra: A Novel of Colonialism and Desire by Richard Crasta.

The Mangalorean genealogist Michael Lobo published the first genealogical Encyclopaedia of the Mangalorean Catholic community in 1999. This genealogical Encyclopaedia, currently exceeding 6000 pages, covers over a thousand families, each of which is researched as far as its ancestry can be traced. Three offshoots have thus far been launched, which include Mangaloreans Worldwide — An International Directory (1999), Distinguished Mangalorean Catholics (2000), and The Mangalorean Catholic Community — A Professional History / Directory (2002). In 2000, the Diocese of Mangalore released the first Konkani Bible in Kannada script, which was made available online on 26 July 2007.