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Fr. Pratap Naik, S.J. (real name Carvalho) is a Mangalorean Catholic Jesuit priest from Kundapur, India. He was the director of the Thomas Stephens Konkkni Kendr (TSKK), a research institute working on issues related to the Konkani language, literature, culture and education. The institute is based in Alto Porvorim, on the outskirts of the state capital of Panaji, Goa.
Naik was one of the proponents for founding the TSKK. The proposal to do so was brought up before the provincial congregation (one of the official bodies of the Jesuits) in 1978. "We wanted to start a school, in the European sense. An institute of higher learning to teach Konkani to Jesuits (primarily and to others too)," according to Naik, who was then a young scholastic trained to take up this work.[ citation needed ]
TSKK is named after Thomas Stephens, the 16th century English Jesuit priest missionary who came to Goa in 1579 and lived in the region till his death. Stevens authored the Arte da lingoa Canarim , which was written in Portuguese, and was the first printed grammar of what is now called the Konkani language
In 1982 TSKK was registered as a society, and it commenced operation in January 1986 from its former premises at Loyola Hall in Miramar, Goa. Miramar itself is a centre for training young men wanting to become Jesuit priests.[ citation needed ]
The TSKK focuses on education and research of the Konkani language, literature and culture. Speaking about the professional activities of the TSKK, Pratap Naik has said, "We are not limiting ourselves only to Goa, but wherever Konkani is spoken. Shortly, we are going to study Siddi Konkani, spoken by a community of former slaves who were once located in Goa, and are now based in Yellapur in Konkani [sic]. For this we are collaborating with two Brazilian professors."
A large number of expatriates whose mother tongue was once Konkani are located outside of the Konkani-speaking regions of India. Regarding the creation of opportunities to educate members of such expatriate communities, Naik says: "It's a bit difficult. Distance education is more for information. Learning certain language skills has to be done through intensive contact programs. Short courses could be offered to attain language proficiency."[ citation needed ]
Since 1986, Jesuit scholastics training to become priests were sent for a one-month training in Konkani.[ citation needed ] In 2003, a Konkani postgraduate diploma course was proposed.[ citation needed ]
In 2006, Naik was involved a campaign to get official recognition for the Roman script of Konkani, along with the Devanagari script, which is the sole officially recognized script for Konkani in Goa. [1]
Konkani is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Konkani people, primarily along the western coastal region (Konkan) of India. It is one of the 22 Scheduled languages mentioned in the 8th schedule of the Indian Constitution and the official language of the Indian state of Goa. The first Konkani inscription is dated 1187 A.D. It is a minority language in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala, Gujarat and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
Goan literature is the literature pertaining to the state of Goa in India.
The Konkani people are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group native to the Konkan region of the Indian subcontinent who speak various dialects of the Konkani language. Konkani is the state language of Goa and also spoken by populations in coastal Karnataka, coastal Maharashtra, and Kerala. Other Konkani speakers are found in Gujarat state.
Thomas Stephens Konknni Kendr (TSKK) is a Jesuit research-institute working on issues related to the Konkani language, literature, culture and education. It is based in Alto Porvorim, on the outskirts of the state capital of Goa, India.
Goans is the demonym used to describe the people native to Goa, India, who form an ethno-linguistic group resulting from the assimilation of Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Indo-Portuguese, and Austro-Asiatic ethnic and/or linguistic ancestries. They speak different dialects of Konkani natively. Goanese is an incorrect usage for Goans.
Thomas Stephens was an English Jesuit priest and missionary in Portuguese India, writer and linguist.
Goan Catholic literature is diverse.
Tiatr is a type of musical theatre popular in the state of Goa on the west coast of India as well as in Mumbai and with expatriate communities in the Middle East, London and other cities where Konkani speakers have a considerable presence. The dramas are performed mainly in the Roman Konkani dialects and include music, dancing and singing. Tiatr performers are called tiatrists.
Monti Fest is a major Catholic festival held on 8 September every year by the Latin Christian community of Konkani people, originating in the Konkan region of India, and their descendants in the Canara region of south India. This festival celebrates the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and in the Mangalorean Catholic community involves blessing of Novem. In certain Goan Catholic dialects the festival's name is corrupted to "Moti Fest".
The Rachol Seminary, also known today as Patriarchal Seminary of Rachol, is the diocesan major seminary of the Primatial Catholic Archdiocese of Goa and Daman in Rachol, Goa, India.
The art of printing first entered India through Goa. In a letter to St. Ignatius of Loyola, 1756, Father Gasper Caleza speaks of a ship carrying a printing press setting sail for Abyssinia from Portugal, with the purpose of helping missionary work in Abyssinia. Circumstances prevented this printing press from leaving India, and consequently, printing was initiated in the country.
Brother João de Bustamante or Juan de Bustamante, also known as 'the Indian Gutenberg', was a Spanish missionary who inaugurated the first era of print in India, specifically in the Portuguese colony of Goa.
Konkani in the Roman script, commonly known as Romi Konkani or Romi Konknni refers to the writing of the Konkani language in the Roman script. While Konkani is written in five different scripts altogether, Romi Konkani is widely used. Romi Konkani is known to be the oldest preserved and protected literary tradition beginning from the 16th century AD.
Canarese Konkani are a set of dialects spoken by minority Konkani people of the Canara region of KarnataKa, and also in Kasaragod of Kerala that was part of South Canara. Kanarese script is the primary mode of writing used in Carnatacan Konkani, as recognised by the Konkani Academy.
Mariano Jose Luis de Gonzaga Saldanha (1878–1975) of Uskai (Ucassaim) village in Goa, studied medicine and pharmacy, but went on to become a teacher of Marathi and Sanskrit at the Lyceum in Goa (1915–1929) and of Sanskrit and Konkani at Lisbon, at the University and at the Advanced School of Colonial Administration (1929–1946). In 1946-48 he was Deputy Director of the new institute of African and Oriental languages in Lisbon.
Goa is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the east and south, with the Arabian Sea forming its western coast. It is India's smallest state by area and its fourth-smallest by population. Goa has the highest GDP per capita among all Indian states, two and a half times as high as the GDP per capita of the country as a whole. The Eleventh Finance Commission of India named Goa the best-placed state because of its infrastructure, and India's National Commission on Population rated it as having the best quality of life in India. It is the third-highest ranking among Indian states in the human development index.
Konkani literature is literature in the Konkani language, mostly produced in three scripts: Roman, Devanagari and Kannada. Konkani literature is eligible for the Sahitya Akademi Award
Dr. Jayanti Naik, from Amona in the Quepem taluka of Goa, is a Konkani writer and folklore researcher from Goa. She is a short story writer, dramatist, children's writer, folklorist, translator and was the first person to earn a doctorate from the Goa University's Department of Konkani. She is also a Sahitya Akademi award winner. In her career of some three decades, she has produced on average, a book a year.
The Portuguese controlled Goa until 1961, when India took over. Only a very small fraction of Goans speak Portuguese nowadays. Although an essential religious language, there were 1,500 students learning Portuguese in Goa in 2015; totaling a number of 10,000 – 12,000 Portuguese speakers in the state.
Fr. Vasco do Rego SJ was a Jesuit priest from the region of Goa, who played a significant role in the promotion of Konkani language, literature and music, particularly after the Annexation of Goa. He was the editor of the religious monthly Dor Mhoineachi Rotti for many years.