Konkani script
Encyclopedia
The Konkani alphabet (Devanāgarī
: , , Roman script
: , , Kannada script
: , , Malayalam script
: ) may be any one of three alphabets currently used to write the Konkani language
.
As of 1987, the Goan Antruz dialect in the Devanagari script has been declared Standard Konkani and promulgated as an Official Language . Nevertheless, Konkani is also written in the Roman, Kannada, Malayalam and Persian scripts.
(On the top of Shachipura)
The famous inscription at the foot of the colossal Jain monolith Gomaṭēśvara (Bāhubali) Konkani: gomṭo - pretty masc., īśvar - God at Shravanabelagola of 981 CE reads,
(Chavundaraya
got it done, Gangaraya got it done again.)
The Devanagari orthography rules for Konkani are elucidated in a book released by the Goa Konkani Academy titled kōṅkaṇī śuddhalēkhanācē nēm.
Kannada script
The Kannada script orthography rules for Konkani are elucidated in a book titled Konkani Orthography in Kannada Script released by Fr. Valerian Fernandes, a Konkani writer from Mangalore, at Thomas Stephens Konknni Kendr.
Roman script
The Roman script orthography rules for Konkani are elucidated in a book titled thomas sṭīvans koṅkaṇi kēndr Romi Lipi by writer Dr. Pratap Naik, released by Konkani singer Ullās Buyā̃v at Dalgado Konkani Academy.
Orthography rules have not as yet been standardised for Konkani in the Malayalam and Persian scripts.
Note
i. अ - करता kartā is written as korta or even corta (sometimes it is nasalised to cortam)
ii. ओ - दोन dōn is written as don.
iii. ऒ - पॊरनॆं pornẽ is written as pornem
i. आ - हांव hā̃v is written as hanv or even Anv
ii. ऍ - कॅनरा kænarā is written as Kanara or Canara.
, and also vowel nasalisation
. The precise phonetic value of the phoneme dependent on the phonological environment. Word-finally it is realized as nasalization of the preceding vowel (e.g. [bãːyi], "a well"). It results in vowel nasalization also medially between a short vowel and a non-obstruent
( [tʊ̃ʋe] "you (acc.)". It is pronounced as a homorganic nasal, with the preceding vowel becoming nasalized allophonically
, in the following cases: between a long vowel and a voiced stop ( [taːmbo] "copper", [tʃaːndiː] "silver"), between a long vowel and a voiceless stop ( [daːnt] "tooth"), and also between a short vowel and an obstruent ( [saːmbay] "to support", The last rule has two sets of exceptions where the effects only a nasalization of the preceding short vowel. Words from the first set are morphologically derived from words with a long nasalized vowel ( [mãs], "meat" In such cases the vowel is sometimes denasalized ([maːs]. The second set is composed of a few words like ( [pãʋtʃɛ̃], "to arrive".)
( According to the Schwa deletion rule in Indo-Aryan Languages
, करत आसा will be read as karat āsā and not as karta'sā as prevalent pronunciation is.)
The avagraha is also used to mark the non-elision of word-final inherent a, which otherwise is a modern orthographic convention: बैसऽ baisa "sit" versus बैस bais.
The Schwa deletion
or Schwa syncope phenomenon plays a crucial role in Konkani
and several other Indo-Aryan languages
, where schwa
s implicit in the written scripts of those languages are obligatorily deleted for correct pronunciation. Schwa syncope is extremely important in these languages for intelligibility and unaccented speech. It also presents a challenge to non-native speakers and speech synthesis
software because the scripts, including Nagar Barap, do not provide indicators of where schwas should be dropped.
This means the schwa ('ə') implicit in each consonant of the script is "obligatorily deleted" at the end of words and in certain other contexts, unlike in Sanskrit. This phenomenon has been termed the "schwa syncope rule" or the "schwa deletion rule" of Konkani. In other words, when a vowel-preceded consonant is followed by a vowel-succeeded consonant, the schwa inherent in the first consonant is deleted. However, this formalization is inexact and incomplete (i.e. sometimes deletes a schwa when it shouldn't or, at other times, fails to delete it when it should), and can yield errors. Schwa deletion is computationally important because it is essential to building text-to-speech
software for Konkani. Without the appropriate deletion of schwas, any speech output would sound unnatural.
As a result of schwa syncope, the Konkani pronunciation of many words differs from that expected from a literal Sanskrit-style rendering of Devanagari. For instance, करता is kartā not karatā, आपयता is āpaytā not āpayatā, वेद is vēd not vēda and मिरसांग is mirsāṅg not mirasāṅga.
For instance, the letter sequence ळब is pronounced differently in मळब maḷab sky and मळबार maḷbār in the sky . While native speakers correctly pronounce the sequences differently in different contexts, non-native speakers and voice-synthesis software can make them "sound very unnatural", making it "extremely difficult for the listener" to grasp the intended meaning.
Devanagari
Devanagari |deva]]" and "nāgarī" ), also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal...
: , , Roman script
Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
: , , Kannada script
Kannada script
The Kannada script is an alphasyllabary of the Brahmic family, used primarily to write the Kannada language, one of the Dravidian languages of southern India and also Sanskrit in the past. The Telugu script is derived from Old Kannada, and resembles Kannada script...
: , , Malayalam script
Malayalam script
The Malayalam script is a Brahmic script used commonly to write the Malayalam language—which is the principal language of the Indian state of Kerala, spoken by 36 million people in the world. Like many other Indic scripts, it is an abugida, or a writing system that is partially “alphabetic” and...
: ) may be any one of three alphabets currently used to write the Konkani language
Konkani language
KonkaniKonkani is a name given to a group of several cognate dialects spoken along the narrow strip of land called Konkan, on the west coast of India. This is, however, somewhat an over-generalisation. Geographically, Konkan is defined roughly as the area between the river Damanganga to the north...
.
As of 1987, the Goan Antruz dialect in the Devanagari script has been declared Standard Konkani and promulgated as an Official Language . Nevertheless, Konkani is also written in the Roman, Kannada, Malayalam and Persian scripts.
Disambiguation
Konkani is a name given to a group of several cognate dialects spoken along the narrow strip of land called Konkan, on the west coast of India. This is, however, somewhat an over-generalisation. Geographically, Konkan is defined roughly as the area between the river Damanganga to the north and river Kali to the south; the north-south length being approx. 650 km. and east-west breadth about 50 km., going unto 96 km. in some places. Major part of Konkan is in Maharashtra and naturally, most people in the area speak some dialects of Marathi. But the language spoken in Goa and further south in coastal Karnataka and in some parts of northern Kerala has its distinct features, and is rightly identified as a separate language called Konkani.History
The earliest inscription in Konkani is of the Gupta period in the 2nd century CE found at Aravalem, Goa. It reads(On the top of Shachipura)
The famous inscription at the foot of the colossal Jain monolith Gomaṭēśvara (Bāhubali) Konkani: gomṭo - pretty masc., īśvar - God at Shravanabelagola of 981 CE reads,
(Chavundaraya
Chavundaraya
Chavundraya was a military commander, poet and a minister in the court of the Western Ganga Dynasty of Talakad . A person of many talents, in 982 he commissioned the Gomateshwara, a monolithic sculpture in Shravanabelagola, an important place of pilgrimage for Jains...
got it done, Gangaraya got it done again.)
Orthography
Devanagari scriptThe Devanagari orthography rules for Konkani are elucidated in a book released by the Goa Konkani Academy titled kōṅkaṇī śuddhalēkhanācē nēm.
Kannada script
The Kannada script orthography rules for Konkani are elucidated in a book titled Konkani Orthography in Kannada Script released by Fr. Valerian Fernandes, a Konkani writer from Mangalore, at Thomas Stephens Konknni Kendr.
Roman script
The Roman script orthography rules for Konkani are elucidated in a book titled thomas sṭīvans koṅkaṇi kēndr Romi Lipi by writer Dr. Pratap Naik, released by Konkani singer Ullās Buyā̃v at Dalgado Konkani Academy.
Orthography rules have not as yet been standardised for Konkani in the Malayalam and Persian scripts.
Note
- As the Devanagari script is the official script of the Konkani language, all examples will be given in the same along with their corresponding transliteration in IAST. The reader is requested to tally the IAST codes with the corresponding letters in the other scripts from the vowel and consonant table below.
- The tabular layout of the letters is in accordance with the varṇamālā layout of Indic scripts. The Roman and Persian scripts need not adhere to this layout but have been rendered so for convenience of comparison.
Vowels
| Vowel Length Vowel length In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived duration of a vowel sound. Often the chroneme, or the "longness", acts like a consonant, and may etymologically be one, such as in Australian English. While not distinctive in most dialects of English, vowel length is an important phonemic factor in... → |
Short Vowel | Long Vowel | ||
| Guttural | अ-ಅ-അ-O-ا،ع | /ɐ/ |
आ-ಆ-ആ-A-آ | /ɑː/ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palatal | इ-ಇ-ഇ-I-? | /i/ |
ई-ಈ-ഈ-I-ي | /iː/ |
| Labial Labial Labial may refer to:*the lips*the labia *In linguistics, a labial consonant*In zoology, the labial scales... |
उ-ಉ-ഉ-U-? | /u/ |
ऊ-ಊ-ഊ-U-و | /uː/ |
| Retroflex | ऋ-ಋ-ഋ-?-? | /ɹ̩/ |
ॠ-ೠ-ൠ-?-? | /ɹ̩ː/ |
| Dental Dental The word dental is used for things pertaining to teeth and could refer to:* Dentistry, a medical profession**Dental Auxiliary*** Dental hygienist, a licensed practitioner*** Dental technician... |
ऌ-ಌ-ഌ-?-? | /l̩/ |
ॡ-ೡ-ൡ-?-? | /l̩ː/ |
| Palato-Guttural | ऍ-?-?-A-? | /æ/ |
- | |
| Palato-Guttural | ऎ-ಎ-എ-E-اے | /e/ |
ए-ಏ-ഏ-E-اے | /eː/ |
| Labio-Guttural | ऒ-ಒ-ഒ-O-او | /o/ |
ओ-ಓ-ഓ-O-او | /oː/ |
| Diphthong Diphthong A diphthong , also known as a gliding vowel, refers to two adjacent vowel sounds occurring within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: That is, the tongue moves during the pronunciation of the vowel... |
ऐ-ಐ-ഐ-Ai-اے | /ʌj/ |
औ-ಔ-ഔ-Au-او | /ʌʋ/ |
Observations
- ॠ, ऌ and ॡ are rarely used in Konkani except to render tatsam words. e.g. कॣप्त (imagined-derivative of कल्पना)
- अ, ओ and ऒ are rendered in the Roman script by O. Under Portuguese rule, the Konkani language was modified to fit the Roman syllabary system. As a result, Portuguese orthography has eliminated or deformed original Konkani sounds. e.g.
i. अ - करता kartā is written as korta or even corta (sometimes it is nasalised to cortam)
ii. ओ - दोन dōn is written as don.
iii. ऒ - पॊरनॆं pornẽ is written as pornem
- Both आ and ऍ are rendered by A in the Roman script.
i. आ - हांव hā̃v is written as hanv or even Anv
ii. ऍ - कॅनरा kænarā is written as Kanara or Canara.
- Devanagari is the only script which has a separate letter for the vowel æ, ऍ.
- The Kannada, Malayalam and Persian scripts render æ as ಯಾ, ഏ and اے respectively. e.g. बॅंक bæṅk, ಬ್ಯಾಂಕ್ byāṅk, ബേംക bēnk, بيٓنک beṅk.
- The Persian script differentiates between vowels using markers called, zer, zabar and pesh.
Consonants
| Stop Stop consonant In phonetics, a plosive, also known as an occlusive or an oral stop, is a stop consonant in which the vocal tract is blocked so that all airflow ceases. The occlusion may be done with the tongue , lips , and &... |
Nasal Nasal consonant A nasal consonant is a type of consonant produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. Examples of nasal consonants in English are and , in words such as nose and mouth.- Definition :... |
Approximant | Fricative Fricative consonant Fricatives are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate, in the case of German , the final consonant of Bach; or... |
Affricative Voiceless alveolar affricate The voiceless alveolar affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The sound is transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet with ⟨⟩ or ⟨⟩ . The voiceless alveolar affricate occurs in such languages as German, Cantonese, Italian, Russian, Japanese and Mandarin... |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voicing Voice (phonetics) Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate... → |
Un-Voiced Voice (phonetics) Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate... |
Voiced Voice (phonetics) Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate... |
Un-Voiced Voice (phonetics) Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate... |
Voiced Voice (phonetics) Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate... |
Un-Voiced Voice (phonetics) Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate... |
Voiced Voice (phonetics) Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate... |
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| Aspiration Aspiration (phonetics) In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies either the release or, in the case of preaspiration, the closure of some obstruents. To feel or see the difference between aspirated and unaspirated sounds, one can put a hand or a lit candle in front of one's mouth, and say pin ... → |
Unaspirated | Aspirated | Unaspirated | Aspirated | Unaspirated | Aspirated | Unaspirated | Aspirated | ||||||||||||
| Guttural | क-ಕ-Ka-ക-ک | /k/ |
ख-ಖ-Kha-ഖ-كھ | /kʰ/ |
ग-ಗ-Ga-ഗ-گ | /ɡ/ |
घ-ಘ-Gha-ഘ-گھ | /ɡʱ/ |
ङ-ಞ-Nga-ങ-? | /ŋ/ |
ह-ಹ-Ha-ഹ-ہ،ح | /ɦ/ |
||||||||
| Palatal | च-ಚ-Cha-ച-چ | /c/ |
छ-ಛ-Chha-ഛ-چھ | /cʰ/ |
ज-ಜ-Ja-ജ-ج | /ɟ,/ |
झ-ಝ-Jha-ഝ-جھ | /ɟʱ/ |
ञ-ಙ-Nja-ഞ-? | /ɲ/ |
य-ಯ-Ya-യ-ي | /j/ |
श-ಶ-Sha,Xa-ശ-ش | /ɕ, ʃ/ |
||||||
| Retroflex Retroflex consonant A retroflex consonant is a coronal consonant where the tongue has a flat, concave, or even curled shape, and is articulated between the alveolar ridge and the hard palate. They are sometimes referred to as cerebral consonants, especially in Indology... |
ट-ಟ-Tta-ട-ٹ | /ʈ/ |
ठ-ಠ-Ttha-ഠ-ٹھ | /ʈʰ/ |
ड-ಡ-Dda-ഡ-ڈ | /ɖ/ |
ढ-ಢ-Ddha-ഢ-ڈھ | /ɖʱ/ |
ण-ಣ-Nna-ണ-? | /ɳ/ |
र-ರ-Ra-ര-ر | /r/ |
ष-ಷ-?-ഷ-? | /ʂ/ |
||||||
| Dental | त-ತ-Ta-ത-ط،ت | /t̪/ |
थ-ಥ-Tha-ഥ-تھ | /t̪ʰ/ |
द-ದ-Da-ദ-د | /d̪/ |
ध-ಧ-Dha-ധ-دھ | /d̪ʱ/ |
न-ನ-Na-ന-ن | /n/ |
ल-ಲ-La-ല-ل | /l/ |
स-ಸ-Sa-സ-ص،س | /s/ |
||||||
| Labial Labial consonant Labial consonants are consonants in which one or both lips are the active articulator. This precludes linguolabials, in which the tip of the tongue reaches for the posterior side of the upper lip and which are considered coronals... |
प-ಪ-Pa-പ-پ | /p/ |
फ-ಫ-Pha-ഫ-پھ | /pʰ/ |
ब-ಬ-Ba-ബ-ب | /b/ |
भ-ಭ-Bha-ഭ-بھ | /bʱ/ |
म-ಮ-Ma-മ-م | /m/ |
व-ವ-Va-വ-و | /ʋ/ |
||||||||
| Alveolar Alveolar consonant Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli of the superior teeth... |
च़-?-Cha-?-? | /t͡ʃ/ |
ज़-?-Za-?-ز،ظ،ذ | /d͡ʒ/ |
||||||||||||||||
| Labiodental Voiceless labiodental fricative The voiceless labiodental fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is .-Features:Features of the voiceless labiodental fricative:... |
फ़-ಫ಼-Fa-ف | /f/ |
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| Retroflex Lateral Flap Retroflex lateral flap The retroflex lateral flap is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. It has no symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet, but an ad hoc symbol may be easily created .-Features:Features of the retroflex flap:... |
ळ-ಳ-Lla-ള-? | /ɺ̢/ |
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Observations
- ಚ and ച in the Kannada and Malayalam scripts respectively, render two sounds, (c) and (t͡ʃ).
- ಜ and ജ in the Kannada and Malayalam scripts respectively, render two sounds, (ɟ) and (d͡ʒ).
- In the Roman script, Retroflex consonant is got by simply doubling the corresponding Dental consonant. e.g. त - ta, ट - Tta.
- Roman Konkani does not distinguish between श and ष. Both are written as Sha or Xa and pronounced as श.
- Roman Konkani does not distinguish between फ and फ़. Both are normally written as F and pronounced accordingly. e.g. tomorrow फाल्लॆक (phāllek)- fallek (fāllek)
- ن nūn in the Nawayati Konkani script is not only a separate consonant, but also performs the role of the anusvāra. It indicates a homorganic nasal preceding another consonant. e.g. رنگ raṅg, انڈو aṇḍo. It also undergoes nasalisation e.g. ہازؤ hāṃv.
- ع, ayin غ ghayin and ح he in the Nawayati Konkani script are used for incorporated Perso-arabic words.
Nasal Consonants and Nasalisation
In Konkani, the ं is traditionally defined as representing a nasal consonant homorganic to a following stopStop consonant
In phonetics, a plosive, also known as an occlusive or an oral stop, is a stop consonant in which the vocal tract is blocked so that all airflow ceases. The occlusion may be done with the tongue , lips , and &...
, and also vowel nasalisation
Nasal vowel
A nasal vowel is a vowel that is produced with a lowering of the velum so that air escapes both through nose as well as the mouth. By contrast, oral vowels are ordinary vowels without this nasalisation...
. The precise phonetic value of the phoneme dependent on the phonological environment. Word-finally it is realized as nasalization of the preceding vowel (e.g. [bãːyi], "a well"). It results in vowel nasalization also medially between a short vowel and a non-obstruent
Obstruent
An obstruent is a consonant sound formed by obstructing airflow, causing increased air pressure in the vocal tract, such as [k], [d͡ʒ] and [f]. In phonetics, articulation may be divided into two large classes: obstruents and sonorants....
( [tʊ̃ʋe] "you (acc.)". It is pronounced as a homorganic nasal, with the preceding vowel becoming nasalized allophonically
Allophone
In phonology, an allophone is one of a set of multiple possible spoken sounds used to pronounce a single phoneme. For example, and are allophones for the phoneme in the English language...
, in the following cases: between a long vowel and a voiced stop ( [taːmbo] "copper", [tʃaːndiː] "silver"), between a long vowel and a voiceless stop ( [daːnt] "tooth"), and also between a short vowel and an obstruent ( [saːmbay] "to support", The last rule has two sets of exceptions where the effects only a nasalization of the preceding short vowel. Words from the first set are morphologically derived from words with a long nasalized vowel ( [mãs], "meat" In such cases the vowel is sometimes denasalized ([maːs]. The second set is composed of a few words like ( [pãʋtʃɛ̃], "to arrive".)
Avagraha (ऽ)
Konkani is one of the few modern Indo-Aryan languages to apply the avagraha beyond mere sustenance of an exclamation, cry or shout in speech. It is used by verbs in continuous tense. The avagraha is not used in Standard Konkani in the Continuous tense. Its use, is however popular and prevalent amongst the Canara Saraswats, both Gaud and Bhanap, writing in their native Amchigele dialect, in the continuous tense with the aim of conforming to the Schwa deletion rule.| Sentence | Konkani | Hindi | Gujarati | Marathi |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| He was doing | तॊ करतलॊऽशिलॊ | वह कर रहा था | ओल्हो करतो हतो | तो करत होता |
| He is doing | तॊ करतऽसा | वह कर रहा है | ओल्हो करे छे | तो करत आहे |
| He will be doing | तॊ करतलॊऽसतलॊ | वह कर रहा होगा | ओल्हो करतो हशे | तो करत असेल |
( According to the Schwa deletion rule in Indo-Aryan Languages
Schwa deletion in Indo-Aryan languages
The schwa deletion or schwa syncope phenomenon plays a crucial role in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu, Kashmiri, Punjabi, Gujarati, Maithili and several other Indo-Aryan languages, where schwas implicit in the written scripts of those languages are obligatorily deleted for correct pronunciation. Schwa...
, करत आसा will be read as karat āsā and not as karta'sā as prevalent pronunciation is.)
The avagraha is also used to mark the non-elision of word-final inherent a, which otherwise is a modern orthographic convention: बैसऽ baisa "sit" versus बैस bais.
Schwa Deletion
Schwa deletion in Indo-Aryan languages
The schwa deletion or schwa syncope phenomenon plays a crucial role in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu, Kashmiri, Punjabi, Gujarati, Maithili and several other Indo-Aryan languages, where schwas implicit in the written scripts of those languages are obligatorily deleted for correct pronunciation. Schwa...
or Schwa syncope phenomenon plays a crucial role in Konkani
Konkani language
KonkaniKonkani is a name given to a group of several cognate dialects spoken along the narrow strip of land called Konkan, on the west coast of India. This is, however, somewhat an over-generalisation. Geographically, Konkan is defined roughly as the area between the river Damanganga to the north...
and several other Indo-Aryan languages
Indo-Aryan languages
The Indo-Aryan languages constitutes a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family...
, where schwa
Schwa
In linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa can mean the following:*An unstressed and toneless neutral vowel sound in some languages, often but not necessarily a mid-central vowel...
s implicit in the written scripts of those languages are obligatorily deleted for correct pronunciation. Schwa syncope is extremely important in these languages for intelligibility and unaccented speech. It also presents a challenge to non-native speakers and speech synthesis
Speech synthesis
Speech synthesis is the artificial production of human speech. A computer system used for this purpose is called a speech synthesizer, and can be implemented in software or hardware...
software because the scripts, including Nagar Barap, do not provide indicators of where schwas should be dropped.
This means the schwa ('ə') implicit in each consonant of the script is "obligatorily deleted" at the end of words and in certain other contexts, unlike in Sanskrit. This phenomenon has been termed the "schwa syncope rule" or the "schwa deletion rule" of Konkani. In other words, when a vowel-preceded consonant is followed by a vowel-succeeded consonant, the schwa inherent in the first consonant is deleted. However, this formalization is inexact and incomplete (i.e. sometimes deletes a schwa when it shouldn't or, at other times, fails to delete it when it should), and can yield errors. Schwa deletion is computationally important because it is essential to building text-to-speech
Speech synthesis
Speech synthesis is the artificial production of human speech. A computer system used for this purpose is called a speech synthesizer, and can be implemented in software or hardware...
software for Konkani. Without the appropriate deletion of schwas, any speech output would sound unnatural.
As a result of schwa syncope, the Konkani pronunciation of many words differs from that expected from a literal Sanskrit-style rendering of Devanagari. For instance, करता is kartā not karatā, आपयता is āpaytā not āpayatā, वेद is vēd not vēda and मिरसांग is mirsāṅg not mirasāṅga.
For instance, the letter sequence ळब is pronounced differently in मळब maḷab sky and मळबार maḷbār in the sky . While native speakers correctly pronounce the sequences differently in different contexts, non-native speakers and voice-synthesis software can make them "sound very unnatural", making it "extremely difficult for the listener" to grasp the intended meaning.
Vowel nasalization
With some words that contain /n/ or /m/ consonants separated from succeeding consonants by schwas, the schwa deletion process has the effect of nasalizing any preceding vowels. Some examples in Konkani include -- jẽvaṇ => jẽvlo
Konkani Schwa Rules
- The final inherent अ is generally omitted. e.g. देव is dēv not dēva.
- In a word of three letters ending with a vowel other than the inherent अ the second consonant, if it ends in अ, then the अ of the second consonant is silenced. e.g. चॆरकॊ is cerko not cerako
- In a word of four letters ending with a vowel other than the inherent अ the second consonant, if it ends in अ, then the अ of the second consonant is silenced. e.g. उपकार is upkār not upakāra
- Verb roots always end in a consonant even if they undergo declination. e.g. आपंव +चॆं= आपंवचॆं, hence we say āpãvcẽ not āpãvacẽ , आपय+ता=आपयता, hence we say āpaytā not āpayatā
See also
- Canara Konkani
- Konkani PhonologyKonkani phonologyKonkani'Disambiguation: Konkani is a name given to a group of several cognate dialects spoken along the narrow strip of land called Konkan, on the west coast of India. This is, however, somewhat an over-generalisation. Geographically, Konkan is defined roughly as the area between the river...
- Konkani languageKonkani languageKonkaniKonkani is a name given to a group of several cognate dialects spoken along the narrow strip of land called Konkan, on the west coast of India. This is, however, somewhat an over-generalisation. Geographically, Konkan is defined roughly as the area between the river Damanganga to the north...
- Konkani Language AgitationKonkani language agitationThe Konkani language agitations were a series of agitations that happened in the Indian state of Goa during the post-Independence period...