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Author Archives: Nostalgoa

Dekhlem moddem, aylem roddnnem

Dekhlem moddem, aylem roddnnem literally means “Saw the dead body, couldn’t help crying”. Note that the sentence has no subject, that is, it almost doesn’t matter who that person might be, suggesting that the phenomenon is a part of human nature. Dekhlem is the past definite of dekhonk which is a transtive verb meaning to … Continue reading »

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Rôchlay, Deva, Pôs

Translated literally, it says: “God, you have created me, nurture me”, though the exact sense it conveys is: God, you have created me, now how about taking care of me! Rôchlay, Deva, pôs — just three words — and so pious they almost articulate a sublime prayer! But they are loaded with some connotations and associations. The proverb is meant to describe situations wherein you choose to do … Continue reading »

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Valichea niban mhôsgak udok

Valichea niban mhôsgak udok means that the drumstick tree gets hydrated in the process of the creeper being watered. This is apparently a simple expression, but is open to somewhat differing interpretations depending on the motivation of the parties involved. Val means a creeper, any creeper; nib means an excuse; mhôsgak is the dative case of mhoxing, which … Continue reading »

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Borem mhunn borem

Borem mhunn borem literally means “good, therefore good” or, in slightly better English, “It’s good, so it’s good”. Borem is neuter singular of boro (masc), bori (fem), and both the occurrences of the word in the phrase always remain unchanged regardless of the context in which the phrase may be used. That is because borem refers to an impersonal situation which is … Continue reading »

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Regular Conjugations — Conjugation 2

As has been explained under Conjugation 1, in this system, all verbs are to be learnt with their five principal parts: The first principal part is the infinitive which is the key to most uses of the verb. The distinguishing mark of the infinitive of the second conjugation is that it ends with a consonant + unk. … Continue reading »

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Hispa bhair

Languages have their peculiarities, and it may not always be easy or even possible to translate a phrase or sentence from one language to another with complete accuracy. At times it is a question of economy of words. We have earlier mentioned the present habitual tense which is embedded so seamlessly in Konkani grammar (Please refer to … Continue reading »

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Mezaylem kellem diun filyad zôddlem

Mezaylem kellem diun filyad zôddlem literally means that one won a god-daughter by giving away a banana from the table, that is, belonging to somebody else. It is a reference to a favour one does, and takes credit for, without having to pay for it oneself, for instance by giving a gift that either belongs to somebody … Continue reading »

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Ghor-zanvuy

Ghor-zanvuy is the lucky man who for whatever reason inherits his parents-in-law’s house and property and parks himself therein. It’s quite a common practice in Goa, particularly when the wife has no brother who can be an heir to the family assets. Most often it is because his wife is the only child of her parents. … Continue reading »

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Regular Conjugations — Conjugation 1

Before we begin with the regular conjugations, there are a few points I would like to underscore. As I have mentioned earlier, in my system of Konkani grammar, every verb is presented in its five principal parts. These parts have been especially selected because practically all other tenses of that verb are derived from one of these … Continue reading »

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Regular Declensions — Declension 2

When we talk about declensions, we deal mainly with nouns (and also adjectives that are used nominally, i.e., as nouns, as in “The good, the bad and the ugly”). The second declension comprises all feminine words ending in i, with the exception of monosyllabic or disyllabic nouns (not adjectives) having a single consonant (unless it is j or … Continue reading »

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