Author Archives: Nostalgoa
Kalchi Koddi
Kalchi koddi used to be a very common phrase in the days gone by. Today it may not only sound stale but it may even be considered to represent something stale. Who would opt for yesterdays curry, after all? But such wasn’t the case in those days. Kalchi koddi owes its origin to the fact … Continue reading
Words /Apellations Referring to Various Types of Relationships
Although it might be more appropriate to class this post as a vocabulary item, for practical reasons I have decided to include it here in the Spoken Konkani section. The list given below is admittedly limited to the usage mostly among Goan Catholics and not all Konkani speaking people. The reason is not that we … Continue reading
Tor for, Mhojem ghor
Tor for, mhojem ghor , is perhaps best expressed in English as “My home is my home”, despite the latter’s apparent tautology. As we all know, a home has two important qualities. First, it is a place where you are free to do what you like — of course within limits. There is a Latin proverb somewhat to that effect: … Continue reading
Using Postpositions with Nouns or Pronouns
I have written earlier about postpositions, but a little repetition here will perhaps not be out of place. Some of us are so used to prepositions in English and perhaps other European languages, that they would naturally expect an equivalent in Konkani as well, and rightly so. We do have almost an exact equivalent of that … Continue reading
Regular Conjugations — Introduction
Incorporating grammar into the vocabulary is nothing new. That is the way students of Latin learn nouns and verbs, and that little extra load on vocabulary learning more than compensates for the easy acquisition of the corresponding grammar. That is the model I have adopted here. And that, in fact, is the only way to … Continue reading
Irregular verbs: Zanno zaunk & Nokllo zaunk
Like most languages, Konkani has a number of irregular verbs. We have already seen one of them: asonk, to be. Zanno zaunk (to know) and nokllo zaunk (not to know) are two others, which are very commonly used. Zanno zaunk Singular Plural 1st Person Hanv zannom I know Ami zannonv We know 2nd Person … Continue reading
Regular Declensions — Declension 1
We are now starting with regular declensions. I have classified regular declensions by their singular and plural flex stems. If any nouns form both their flex stems in the same manner, then they belong to the same declension, irrespective of their genders or the manner in which they form their (nominative) plurals. Thus ambo and … Continue reading
Declensions of Nouns — Introduction
General rules The way to form the various inflections is to take the crude form (singular or plural, according to the cases) and then add the particular case ending. In other words, the singular case or inflection is to be formed by adding the singular case ending to the singular flex stem, and the plural … Continue reading
Conjugations — 3
Indicative Present (negative) Singular Plural 1st Person Hanv nam I am not Ami nanv We are not 2nd Person Tum nai Thou art not Tumi nant You are not 3rd Person To na, ti na, tem na He/she/it is not Te nant, teô nant, tim nant They are not Simple Past (negative) The past negatives … Continue reading
Hat pãy zhorounk
Hat-pãy zhorounk literally means to rub away or wear out one’s hands and feet. The phrase is used to portray the dedicated hard work and intense labour one may have to go through for a relatively long period of time in order to further a particular cause like bringing up children or building up an organization. The word zhorounk brings … Continue reading