Variations in Bhanap Konkani

Regional variations

One can identify variants at a (federal) state level – where the language has borrowed certain words from the majority language of the state. For example, aamci speakers in Maharashtra have adopted certain words from Marathi, whereas speakers in Karnataka have adopted words from Kannada. Take for instance the I'm well response to How are you? – in families settled in Maharashtra you are likely to hear haanhvanh baraw aassa [1] , whereas in families settled in Karnataka you are likely to hear haanhvanh ushaar aassa . That's because the respective word for well – baraw or ushaar – is derived from its counterpart in Marathi or Kannada respectively. Sometimes, words may also be borrowed from Goan Konkani, which sounds quite different to aamci (though a familial resemblance is discernible).

Even within Karnataka State, where many Bhanaps live, there are differences between the languages spoken in North Kanara (Uttara Kannada district) and South Kanara (Mangalore and Udipi districts). The Southerners are called tenkikaar or tenkaanci and their variant tenki, whereas the Northerners are called baDgikaar or baDgaanci and their variant baDgi. The former variant is somewhat closer to Kannada and the latter to Goan Konkani and Marathi.

The following is an (incomplete!) list of words which vary between tenki and baDgi flavours of aamci.

(credit for many of these examples goes to this blog post).

Note: baDgi is not to be confused with byeDgi, a type of chilli used to impart a deep red colour, but little heat, to various aamci dishes.

How do variations arise?

Within a given locality and even within an extended family, there are sometimes variations seen in the way aamci is spoken. In general, due to intermarriage between families harking from different backgrounds, a family may have members brought up in Maharashtra as well as Karnataka, and from tenki as well as baDgi traditions. The children in these families will learn aamci hearing all of the differing variations described in the preceding sections. If a particular word is learned from the parents, it is considered by the children as being part of aamci. If, however, a word for a concept or thing isn't known to family members or taught to the children, they will cast about for a suitable word, and most likely use one from the majority community where they live. (This will be particularly true for words relating to transactions taking place outside the family, such as in the commercial and professional spheres.) When such words are taught to children in the next generation, they become part of that generation's "one true aamci" and cemented into daily usage by and by.

From the preceding, it makes sense to consider aamci as the sum total of all these traditions, treating the differing vocabularies as equally-valid alternatives to each other.

More localised variations

In addition to the larger-scale variations, there are also smaller variations that arise in family units, probably due to the analogue of random mutation in genetics: individuals have idiosyncratic pronunciations that get passed on and then become more widespread. An analogue of this in English-speaking circles is the mutation of "ask" to "aks" where some people will consistently always use the latter form, even though they must hear the other pronunciation all the time. In aamci speakers, an example is where one usually says haanhvanh kartaanh but some speakers lose the nasal intonation at the end and substitute kartaa for kartaanh . Another example of this type of variation is the use of a yaa sound instead of the A sound, so that the pronoun hA ("this") would be pronounced as hyaa . Sometimes these variations affect things such as whether certain consonants in particular words are extended. For example, notice the slight differences of pronunciation in this clip with two versions of a word where the first is transliterated daakhoncAnh and the second daakhkhoncAnh (the act of showing).