RATNAGIRI

Ratnagiri lies along the Konkan coast of Maharashtra, nestled between the Arabian Sea and the Sahyadri hills. The district’s geography, marked by narrow coastal plains, forested slopes, and winding rivers, has long shaped how people live, move, and interact across the region. Over time, this land has come under the rule of several dynasties, including the Satavahanas, Vakatakas, Shilharas, Chalukyas, Kadambas, Yadavs, the Delhi Sultanate, Bahmanis, Adilshahi, the Marathas, and eventually the British. Each left behind traces of culture, custom, and language that continue to shape the district’s identity.

Today, Marathi is the most widely spoken language in Ratnagiri, as recorded in the 2011 Census. But the linguistic landscape is far from uniform. Konkani and Malwani remain active in everyday speech and cultural life, from literature and theatre to storytelling and song. Local varieties like Sangameshwari and Chandgadi are spoken in particular areas by the district’s close-knit communities.

A total of 16,15,069 people were recorded in the district during the 2011 Census. Of this population, 88.18% of the population reported Marathi as their mother tongue, making it the dominant language in the district. Urdu was the second most widely spoken language at 7.36%, followed by Hindi at 1.43%. Other languages recorded included Konkani (0.97%) and Kannada (0.57%), along with smaller populations speaking Gujarati (0.25%), Telugu (0.21%), and Kokna/Kokni/Kukna (0.16%). Smaller language groups included speakers of Lamani/Lambadi (0.16%), Marwari (0.10%), Nepali (0.08%), Banjari (0.07%), Malayalam (0.07%), Bengali (0.07%), and Bhojpuri (0.07%).

Konkani is a language predominantly spoken along the narrow strip of land called Konkan on the west coast of India, covering parts of the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and Goa. Having been shaped by a long history of contact with other languages and cultures, one of the most significant historical influences on Konkani came with the arrival of the Portuguese in Goa in the early 16th century.

Their arrival resulted in the Goan Inquisition, where the Portuguese enforced Catholicism upon Goan society. As accounted by C. J. Costa (1977), “Imprisonment, torture, death penalties, and intimidating people into exile were used by the Inquisition to enforce Catholic religious control.” They also seized and burned books written in Konkani, as they were suspected of containing teachings that deviated from Catholic practices. This resulted in the exodus of people from Goa into neighbouring states such as Maharashtra, allowing the spread of Konkani beyond previous borders.

The Portuguese are said to have forbidden the use of Konkani, mandating local people to speak Portuguese and requiring them to use it in all of their contacts. They imposed Konkani as the speech of the “uncultured”. To quote Newman, the term “Konkano” was used to describe the uncultured hicks, and Portuguese was portrayed as the language of culture and education.

Linguist Rocky Miranda (1978) posits that its suppression by the Portuguese and its lack of administrative recognition stunted its development, resulting in the language being one of oral communication and failing to develop as a literary language.

Konkani has been heavily influenced by the Portuguese language, given the colonial impositions of the Portuguese within the region for four and a half centuries. This influence is at once evident in its use. Many words that form a part of the daily, even the basic, vocabulary of Konkani are borrowed from Portuguese.

Portuguese has also influenced the word-formation processes of Konkani. One such occurrence is where the Portuguese suffix c֖a֘o (Pronounced sau) is attached to native stems of Konkani, such as:

• [tikhǝt] (native) 'pungent' + [-sau] → तिखटसौ [tikhǝtsav] 'pungency',
• [bedzar] (Persian) 'bored + [-sau] → बेजोसाओ [bedzasau] 'boredom'

The Portuguese influence on Konkani is even more subtle in some instances, for example, the sentence कित्ली वोरा ज़ालि (kitlī wəra dzaLi) is literally "how many hours have happened", which is a version of “que horas sao” in Portuguese

Marathi also had a very strong influence on the Konkani language, with a large array of words adopted within casual conversations in Konkani. This is due to the close regional proximity accompanied by the mass migration caused during the Portuguese Inquisition.

Taking into context the predominantly oral nature of the language, Konkani presents an interesting case from the point of view of variation. While still a minority language in India in terms of numbers (just about two and a half million speakers) and spoken over a small geographic area, it shows considerable variation, comprising of Kudali, Aagri, Chitpavani just within the state of Maharashtra.

Kudali is a language variety named after the village of Kudal and is primarily spoken by the people who migrated to Maharashtra from Goa and settled in the district of Ratnagiri. This variation stands midway between the Konkani variants present in Goa and Karwar and the Konkani spoken in the northern parts of Ratnagiri district and further to the north along the western coast.

It is common for words to change slightly in the way they are spoken or written, while still keeping the same meaning. These different forms of the same word are what linguists might call allomorphs. An allomorph is a variation of a word’s form, either in sound or spelling, that does not change its meaning. Such variations often happen naturally as languages are spoken in different regions or among different groups of people. In the case of Kudali, speakers use many words that come from Konkani but are pronounced differently.

Kudali, despite its similarities with Konkani, varies to a certain extent in terms and sound patterns, with words such as “anna” and “milagres” being derived from Kannada and Portuguese, respectively.

Kudali and Ratnagiri Konkani are much nearer to Marathi than the other variations, sharing words such as पडला (padlā), आज्जी (āji), and खालते (khalte).

In the question “तेचि चोडु आंगा आसा” (techi chodu aanga asa?), तेचि (techi) means “her” and आंगा (aanga) means here. The same sentence in Kudali, तेका चोडु होयसोर आसा (teka chodu hoysor asa), तेका (teka) also meaning her, but ending with a different sound, and होयसोर (hoysor) meaning here, but having an entirely different word.

Chitpavani is a language variety spoken by the Chitpavan community primarily in Ratnagiri district. As mentioned in a report from 1941 by the Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, it was quite widely used in the district until the 1940s, but as time went on, people adopted Marathi as their language with Chitpavani being regarded as almost extinct from the region, except for a very few old people in some remote villages in the district who can still speak the language.

Nowadays, efforts are being made to revive this language through various forums such as internet groups on Orkut, Yahoo, and also through various Chitpavan Mandals in Maharashtra, Goa, and Karnataka, such as the Ganpule Foundation.

Chitpavani is different from Konkani in many ways. The words, pronunciation, and sentence structures often don’t match. For example, here are some common words and how they differ between Konkani and Chitpavani:

Chitpavani also shows noticeable differences at the sentence level, with variations in structure, grammar, and choice of words. Some examples are shown below:

In the question “A snake bit me.”, both म्हाका (mhākā) and माला (mālā) mean the same thing (me), माला is influenced by the Marathi pronunciation, मला (malā).

Faith is a strong factor concerning the variation in Konkani, with the Hindu variation being highly influenced by Marathi and the Christian variation influenced by Portuguese. To quote Rocky Miranda, “Christians were more susceptible to Portuguese influence because of religious and cultural ties.”

These variations are mainly due to the migration of Hindus from Goa to Maharashtra during the Portuguese rule due to fears of forced conversion and persecution. The Christian migration of Goans to Maharashtra occurred as many of them were heavily discriminated against, with the Portuguese often directing racial slurs and terming them as “inferiors.”

As a result of these migrations and differing colonial experiences, the Konkani spoken by Hindu and Christian communities began to diverge over time. While some differences are specific to religious practices and vocabulary, many others extend into everyday life. Words related to food, clothing, family, and education often reflect the influence of Portuguese on Christian Konkani.

For example, a Hindu speaker might refer to a temple as “Devul” (देऊळ), a term shared with Marathi, whereas a Christian speaker would more likely use “igərdje”, which is influenced by the Portuguese word “igreja”. Similarly, the Hindu-speakers' word for school, “Shāɭā” (षाळा), contrasts with the Christian variant “ishkol”, derived from the Portuguese “escola”. These examples highlight how religion-based communities within Konkani-speaking populations have developed different lexical preferences shaped by historical and cultural contact. It is important to note that these are general patterns rather than strict rules, and exceptions can be found in various speech communities.

Another noticeable difference between the Hindu and Christian varieties of Konkani is the way the “h” sound is treated. In many words, the Christian variety tends to drop the “h” sound, while the Hindu variety keeps it. This may be due to the influence of Portuguese, which doesn’t use aspirated sounds (sounds made with a strong burst of breath, like bh, gh, or kh), unlike many Indian languages.

In several cases, aspirated consonants are simplified in the Christian variety. For example, the word भुर्गो (bhurgə, meaning "boy") becomes बूगो॔ (burgə), with the aspirated bh sound simplified to a plain b. Likewise, घोऊ (ghou, "husband") becomes गोऊ (gou), and खोप्टि (khopti, "hut") becomes होप्टि (hopti), showing a similar softening of the initial consonant.

In other cases, the “h” sound is dropped when it appears after a vowel, that is, when the syllable before it ends in a vowel. For instance, the word हांडी (handi, meaning "pot") becomes आंडी (andi) in the Christian variant. The “h” sound is removed. This kind of change tends to make the word flow more easily, especially when spoken quickly.

These changes are not universal, but they occur frequently enough to be considered common features of Christian Konkani. The following table shows a few examples of these variations:

Another interesting difference between the Hindu and Christian varieties of Konkani is the use of the sound “ळ” (ɭ), which is written as “ळ” in the Devanagari script. This is a special kind of “L” sound categorized by linguists as a retroflex lateral (where the tongue curls back slightly). The sound is, notably, not found in most Indo-Aryan languages but is common in Konkani and Marathi. Linguists like Dhondge and Wali (2009) suggest that this sound may have come into the language through contact with South Indian (Dravidian) languages, where it is more common.

In the Christian variety of Konkani, this sound is often not used. Instead, speakers usually replace it with a simpler “ल” (l) sound or something similar. This change, Vivek Bhat (2019) suggests, may be influenced by Portuguese, which doesn’t have the “ळ” sound. Here are a few examples that show how this happens:

This sound change is another example of how the Christian and Hindu varieties of Konkani have developed in different ways over time. While “ळ” remains common in the speech of Hindu communities, it is usually replaced in Christian speech, adding to the many small but meaningful differences between the two.

Malwani is a language variety that is spoken across the Konkan region of Maharashtra. It takes its name from the town of Malvan in Sindhudurg district, where it has historically been one of the dominant modes of communication. The variety is also noted to be spoken in Ratnagiri.

Malwani exhibits significant influence from both Konkani and Marathi, due to its geographical proximity to Goa and sustained contact with Konkani-speaking communities and Marathi speakers in adjacent areas. It is characterized by a strong oral tradition and remains primarily a spoken variety. However, it is mentioned in the volume Languages of Maharashtra (2017) that Malwani, as a language, was once used in legal contexts, specifically in padastalas (local court proceedings) as well as a language of communication among members of the panchayat.

The pronunciation patterns of Malwani, as is common with many varieties, is very distinct. There are certain variations that one might find in how some words that a Marathi speaker might find familiar have a different sound.

1. Nouns ending in 'A' in Marathi, become 'o'-ending in Malwani.

Some examples are such instances are shown in the table below:

2. Nouns ending in 'e' are pronounced 'A',

The table below shows some words following this pattern:

3. If a word ends in 'I', in Malwani, it becomes 'y', For example, समई (samaI) → समया (samaya) (metal lamp placed before the deity).

Whereas if there is 'I' in the middle of the word, it becomes 'ya', 'vi' or 'vI', For eg. बाईला (bAyala) → बाळा (bAlla) (woman) and सुवीणा (suvINa) → सुईणा (sulNa)  (midwife).

Another interesting characteristic of Malvani is when Na’ (णा) is used in place of ‘na’(ना) - तेना (tenA) → तेणा (teNA) (to them). And similarly ‘sa’ is used in place of ‘ka’ →  तेका (tekA) → तेसा (tesA) (to him/her).

One can see the sound patterns described above in many common words spoken here:

The region of Malvan comprises multiple communities like the Chitpavanis and Gaud Saraswat communities. These communities bring about some variations within Malwani.

Some of these may include:

In Chitpavani, the kinship terms end in 'Sa', For example, आईषा (AlSa) (mother), बपूषा (bApUSa) (father), भावूषा (bhAvUSa) (brother), बेहाणीषा(behaNISa) (sister). In Gaud Saraswati, verbs take 'ya' particle, e.g., आसय (Asaya) (to be), येतलय (yetalaya) (to come).

Malwani has been heavily represented in media across Marathi television as well as plays. Some famous Malwani Marathi serials are “Gaav Gaata Gazali” and “Ratris Khel Chale”. Marathi movies which had Malwani dialogues are “Haapus”, “Murder Mestri”, “Narbachi Wadi”, “Deva – Ek Atrangee“. These movies had Malwani characters and were shot in Sindhudurg.

Sangameshwari is a regional language variety spoken mainly in the Sangameshwar, Chiplun, Khed, and Lanja talukas of Ratnagiri district. According to S.V. Bondre (2017), oral folklore suggests that Sangameshwari has been in existence for approximately 300 to 350 years. Bondre states that it is often referred to as a "sociolect,” meaning it developed within specific social groups rather than being a distinct language of its own. It is spoken mainly by the Bale and Kunbi communities, as well as by many laborers in the district.

Sangameshwari vocabulary includes several words that differ significantly from other varieties of Marathi. The table below highlights some of these words:

Some words in Sangameshwari, such as “dosk” (head) and “thobad” (face), have rougher sound qualities compared to their Marathi equivalents. Similarly, "dwan" (two) replaces the more common "don", pointing to another variation.

Chandgadi is a regional language variety named after its place of origin. It is spoken in towns around Belagavi, Dodamarg, Sawantwadi, and parts of southern Ajara taluka. Chandgadi is a taluka located adjacent to Goa on one side and about 15 km from Belagavi in Karnataka on the other. Its geographical position, near both Konkani and Kannada-speaking regions, has significantly influenced its development. Within the region, it is referred to as Chandgadi Boli, and variations in speech can be observed depending on proximity to these linguistic boundaries. While the variety does not have its own written script, Nandkumar More (2017) mentions that women in the region sing many folk songs in Changadi which they call ‘gittis.’

According to Nandkumar More (2017), while Chandgadi is closely related to Marathi, it has distinct grammatical features and unique pronunciation patterns. According to Nandkumar More (2017), one of its most noticeable features lies in its distinctive “accent” and “prolongation of terminal sounds”.

Chandgadi speakers structure their sentences differently from how they would be spoken in Marathi or other related languages. For example, the phrase "Are you going?" is spoken as "jAUlesAya," which, despite being a complete sentence, sounds like a single continuous word. This sentence is actually made up of multiple parts such as jA (go), U (a stretched vowel sound), les (part of the verb structure), Aya (question marker or suffix). However, instead of distinct pauses between words, Chandgadi speech merges sounds together, making entire phrases feel like a single unit. This effect comes from the “draggin” or what linguists might call the elongation of vowel sounds, particularly in "U," "sA," and "ya," giving the speech a smooth, flowing quality.

Certain words in Chandgadi also have distinct pronunciation patterns, as seen in the table below:

These examples show vowel shifts and how sounds have been simplified in this variety. For instance, "somar" drops the "v" sound found in "somvār" (Monday), and "i:s" (twenty) is a shortened form of "vis" in Marathi.