Page:Konkani-English Dictionary (1885).djvu/9



In presenting this Dictionary, the first attempt of its kind in Konkani, to the public, it would, the Author conceives, be sufficient claim to their indulgence to state that the bulk of the work is the fruit of an extremely short acquaintance with English, and of a still shorter one with Konkani. But it should further be borne in mind that the Author has had no written materials whatever to assist him in his work. The Konkani language hitherto has existed only in the mouth of the people, and it has been part of the Author's task, first, to pick up the language by personal intercourse with them, and secondly, to endeavour to reduce it to method and uniformity. Moreover, circumstances have rendered it impossible for him to carry the manuscript, at least the English-Konkani portion of it, through the press himself, so that he has been debarred from correcting faults which he would otherwise have seen proper to correct in the course of publication.

In spite of these drawbacks, however, the Author would call attention to the fact that all the words given in the Dictionary as Konkani, with the exception of a few expressly marked, are really such. It may be urged in opposition to this statement, 1) that many of them are, if not identical with, at least very like the Canarese or Tulu equivalents; 2) that, as a matter of fact, many of them are not understood by the people themselves; 3) that the meaning of certain words, in familiar use with the common people to express certain material objects, have had