A typological and areal approach to Konkani grammar

Abstract

Goan Konkani or ISO 639-3 [gom] comprises all the dialects of the Konkani language except those that come under Maharashtrian Konkani. The purpose of this study is to analyse Goan Konkani grammar from a typological perspective. It also aims at situating the language within the Indian linguistic area, not only within the Indo-Aryan family of languages but also with respect to the other major families of the subcontinent: Dravidian and Munda. The study follows the mainstream functional orientation in typological studies and draws on a description of Konkani carried out by Matthew Almeida at Georgetown University. It contains an analysis of Goan Konkani according to Greenberg´s universals and a categorization according to the features of World Atlas of Language Structures (WALS).