Konkani in the Roman script, commonly known as Roman Konkani or Romi Konknni () refers to the writing of the Konkani language in the Roman script. While Konkani is written in five different scripts altogether, Roman Konkani is widely used. Roman Konkani is known to be the oldest preserved and protected literary tradition beginning from the 16th century AD.
An estimated 500,000 people use Roman Konkani. The use of Devanagari script for Konkani, which is now its official script, first occurred in AD 1187. Roman Konkani was not mandated as official script by law, for decades even after the Konkani language agitation of the 1960s. However in 2013, an ordinance passed by the Government of Goa allows the use of the Roman script alongside Devanagari Konkani and Marathi for official communication.
The terms 'Konkani in the Roman script' and 'Roman Konkani' do not merely refer to the fact that the language is written in the Roman script, but they also refer to the dialects traditionally written in this script, namely, the Bardesi (Bardes) and Saxtti (Salcette) variants as opposed to the Antruzi (Ponda) dialect written in Devanagari.
History
In the 16th century, Christian missionaries studied the Konkani language in depth. They even prepared Konkani grammar, dictionaries and studied various facets of literature. The Jesuits established the first printing press in Asia in Goa in 1556. Since then, a rich tradition of Konkani literature in the Roman script has developed. Fr. Thomas Stephens made vital contributions to the development of Roman Konkani orthography in the early 1600s. Fr. Eduardo Bruno de Souza launched the first Roman Konkani monthly titled (Lotus of The East) in 1889, in Pune. He also wrote the first Konkani novel, (Christian Home). Shenoi Goembab wrote seven Konkani books in the Roman script. Konkani literature was dominated by the Roman script before 1961. Reginaldo Fernandes (1914–1994) wrote over 200 Konkani novels in the Roman script called Romanses.
Today, Konkani in the Roman script is mainly used by the Christian community because the liturgy of the Catholic Church in Goa is entirely in the Roman script and the work of the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman is also carried out in the Roman script. However, many writers outside the Christian Community also write in Roman Konkani. Konkani in the Roman script is also used in tiatr.
There are a huge number of people who solely or primarily use the Roman script. As a result of the recognition of only the Devanagari script, the rich body of Konkani literature written in the Roman script goes unrecognized, unpromoted and unrewarded. When the Sahitya Akademi recognized Konkani in 1975 as an independent and literary language, one of the important factors was the well-preserved literary heritage of Roman Konkani. After Konkani in the Devanagari script was made the official language of Goa in 1987, the Sahitya Akademi supported only writers in the Devanagari script and writers in the Roman script (as also in the Kannada script) are not eligible for the Sahitya Akademi awards and assistance.