Books
The
Doctrina Christi, published in 1622 by the British missionary Fr. Thomas
Stephens, was the first book in Konkani. Believed to be the first printed
book in an Asian language, this book uses the Roman script. In 1640 Stephens
also published Arte da Lingoa Canarim, a Konkani grammar book written
in 1580. The Devanagari script was first used in 1675 in a treatise on
Ayurveda. The first newspaper in Konkani, O Konkani, was started in 1886.
Presently, Konkani also uses the Kannada as well as the Arabic scripts.
(Courtesy: http://theory.tifr.res.in/bombay/history/ethnic/konkani.html
)
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