This lively presentation was sent to me as a venture of “Batticaloa Burghers singing in three languages”. But digital commentary indicates that the words are (mostly?) Konkani … and raises questions as to where exactly this lively collective was located when they sang. SEE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=munAPKRQ0nk So, that means we are definitely in Thuppahi territory! Ole! Ole! Hai Hoyi! ………. Thuppahi.
The Comments that this event has drawn are vital and introduce important correctives
- the words & language are apparently Konkani and this singing collective could well be Goan – because one of the prevalent languages there is Konkani.
- However, there is also a Sinhala twang and twist here and there ….
So, we need intelligent and knowledgable interventions here from Batticaloa Burghers, writers with backgrounds rooted in Goa, Portugal and from those dwelling on both sides of the Palk Strait or having deep experiences there.
Well and truly a Thuppahi project.
ALSO NOTE
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvILaBS5zCI
- https://thuppahis.com/2021/03/11/the-sri-lankan-kaffrinha-as-embodiment-of-african-asian-hybridity/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka_Portuguese_Creole_Manuscript
- Callaway, John (1820). A Vocabulary, in the Ceylon Portuguese, and English Languages. Colombo: Wesleyan Mission Press. – Book teaching the basics of Sri Lanka Indo-Portuguese
- Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya: … https://thuppahis.com/2018/08/21/sri-lankan-baila-its-roots-and-variations/
- Pon Kulendiren: “Where music transcends ethnic divisions: Sinhala Nona,”21 March 2017, ……………………………………. https://thuppahi.wordpress.com/2017/03/21/where-music-transcends-ethnic-divisions-sinhala-nona/#more-24614
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A DEFINITIVE ANSWER from Professor Dennis B. McGilvray in USA, 26 May 2023 … definitive because Dennis pursued anthropological research in the Batticaloa area of the Eastern Province for many years and knows the dialects of the coastal regions in particular:
“Michael,……… My guess is that these are Goan farangis singing in Konkani. It is conceivable that a Konkani song might have traveled to Ceylon during the Portuguese period, but this strikes my ear as a modern Baila beat, not an archaic folk tune. Someone in, or from, Goa will solve this puzzle.”
My ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS
Dennis uses the word “farangi” in the plural …. that is, what we in Lanka know as “parangi”– derived , I believe, from the Farsi language of Persia and incorporated into the languages of the coastal regions of India, Sri Lanka and the Maldive Islands — often with pejorative denotations.
Ironically, the term parangi is closely linked to the pejorative “thuppahi” — and thus to the doubled denunciation thuppahiyaa/parangiyaa.
Note that “Farsï” belongs to the Indo-European language grouping and is distinct from Arabic (https://www.lingualinx.com/blog/farsi-vs-arabic-comparision#:~:text=In%20fact%2C%20Farsi%20is%20not,in%20a%20separate%20language%20family).
Note that the picture of the animated female dancer deployed in this item [now below] is taken from my presentation of Pon Kulendiren’s insightful essay.
For the implications in Sri Lankan history, visit Roberts, Raheem & Colin-Thome: People Inbetween, Ratmalana, Sarvodaya Book Publishers, 1989, pp. 5, 10-21, 140, 145, 160, 171.
Also note that the combination of authors behind this book is as “parayo” (firangi) as one could wish for …. while the two photos I deployed [now placed below these lines] depict Sinhala kaberi personnel from the Puttalum coastal area dancing to music that would have also animated the Goan Konkani personnel seen in the You Tube above. That is the beauty of captivating tunes: it transcends boundaries and animates. ….. So, say, Hayii, Hoyii … and step forth into the world ….. discarding ethnic prejudices.
