The Konkani people or Konkanites are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group native to the Konkan region of the Indian subcontinent. They speak various dialects of the Konkani language. Following the Konkani language agitation, Konkani became the premier official language of Goa state, while Marathi remains as the associate official language of Goa. Konkani is also spoken by populations in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Damaon, Kerala & Gujarat.A large percentage of Konkani people are bilingual.
Konkani (/ˈkɒŋkəni/ KONG-kə-nee), formerly Concani or Concanese, is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Konkani people, primarily in the Konkan region, along the western coast of India. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages mentioned in the Indian Constitution, and the official language of the Indian state of Goa. It is also spoken in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala, Gujarat as well as Damaon, Diu & Silvassa.
Konkani is a member of the Southern Indo-Aryan language group. It retains elements of Vedic structures and shows similarities with both Western and Eastern Indo-Aryan languages. The first known Konkani inscription, dated to the 2nd century AD and sometimes claimed as "Old Marathi" is the one at Arvalem; the second oldest Konkani inscription, is one of those at Shravanabelagola, dated to between 981 AD and 1117 AD, it was wrongly touted as "Old Marathi" from the time it was discovered and interpreted. Other Konkani inscriptions are found scattered across the Konkan region, especially from Kurla in Bombay (Mumbai) to Ponda, Goa.