Narayan Govind Kalelkar (11 December 1909 - 1989) was a
linguist
Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
from Maharashtra, India.
He was born in the village of Bambuli in Ratnagiri District. He received his early college education in Baroda and Mumbai with specialization in French language, and a D.Lit. Degree from a university in Paris.
He taught French language, French and Literature at Baroda Vidyapeeth, and Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan/Indo-European languages at Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute, Deccan College in Pune.
Kalelkar authored several books on linguistics in Marathi language, Marathi, they being the first of their kind in Marathi. His ''Dhwanivichar'' (ध्वनिविचार) (1955) and ''Bhasha Ani Samskruti'' (भाषा आणि संस्कृति) (1960) received Maharashtra state's literary prizes; and his ''Bhasha: Itihas Ani Bhoogol'' (भाषा: इतिहास आणि भूगोल) (1964) received a Sahitya Akademi award in 1967.
Contribution to Konkani language
Kalekar's study of Konkani Language, Konkani was instrumental in Sahitya Akademi's decision in 1975 to recognize Konkani as an independent Indian language (rather than being a dialect of Marathi).
References
20th-century Indian linguists
Marathi-language writers, Kalelkar, Narayan Govind
1909 births
1989 deaths
Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Marathi
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