Telugu (natively తెలుగు telugu) is hypothetically classified as a Dravidian language The Dravidian family of languages includes approximately 85 languages, spoken by around 200 million people. They are mainly spoken in southern India and parts of eastern and central India as well as in northeastern Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iran, and overseas in other countries such as Malaysia and Singapore. Among them with heavy Indo-Aryan influence and is native to the Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent and other terms, is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate south of the Himalayas, forming a land mass which extends southward into the Indian Ocean^[2]. It is the official language An official language is a language that is given a special legal status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically a nation's official language will be the one used in that nation's courts, parliament and administration. However, official status can also be used to give a language a legal status, even if that language is not of Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (Telugu: ఆంధ్ర ప్రదేశ్, Āndhra Pradēś [?], [ɑːn̪d̪ʱrə prəd̪eːɕ] ), abbreviated A.P., is a state situated on the south-eastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Hyderabad. The State has the second longest, one of the largest states of India India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with 1.18 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Mainland India is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal on the and the centrally administered Yanam district of the union territory A Union Territory is a sub-national administrative division of India, in the federal framework of governance. Unlike the states of India, which have their own elected governments, union territories are ruled directly by the federal government; the President of India appoints an Administrator or Lieutenant-Governor for each territory of Puducherry Puducherry; Tamil: புதுச்சேரி , French: Pondichéry, popularly known as Pondicherry, is a Union Territory of India. It is a former French colony, consisting of four non-contiguous enclaves, or regions, and named after the largest region, Puducherry. The territory was officially known as Pondicherry until 2006 when it was. It is also one of the twenty-two scheduled languages of the Republic of India The official language of the Union is Hindi with English as a secondary official language; states in India can legislate their own official languages. Neither the Constitution of India, nor any Indian law defines any national language^[3] and was conferred the status of a Classical language The languages of India belong to several major linguistic families, the two largest being the Indo-European languages—Indo-Aryan —and the Dravidian languages (spoken by 22% of Indians). Other languages spoken in India come mainly from the Austro-Asiatic and Tibeto-Burman linguistic families, in addition to a few language isolates by the Government of India The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of a union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India. It is seated in New Delhi, the capital of India.^[4][5] The mother tongue of the majority of people of Andhra Pradesh, it is also spoken in neighbouring states like Chattisgarh Chhattisgarh (Chhattisgarhi/Hindi: छत्तीसगढ़, pronounced [tʃʰəˈtːiːsɡəɽʱ] ), a state in central India, formed when the sixteen Chhattisgarhi-speaking southeastern districts of Madhya Pradesh gained statehood on November 1, 2000. Raipur serves as its capital. It is the 10th largest state of India by area of 52,199 sq mi (, Karnataka Karnataka (Kannada: ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ, pronounced [kəɾˈnɑːʈəkɑː] ) is a state in the southern part of India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as the State of Mysore, it was renamed Karnataka in 1973, Maharashtra Maharashtra (Marathi: महाराष्ट्र mahārāṣṭra, IPA [məharaːʂʈrə] ) is a state located in the western part of peninsular India.The word Maharashtra comes from the words Maha meaning Great and Rashtra meaning Nation, thus rendering the name Maharashtra (Great Nation). It is the second most populous and third largest, Orissa Odisha , or Orissa, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Odisha was established on 1 April 1936 at Kanika Palace, Cuttack as a province in India, and consists, predominantly and Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (Tamil: தமிழ் நாடு, pronounced [t̪ɐmɨɻ n̪aːɽɯ]) is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai (formerly known as Madras). Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the States of Puducherry (Pondicherry), Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Telugu is the third most-spoken language in India India is home to several hundred languages. Most languages spoken in India belong either to the Indo-European , the Dravidian (ca. 24%), the Austroasiatic (Munda) (ca. 1.2%), or the Tibeto-Burman (ca. 0.6%) families, with some languages of the Himalayas still unclassified. The SIL Ethnologue lists 415 living languages for India (74 million native speakers according to the 2001 census) and is 15th in the Ethnologue list of most-spoken languages This list gives the most spoken languages in the world according to the Ethnologue, a widely cited reference for languages around the world. The Ethnologue is sometimes criticised for using out-of-date data, but there is no available fully authoritative source for numbers of first language speakers which uses the same criteria for counting in each worldwide.^[6]

Etymology

The etymology of Telugu is not known for certain. It is thought to have been derived from trilinga, as in Trilinga Desa, "the country of the three lingas". According to a Hindu A Hindu ( pronunciation , Devanagari: हिन्दु) is an adherent of Hinduism, a set of religious, philosophical and cultural systems that originated in the Indian subcontinent. The vast body of Hindu scriptures, divided into Śruti ("revealed") and Smriti ("remembered"), lay the foundation of Hindu beliefs, which legend, Siva as linga descended on three mountains namely, Kaleswara, Srisaila and Bhimeswara, which marked the boundaries of the Telugu country.^[7]. Trilinga Desa is the land in between these three Shiva Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and the Destroyer or transformer of the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. In the Shaiva tradition of Hinduism, Shiva is seen as the Supreme Being. In the Smarta tradition, he is regarded as one of the five primary forms of God temples namely Kaleshwaram, Srisailam and Draksharamam. Trilinga Desa forms the traditional boundaries of the Telugu region.

According to famous linguist Chenchiah, Telugu is Vikriti, that is a language formed by modification of Sanskrit Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism and Buddhism[note 1]. Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand. Sanskrit has been declared a classical language by the Government of India and Prakrit Prakrit (Sanskrit: prākṛta प्राकृत (from pra-kṛti प्रकृति)) is the name for a group of Middle Indic, Indo-Aryan languages, derived from Old Indic dialects. The word, derived from its indian root "Parikrit", itself has a flexible definition, being defined sometimes as, "original, natural, artless,. It would appear that Andhras adopted a form of Prakrit which, in course of development, became the immediate ancestor of Telugu.^[8]

History

Lexical traces in Prakrit epigraphy

The earliest traces of Telugu are found in loanwords By contrast, a calque or loan translation is a related concept, whereby it is the meaning or idiom that is borrowed rather than the lexical item itself. The word loanword is itself a calque of the German Lehnwort, while calque is a loanword from French in Prakrit Prakrit (Sanskrit: prākṛta प्राकृत (from pra-kṛti प्रकृति)) is the name for a group of Middle Indic, Indo-Aryan languages, derived from Old Indic dialects. The word, derived from its indian root "Parikrit", itself has a flexible definition, being defined sometimes as, "original, natural, artless, context in inscriptions of the final centuries BCE. Telugu was strongly influenced by a Prakrit Prakrit (Sanskrit: prākṛta प्राकृत (from pra-kṛti प्रकृति)) is the name for a group of Middle Indic, Indo-Aryan languages, derived from Old Indic dialects. The word, derived from its indian root "Parikrit", itself has a flexible definition, being defined sometimes as, "original, natural, artless,/Sanskrit Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism and Buddhism[note 1]. Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand. Sanskrit has been declared a classical language by the Government of India superstrate In linguistics, a stratum or strate is a language that influences, or is influenced by another through contact. A substratum is a language which has lower power or status than another, while a superstratum is the language that has higher power or status. Both substratum and superstratum languages influence each other, but in different ways. An from prehistoric times. Epigraphic evidence suggests that during the Satavahana dynasty, the rulers spoke Prakrit while the general population spoke an early form of Telugu.

Inscriptions containing Telugu words dated to 400 BCE were discovered in Bhattiprolu in Guntur Guntur pronunciation (Telugu: గుంటూరు, Hindi: गुंटूर, Urdu: گنٹور) is a city and a municipal corporation in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, located 40 miles (64 km) to the north and west of the Bay of Bengal. It is approximately 1,000 miles (1,600 km) to the south of the capital, New Delhi. The city has an district. The English translation of one inscription reads: "Gift of the slab by venerable Midikilayakha".^[9] Telugu words appear in the Maharashtri Prakrit Prakrit (Sanskrit: prākṛta प्राकृत (from pra-kṛti प्रकृति)) is the name for a group of Middle Indic, Indo-Aryan languages, derived from Old Indic dialects. The word, derived from its indian root "Parikrit", itself has a flexible definition, being defined sometimes as, "original, natural, artless, anthology of poems (the Gathasaptashathi) collected by the first century BCE Satavahana King Hāla.

Telugu epigraphy

The first inscription that is entirely in Telugu corresponds to the second phase of Telugu history. This inscription, dated 575 AD, was found in the Rayalaseema region and is attributed to the Renati Cholas, who broke with the prevailing custom of using Sanskrit Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism and Buddhism[note 1]. Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand. Sanskrit has been declared a classical language by the Government of India and began writing royal proclamations in the local language. During the next fifty years, Telugu inscriptions appeared in Anantapuram and other neighboring regions.

Telugu was more influenced by Sanskrit than Prakrit during this period, which corresponded to the advent of Telugu literature. This literature was initially found in inscriptions and poetry in the courts of the rulers, and later in written works such as Nannayya's Mahabharatam The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the Rāmāyaṇa. The epic is part of the Hindu itihāsa (or "history") (1022 AD).^[10] During the time of Nannayya, the literary language diverged from the popular language. This was also a period of phonetic changes in the spoken language.

Middle Ages

The third phase is marked by further stylization and sophistication of the literary language. Ketana (thirteenth century) in fact prohibited the use of spoken words in poetic works.^[10] During this period the separation of Telugu script Telugu script, an abugida from the Brahmic family of scripts, is used to write Telugu language, a South Central Dravidian Language found in the Southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh as well as several other neighboring states. The Telugu script is derived from the Telugu-Kannada script and developed independently at the same time as the Kannada from the common Telugu-Kannada script took place.^[11] Tikkana wrote his works in this script.^{[citation needed]}

Muslim rule

Telugu language has gone through a great deal of change (as did other Indian languages), progressing from medieval to modern. The language in the Telangana region was influenced much as people started to split into a distinct dialect due to Muslim influence on them: Sultanate Sultan is an Islamic title, with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", or "rulership", derived from the masdar سلطة sulṭah, meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain Muslim rule under the Tughlaq dynasty had been established earlier in the northern Deccan during the fourteenth century. South of the Krishna River The Krishna River , is one of the longest rivers in central-southern India (about 1300 km in length) (Rayalaseema region), however, the Vijayanagara empire The Vijayanagara Empire referred as the Kingdom of Bisnaga by the Portuguese, was a South Indian empire based in the Deccan Plateau. Established in 1336 by Harihara I and his brother Bukka Raya I, who identified themselves as Yadav.. The Vijayanagara Empire rose to prominence as a culmination of attempts by the southern powers against Islamic gained dominance from 1336 till the late 1600s, reaching its peak during the rule of Krishnadevaraya Tuluva Sri Krishna Deva Raya a.k.a. Krishna Raya (1509-1529 CE) was the famed Emperor of Vijayanagara empire. Presiding over the empire at its zenith, he is regarded as an icon by all Dravidians and especially the Tuluvas, Kannadigas and Telugus., one of the great emperors of India. Emperor Krishna Deva Raya also earned the titles Kannada Rajya in the sixteenth century, when Telugu literature experienced what is considered to be its golden age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology and legend and refers to the first in a sequence of four or five (or more) Ages of Man, in which the Golden Age is first, followed in sequence, by the Silver, Bronze, and Iron Ages, and then the present, a period of decline. By extension "Golden Age" denotes a period of primordial peace,.^[10] Padakavithapithamaha, Annamayya, contributed many atcha (pristine) Telugu Padaalu to this great language. In the latter half of the seventeenth century, Muslim rule extended further south, culminating in the establishment of the princely state of Hyderabad Hyderābād state pronunciation (Telugu: హైదరాబాదు, Urdu: حیدر آباد) was the largest princely state in the erstwhile British Indian Empire. It was located in the south-central region of the Indian subcontinent, and was ruled, from 1724 until 1948, by a hereditary Nizam. The Berar region of the state was merged with the by the Asaf Jah dynasty in 1724. This heralded an era of Persian Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is widely spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and to some extent in Iraq, Bahrain, and Oman. New Persian, which usually is called also by the names of Farsi, Parsi, Dari or Parsi-ye-Dari (Dari Persian), can be classified linguistically/Arabic Arabic (العربية al-ʿarabīyah, ( Arabic pronunciation ) or عربي ʿarabī) is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages such as Hebrew and the Neo-Aramaic languages. Arabic has more speakers than any other language in the Semitic language family. It is spoken by more than 280 million influence on the Telugu language, especially among the people of Hyderabad Hyderābād state pronunciation (Telugu: హైదరాబాదు, Urdu: حیدر آباد) was the largest princely state in the erstwhile British Indian Empire. It was located in the south-central region of the Indian subcontinent, and was ruled, from 1724 until 1948, by a hereditary Nizam. The Berar region of the state was merged with the. The effect is also felt in the prose of the early 19th century, as in the Kaifiyats.^[10]

Colonial period

The period of the late nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries saw the influence of the English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into South-East Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria. Following the economic, political, military, scientific, cultural, and colonial influence of Great Britain and the United Kingdom from the 18th century, and of and modern communication/printing press as an effect of the British rule The British Raj is the name given to the period of British colonial rule in South Asia between 1858 and 1947; it can also refer to the dominion itself, and even the region under the rule. The region, commonly called India in contemporary usage, included areas directly administered by Britain, as well as the princely states ruled by individual, especially in the areas that were part of the Madras Chennai , formerly known as Madras (Tamil: மெட்ராஸ்AKA மதறாஸ்),(Hindi: मद्रास), is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the fifth most populous city in India. Located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal, Chennai city had a Presidency. Literature from this time had a mix of classical and modern traditions and included works by scholars like Kandukuri Viresalingam and Panuganti Lakshminarasimha Rao.^[10]

Since the 1930s, what was considered an elite literary form of the Telugu language has now spread to the common people with the introduction of mass media Mass media denotes a section of the media specifically designed to reach a large audience. The term was coined in the 1920s with the advent of nationwide radio networks, mass-circulation newspapers and magazines. However, some forms of mass media such as books and manuscripts had already been in use for centuries like movies A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a story conveyed with moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects. The process of filmmaking has developed into an art form and industry, television Television is a widely used telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images, either monochromatic ("black and white") or color, usually accompanied by sound. "Television" may also refer specifically to a television set, television programming or television transmission. The word is derived from mixed Latin, radio Radio is the transmission of signals by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space. Information is carried by systematically changing some property of the radiated waves, such as and newspapers A newspaper is a regularly scheduled publication containing news, information, and advertising. By 2007 there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a day (55 million in the U.S). The worldwide recession of 2008, combined with the rapid growth of web-based alternatives, caused a serious decline in advertising and. This form of the language is also taught in schools and colleges as a standard.

Post-Independence

Telugu is one of the 22 official languages of India. The Andhra Pradesh Official Language Act, 1966, declares Telugu to be the official language of Andhra Pradesh. This enactment was implemented by GO Ms No 420 in 2005.^[12][13]

Telugu also has official language status in the Yanam District of the Union Territory A Union Territory is a sub-national administrative division of India, in the federal framework of governance. Unlike the states of India, which have their own elected governments, union territories are ruled directly by the federal government; the President of India appoints an Administrator or Lieutenant-Governor for each territory of Puducherry Puducherry; Tamil: புதுச்சேரி , French: Pondichéry, popularly known as Pondicherry, is a Union Territory of India. It is a former French colony, consisting of four non-contiguous enclaves, or regions, and named after the largest region, Puducherry. The territory was officially known as Pondicherry until 2006 when it was.

Geographic distribution

Telugu is mainly spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh and Yanam district of Puducherry as well as in the neighboring states of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, some parts of Jharkhand and the Kharagpur region of West Bengal in India. It is also spoken in the United States, where the Telugu diaspora numbers more than 800,000; as well as in Australia, New Zealand, Bahrain, Canada, Fiji, Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, Ireland, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom, where there is also a considerable Telugu diaspora. Telugu is the third most spoken language in the Indian subcontinent after Hindi and Bengali.^[6]

Dialects

Waddar,^[14] Chenchu,^[15] Savara,^[16] and Manna-Dora^[17] are all closely related to Telugu.^[18] Dialects of Telugu are Berad, Dasari, Dommara, Golari, Kamathi, Komtao, Konda-Reddi, Salewari, Telangana, Warangal, Mahaboob Nagar (Palamuru), Gadwal (Rayalaseema mix), Narayana peta (Kannada and Marathi influence), Vijayawada, Vadaga, Srikakula, Visakhapatnam, Toorpu (East) Godavari, Paschima (West) Godavari, Kandula, Rayalaseema, Nellooru, Prakasam, Guntooru, Tirupati, Vadari and Yanadi (Yenadi).^[19]

In Tamil Nadu the Telugu dialect is classified into Salem, Coimbatore, and Chennai Telugu dialects. It is also widely spoken in Virudhunagar, Tuticorin, Madurai and Thanjavur districts. Along with the most standard forms of Indian languages like Tamil, Kannada, Hindi, Bangla, Gujarati, Oriya and Marathi, Standard Telugu is often called a Shuddha Bhaasha ("pure language").

Phonology

British authors in the 19th century called Telugu the Italian of the East as all the words in Telugu end with a vowel sound, but it is believed that Italian explorer Niccolò Da Conti coined the phrase in the fifteenth century. Conti visited Vijayanagara empire during the reign of Vira Vijaya Bukka Raya in 1520s.

As in Turkish, Hungarian and Finnish, Telugu words have vowels in inflectional suffixes harmonised with the vowels of the preceding syllable.

Achchulu అచ్చులు (vowels)

Like other major Dravidian languages, the Telugu vowel set includes short /e/ and /o/ as well as the long /eː/ and /oː/ of the Indo-Aryan languages.

Hallulu హల్లులు (consonants)

Ankelu అంకెలు (Numbers)

1 ౧ 2 ౨ 3 ౩ 4 ౪ 5 ౫ 6 ౬ 7 ౭ 8 ౮ 9 ౯ 0 ౦

The letters for the consonants correspond one-to-one to the set in Sanskrit.

There are two exceptions to the general correspondence of Sanskrit and Telugu consonants in their written form. One is the historical form of /r/ ఱ. The other is the retroflex lateral ళ /ɭ/.

The table below indicates the articulation of consonants in Telugu.

Grammar

Every Telugu grammatical rule is laboriously deduced from a Sanskrit canon.^[21]

In Telugu, Karta కర్త (nominative case or the doer), Karma కర్మ (object of the verb) and Kriya క్రియ (action or the verb) follow a sequence (Subject Object Verb). Telugu also has the Vibhakthi విభక్తి ([1]) tradition.

Inflection

Telugu uses many morphological processes to join words together, forming complex words. These processes are traditionally referred to as sandhi (from Sanskrit, "combination").

For example, ati + uttamam gives the word atyuttamam.

These rules are defined under various types of సంధి (sandhi) and సమాసము (samasamu). According to these rules any two words or two letters or a word and a letter to be united to form a single word should be satisfying certain criteria.

Hence, Telugu words can often be broken down into words or letters which carry a complete meaning themselves. Vice-versa, many words and letters can be combined to make a complex word that can carry more complex meaning which can be equated to a complete phrase or even a sentence when translated to English.

Ex: Nuvvostanante is formed from individual words Nuvvu,Vastanu,Ante which can be loosely translated into English as "if you say you will come".

Reduplication, the repetition of words or syllables is done to create new or emphatic meanings (e.g., pakapaka ‘suddenly bursting out laughing,’ garagara ‘clean, neat, nice’).

Telugu is often considered an agglutinative language, where certain syllables are added to the end of a noun in order to denote its case:

These agglutinations apply to all nouns generally in the singular and plural.

Here is how other cases are manifested in Telugu:

Location

^{[clarification needed]}

Motion

^{[clarification needed]}

Morphosyntactic alignment

^{[clarification needed]}

Relation

^{[clarification needed]}

Polyagglutination

While the examples given above are single agglutinations, Telugu allows for polyagglutination, a feature of being able to add multiple suffixes to words to denote more complex features:

For example, one can affix both "నుంచి; nunchi - from" and "లో; lo - in" to a noun to denote from within. An example of this: "రాములోనుంచి; ramuloninchi - from within Ramu".

Here is an example of a triple agglutination: "వాటిమధ్యలోనుంచి; vāṭimadʰyalōninchi - from in between them".

Inclusive and exclusive pronouns

Telugu, in common with other Dravidian languages, distinguishes between inclusive and exclusive we. The bifurcation of the First Person Plural pronoun (we in English) into inclusive (మనము; manamu) and exclusive (మేము; mēmu) versions can also be found in Tamil and Malayalam, although it is not used in modern Kannada.

Gender

Telugu pronouns follow the systems for gender and respect (T-V distinction) also found in other Indian languages. The second person plural మీరు /miːru/ is used in addressing someone with respect, and there are also respectful third personal pronouns (ఆయన /ɑːjana/ m. and ఆవిడ /ɑːvɪɽa/ f.) pertaining to both genders. Telugu uses the same forms for singular feminine and neuter genders — the third person pronoun (అది /ad̪ɪ/) is used to refer to animals and objects.^{[22][23][clarification needed]}

Vocabulary

Telugu has high percentage of Sanskrit words. It also contains, to a lesser extent, Arabic and Persian words such as "maidanam" (maydan in Arabic), "kalam" (qalam in Arabic) and "Bazaar" (originally Persian word). Today, Telugu is classified as a Dravidian language characterized by a significant presence of Sanskrit loan words.

The vocabulary of Telugu, especially in Hyderabad and its surrounding region, has a trove of Persian-Arabic borrowings, which have been modified to fit Telugu phonology. This was due to centuries of Muslim rule in these regions, such as the erstwhile kingdoms of Golkonda and Hyderabad. (e.g. కబురు, /kaburu/ for Urdu /xabar/, خبر or జవాబు, /ɟavɑːbu/ for Urdu /ɟawɑːb/, جواب)

Modern Telugu vocabulary can be said to constitute a diglossia, because the formal, standardized version of the language, heavily influenced by Sanskrit, is taught in schools and used by the government and Hindu religious institutions. However, everyday Telugu varies depending upon region and social status. There is a large and growing middle class whose Telugu is substantially interspersed with English. Popular Telugu, especially in urban Hyderabad, spoken by the masses and seen in movies that are directed towards the masses, includes both English and Hindi/Urdu influences.

Writing system

The famous Muslim historian and scholar of 10th century, Al-Biruni referred to Telugu language and script as "Andhri".^[24]

Telugu script is written from left to right and consists of sequences of simple and/or complex characters. The script is syllabic in nature - the basic units of writing are syllables. Since the number of possible syllables is very large, syllables are composed of more basic units such as vowels (“achchu” or “swar”) and consonants (“hallu” or “vyanjan”). Consonants in consonant clusters take shapes which are very different from the shapes they take elsewhere. Consonants are presumed to be pure consonants, that is, without any vowel sound in them. However, it is traditional to write and read consonants with an implied 'a' vowel sound. When consonants combine with other vowel signs, the vowel part is indicated orthographically using signs known as vowel “maatras”. The shapes of vowel “maatras” are also very different from the shapes of the corresponding vowels.

The overall pattern consists of sixty symbols, of which 16 are vowels, three vowel modifiers, and forty-one consonants. Spaces are used between words as word separators.

The sentence ends with either a single bar | (“purna virama”) or a double bar || (“deergha virama”). Traditionally, in handwriting, Telugu words were not separated by spaces. Modern punctuation (commas, semicolon, etc.) were introduced with the advent of print.^[25]

There is a set of symbols for numerals, though Arabic numbers are typically used.

Telugu is assigned Unicode codepoints: 0C00-0C7F (3072-3199).^[26]

Carnatic music

Thanjavur was the heart of the Tamil Chola dynasty (from the 9th century to the 13th), but in the second quarter of the sixteenth century a Telugu Nayak viceroy (Raghunatha Nayaka) was appointed by the emperor of Vijayanagara, thus establishing a court whose language was Telugu. Telugu Nayaka rulers acted as the governors in the present day Tamil Nadu area with headquarters at Thanjavur (1530-1674 CE) and Madurai (1530-1781 CE). After the collapse of Vijayanagar, Thanjavur and Madurai Nayaks became independent and ruled for the next 150 years until they were replaced by Marathas. This was the period when several Telugu families migrated from Andhra and settled down in Thanjavur and Madurai in Tamilnadu. Most of the great composers of Carnatic music belonged to these families. Telugu, a language ending with vowels, giving it a mellifluous quality, was also considered suitable for musical expression. Of the trinity of Carnatic music composers, Tyagaraja's and Syama Sastri's compositions were largely in Telugu, while Muthuswami Dikshitar a Tamil composer is noted for his Sanskrit texts. Tyagaraja is remembered both for his devotion and the bhava of his krithi, a song form consisting of pallavi, (the first section of a song) anupallavi (a rhyming section that follows the pallavi) and charanam (a sung stanza which serves as a refrain for several passages in the composition). The texts of his kritis are almost all in Sanskrit, in Telugu (the contemporary language of the court). This use of a living language, as opposed to Sanskrit, the language of ritual, is in keeping with the bhakti ideal of the immediacy of devotion. Sri Syama Sastri, the oldest of the trinity, was taught Telugu and Sanskrit by his father, who was the pujari (Hindu priest) at the Meenakshi temple in Madurai of Tamilnadu. Syama Sastri's texts were largely composed in Telugu, widening their popular appeal. Some of his most famous compositions include the nine krithis, Navaratnamaalikā, in praise of the goddess Meenakshi at Madurai, and his eighteen krithi in praise of Kamakshi. As well as composing krithi, he is credited with turning the svarajati, originally used for dance, into a purely musical form.

Literature

Telugu literature is generally divided into six periods:

In the telugu literature Tikkana was given agraasana(top position) by many famous critics. In the earliest period there were only inscriptions from 575 AD onwards. Nannaya's (1022–1063) translation of the Sanskrit Mahabharata into Telugu is the piece of Telugu literature as yet discovered. After the death of Nannaya, there was a kind of social and religious revolution in the Telugu country.^[27]

Tikkana (thirteenth century) and Yerrapregada (fourteenth century) continued the translation of the Mahabharata started by Nannaya. Telugu poetry also flourished in this period, especially in the time of Srinatha.

During this period, some Telugu poets translated Sanskrit poems and dramas, while others attempted original narrative poems. The popular Telugu literary form called the Prabandha evolved during this period. Srinatha (1365–1441) was the foremost poet, who popularised this style of composition (a story in verse having a tight metrical scheme). Srinatha's Sringara Naishadham is particularly well-known.

The Ramayana poets may also be referred in this context. The earliest Ramayana in Telugu is generally known as the Ranganatha Ramayana, authored by the chief Gona budhdha Reddy. The works of Pothana (1450–1510), Jakkana (second half of the fourteenth century) and Gaurana (first half of the fifteenth century) formed a canon of religious poetry during this period. Padakavitha Pithamaha, Annamayya, contributed many original Telugu Paatalu (Songs) to the language.

The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries CE is regarded as the "golden age" of Telugu literature. Krishnadevaraya's Amukthamalayadha, and Pedhdhana's Manucharithra are regarded as Mahaakaavyaas. Telugu literature flourished in the south in the traditional "samsthanas" (centres) of Southern literature, such as Madurai and Tanjore. This age is often referred to as the Southern Period. There were also an increasing number of poets in this period among the ruling class, women and non-Brahmins who popularised indigenous (desi) meters.

With the conquest of the Deccan by the Mughals in 1687, Telugu literature entered a lull. Tyagaraja's compositions are some of the known works from this period. Then emerged a period of transition (1850–1910), followed by a long period of Renaissance. Europeans like C.P. Brown played an important role in the development of Telugu language and literature. In common with the rest of India, Telugu literature of this period was increasingly influenced by European literary forms like the novel, short story, prose and drama.

Paravastu Chinnayya Soori (1807–1861) is a well-known Telugu writer who dedicated his entire life to the progress and promotion of Telugu language and literature. Sri Chinnayasoori wrote the Bala Vyakaranam in a new style after doing extensive research on Andhra grammar. Other well-known writings by Chinnayasoori are Neethichandrika, Sootandhra Vyaakaranamu, Andhra Dhatumoola, and Neeti Sangrahamu.

Kandukuri Veeresalingam (1848–1919) is generally considered to be the father of modern Telugu literature.^[28] His novel Rajasekhara Charitamu was inspired by the Vicar of Wakefield. His work marked the beginning of a dynamic of socially conscious Telugu literature and its transition to the modern period, which is also part of the wider literary renaissance that took place in Indian culture during this period. Other prominent literary figures from this period are Gurajada Appa Rao, Viswanatha Satyanarayana, Gurram Jashuva, Rayaprolu Subba Rao, Devulapalli Krishnasastri and Srirangam Srinivasa Rao, popularly known as Mahakavi Sri Sri. Sri Sri was instrumental in popularising free verse in spoken Telugu (vaaduka bhasha), as opposed to the pure form of written Telugu used by several poets in his time. Devulapalli Krishnasastri is often referred to as the Shelley of Telugu literature because of his pioneering works in Telugu Romantic poetry.

Viswanatha Satyanarayana won India's national literary honour, the Jnanpith Award for his magnum opus Ramayana Kalpavrikshamu.^[29] C. Narayana Reddy also received the award for his contributions to Telugu literature.^[30] Kanyasulkam, the first social play in Telugu by Gurajada Appa Rao, was followed by the progressive movement, the free verse movement and the Digambara style of Telugu verse. Other modern Telugu novelists include Unnava Lakshminarayana (Maalapalli), Bulusu Venkateswarulu (Bharatiya Tatva Sastram), Kodavatiganti Kutumba Rao and Buchi Babu.^[10] Gunturu Seshendra Sarma, a well known Telugu poet, has been a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award. He is best known for his work, Na Desham, Na Prajalu (My country, My people) which was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature 2004. His works have been translated into many languages. He wrote under the pen name "Seshen".

Quotes on Telugu

• "Desa bhashalandu Telugu Lessa" ("Among the nation's languages, Telugu is the best") - Sri Krishnadeva Raya.^[31]

• "...Telugu can be referred as "Italian of the East" because Telugu is the only language other than Italian where every word ends in a vowel. This gives the language an enchanting lilting quality when spoken." - Niccolo de Conti, 16th century Italian traveler ^[32]

• "...Among these five languages, the Telinga appears to be most polished, and though confessedly a difficult language, it must be numbered among those which are the most worthy of cultivation; its varierty of inflection being such as to give it a capacity of expressing ideas with high degree of facilty, justness and elegance..." — by Rev. W.Carey (April 9, 1814).^[33]

• "suMdara teluMgiL paaTisaitu"(Let us sing in Sweet Telugu)" - Subramanya_Bharathi, famous tamil Poet

See also

• Cinema of Andhra Pradesh
• List of Indian languages by total speakers
• List of Telugu language television channels
• States of India by Telugu speakers
• List of Telugu loanwords

References

1. ^ "Languages Spoken by More Than 10 Million People". Encarta. MSN.com. http://encarta.msn.com/media_701500404/Languages_Spoken_by_More_Than_10_Million_People.html. Retrieved 17 October 2009.
2. ^ Velcheru Narayana Rao; David Shulman. Classical Telugu Poetry (2 ed.). The Regents of the University of California
3. ^ "Image of Indian languages and total speakers". http://www.ciil.org/Main/Languages/indian.htm. Retrieved 2007-02-13.
4. ^ "Declaration of Telugu and Kannada as classical languages". Press Information Bureau. Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Government of India. http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=44340. Retrieved 2008-10-31.
5. ^ "Telugu gets classical status". Times of India. 2008-10-01. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Hyderabad/Telugu_gets_classical_status/articleshow/3660521.cms. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
6. ^ ^{a b} "Scheduled Languages in Descending Order of Speakers' Strength". 2001 Census. Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India. http://web.archive.org/web/20071130133941/http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Language/Statement4.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
7. ^ History of Kannada language: readership lectures By R. Narasimhacharya
8. ^ Chenchiah, P.; Rao, Raja Bhujanga (1988). A History of Telugu Literature. Asian Educational Services. p. 16. ISBN 8120603133.
9. ^ The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Telugu is 2,400 years old, says ASI "The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has joined the Andhra Pradesh Official Languages Commission to say that early forms of the Telugu language and its script indeed existed 2,400 years ago"
10. ^ ^{a b c d e f} APonline - History and Culture-Languages
11. ^ Krishnamurti, Bhadriraju (2003). The Dravidian Languages. Cambridge University Press. pp. 78–79. ISBN 0521771110.
12. ^ Rao, M. Malleswara (September 18, 2005), "Telugu declared official language", The Hindu (Online edition), http://www.hindu.com/2005/09/18/stories/2005091803740600.htm, retrieved 2007-07-16
13. ^ APonline — History and Culture — History-Post-Independence Era
14. ^ 1.9 million speakers as of 2001. "Waddar". Ethnologue. http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=wbq. Retrieved 2007-12-06.
15. ^ 29,000 speakers as of 1981. "Chenchu". Ethnologue. http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=cde. Retrieved 2007-12-06.
16. ^ 20,000 speakers as of 2000. "Savara". Ethnologue. http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=svr. Retrieved 2007-12-06.
17. ^ 19,000 speakers as of 1981. "Manna-Dora". Ethnologue. http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=mju. Retrieved 2007-12-06.
18. ^ "Dravidian, South-Central, Telugu". Ethnologue. http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=91839. Retrieved 2007-12-06.
19. ^ "Telugu". Ethnologue. http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=tel. Retrieved 2007-12-06.
20. ^ Telugulo Chandovisheshaalu, Page 127.
21. ^ Charles Philip Brown. A Grammar of the Telugu language. Kessinger Publishing. p. 266
22. ^ Albert Henry Arden (1873). A progressive grammar of the Telugu language. Society for promoting Christian knowledge. p. 57. http://books.google.com/?id=tW8IAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA57&dq=neuter+feminine.
23. ^ Charles Philip Brown (1857). A grammar of the Telugu language (2 ed.). Christian Knowledge Society's Press. p. 39. http://books.google.com/?id=pnAIAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA39&dq=feminine.
24. ^ Ancient India: English translation of Kitab-ul Hind by Al-Biruni, National Book Trust, New Delhi
25. ^ Brown, Charles Philip (1857). A Grammar of the Telugu Language. London: W. H. Allen & Co.. pp. 5. ISBN 812060041X.
26. ^ United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names; United Nations Statistical Division (2007). Technical Reference Manual for the Standardization of Geographical Names. United Nations Publications. pp. 110. ISBN 9211615003.
27. ^ Chenchiah, P.; Rao, Raja Bhujanga (1988). A History of Telugu Literature. Asian Educational Services. ISBN 8120603133.
28. ^ Sarma, Challa Radhakrishna (1975). Landmarks in Telugu Literature. Lakshminarayana Granthamala. pp. 30.
29. ^ Datta, Amaresh; Lal, Mohan (1991). Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature. Sahitya Akademi. pp. 3294.
30. ^ George, K.M. (1992). Modern Indian Literature, an Anthology. Sahitya Akademi. pp. 1121. ISBN 8172013248.
31. ^ India Times
32. ^ http://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=19&c=18
33. ^ Carey, William (1914). A Grammar of the Telinga Language. Serampore: Mission-Press.

Bibliography

• Albert Henry Arden, A progressive grammar of the Telugu language‎ (1873).
• Charles Philip Brown, English-Telugu dictionary (1852; revised ed. 1903; online edition)
• Charles Philip Brown, A grammar of the Telugu language‎ (1857)
• P. Percival , Telugu-English dictionary: with the Telugu words printed in the Roman as well as in the Telugu Character‎ (1862, google books edition)
• Gwynn, J. P. L. (John Peter Lucius). A Telugu-English Dictionary Delhi; New York: Oxford University Press (1991; online edition).
• Uwe Gustafsson, An Adiwasi Oriya-Telugu-English dictionary, Central Institute of Indian Languages Dictionary Series, 6. Mysore: Central Institute of Indian Language (1989).
• Vēlcēru Nārāyaṇarāvu, David Dean Shulman, Velcheru Narayana Rao, Classical Telugu poetry: an anthology‎ (2002).
• Callā Rādhākr̥ṣṇaśarma, Landmarks in Telugu literature: a short survey of Telugu literature‎ (1975).

External links

• 'తెలుగు'- పద్దెనిమిది కోట్ల హృదయాల చప్పుడు!.
• Telugu Online(TOL)- Global Telugu Community Portal.
• TeluguThesis - A place for telugu books.
• Ethnologue report for Telugu
• Hints and resources for learning Telugu
• Telugu Language & Literature
• English to Telugu online dictionary
• Shabdkosh English to Telugu online dictionary
• Telugu website
• Website of Prof. Susumu Kuno of Harvard University

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