Telugu language

Telugu (/ˈtɛlʊɡuː/;[6] తెలుగు, Telugu pronunciation: [ˈt̪ eluɡu]) is

a classical Dravidian language native to the Indian states of
Telugu
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where it is also the official తెలుగు
language. Spoken by about 96 million people (2022),[7]
Telugu is the most widely spoken member of the Dravidian
language family, and one of the twenty-two scheduled
languages of the Republic of India.[8] It is one of the few
languages that has primary official status in more than one The word "Telugu" in Telugu script
Indian state, alongside Hindi and Bengali.[9] Telugu is one of
Pronunciation [ˈteluɡu]
the languages designated as a classical language by the
Government of India. It is the 14th most spoken native Native to India
language in the world.[10] Modern Standard Telugu is based Region
Andhra Pradesh
on the dialect of erstwhile Krishna, Guntur, East Godavari
Telangana
and West Godavari districts of Coastal Andhra.[14]
Yanam
Telugu is also spoken in the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Ethnicity Telugu
Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and the union territories of L1: 83 million (2011
Speakers
Puducherry and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It is also census)[1][2]
spoken by members of the Telugu diaspora spread across L2: 13 million (2011
countries like United States, Australia, Malaysia, Mauritius, census)[1]
UAE, Saudi Arabia and others.[15][16] Telugu is the fastest- Language family Dravidian
growing language in the United States.[17] It is also a Southern
protected language in South Africa and is offered as an
optional third language in schools in KwaZulu-Natal Southern II[3]

province.[18] Telugu
Early forms Old Telugu
According to Mikhail S. Andronov, Telugu split from the
Proto-Dravidian language around 1000 BCE.[19][20] The Middle Telugu
earliest Telugu words appear in Prakrit inscriptions dating to Dialects see Telugu dialects
c. 4th century BCE, found in Bhattiprolu, Andhra Writing system Telugu script
Pradesh.[21][22] Telugu label inscriptions and Prakrit Telugu Braille
inscriptions containing Telugu words have been dated to the
Signed forms Signed Telugu
era of Emperor Ashoka (257 BCE), as well as to the
Satavahana and Vishnukundina periods.[23][24] Inscriptions in Official status

Old Telugu script were found as far away as Indonesia and Official language in
India
Myanmar.[25] Telugu has been in use as an official language
for over 1,400 years[26] and has served as the court language Andhra Pradesh
for numerous dynasties in Southern and Eastern India, Telangana
including the Eastern Chalukyas, Eastern Gangas, Kakatiyas, Yanam district,
Vijayanagara Empire, Qutb Shahis, Madurai Nayaks, and Puducherry
Thanjavur Nayaks.[31] It was also used as an official language West Bengal
(additional)[4]
outside its homeland, even by non-Telugu dynasties such as
the Thanjavur Marathas in Tamil Nadu.[32] Recognised minority South Africa (protected
language in language)[5]
Language codes
Telugu has an unbroken, prolific, and diverse literary tradition ISO 639-1 te (https://www.lo
of over a thousand years.[33][34] Pavuluri Mallana's Sāra c.gov/standards/iso
Sangraha Ganitamu (c. 11th century) is the first scientific 639-2/php/langcodes
_name.php?iso_639_1
treatise on mathematics in any Dravidian language.[35][36] =te)
Avadhānaṃ, a literary performance that requires immense
ISO 639-2 tel (https://www.lo
memory power and an in-depth knowledge of literature and c.gov/standards/iso
prosody, originated and was specially cultivated among 639-2/php/langcodes
Telugu poets for over five centuries.[37][38] Roughly 10,000 _name.php?code_ID=4
pre-colonial inscriptions exist in Telugu.[39] 39)
ISO 639-3 tel – inclusive code
In the precolonial era, Telugu became the language of high Individual code:
culture throughout South India.[43] Vijaya Ramaswamy wbq – Waddar (Vadari)
compared it to the overwhelming dominance of French as the Linguist List tel (https://web.ar
cultural language of Europe during roughly the same era.[42] chive.org/web/20200
Telugu also predominates in the evolution of Carnatic music, 101010101/http://mu
ltitree.org/codes/t
one of two main subgenres of Indian classical music and is
el)
widely taught in music colleges focusing on Carnatic
Glottolog telu1262 (https://g
tradition.[46] Over the centuries, many non-Telugu speakers lottolog.org/resour
have praised the natural musicality of Telugu speech, ce/languoid/id/telu
referring to it as a mellifluous and euphonious 1262) Telugu
language.[47][48] oldt1249 (https://g
lottolog.org/resour
ce/languoid/id/oldt
1249) Old Telugu
Etymology Linguasphere 49-DBA-aa (http://w
ww.hortensj-garden.
Speakers of Telugu refer to it as simply Telugu or Telugoo.[49] org/index.php?tnc=1
Older forms of the name include Teluṅgu and Tenuṅgu.[50] &tr=lsr&nid=49-DBA-
Tenugu is derived from the Proto-Dravidian word *ten aa)
("south")[51] to mean "the people who lived in the
south/southern direction" (relative to Sanskrit and Prakrit-
speaking peoples). The name Telugu, then, is a result of an
"n" to "l" alternation established in Telugu.[52][53]

The popular belief holds that Telugu is derived from Trilinga

of Trilinga Kshetras being the land bounded by the three
Lingas which is Telugu homeland. P. Chenchiah and
Bhujanga Rao note that Atharvana Acharya in the 13th
century wrote a grammar of Telugu, calling it the Trilinga
Śabdānusāsana (or Trilinga Grammar).[54] However, most
scholars note that Atharvana's grammar was titled Atharvana
Karikavali.[59] Appa Kavi in the 17th century explicitly wrote
that Telugu was derived from Trilinga. Scholar C. P. Brown
made a comment that it was a "strange notion" since the
predecessors of Appa Kavi had no knowledge of such a
derivation.[60]

George Abraham Grierson and other linguists doubt this Dark blue - Telugu is spoken by a majority.
derivation, holding rather that Telugu was the older term and Light blue - Telugu is spoken by a significant
minority.
Trilinga must be the later Sanskritisation of it.[61][62] If so the
derivation itself must have been quite ancient because
Person Telugu
Triglyphum, Trilingum and Modogalingam are attested in ancient People Teluguvāru
Greek sources, the last of which can be interpreted as a Telugu Language Telugu
rendition of "Trilinga".[63]
Country Telugu Nāḍu, India

History
Telugu, as a Dravidian language, descends from Proto-Dravidian, a proto-
language. Linguistic reconstruction suggests that Proto-Dravidian was spoken
around the fourth millennium BCE.[64][65] Comparative linguistics confirms
that Telugu belongs to the South Dravidian-II (also called South-Central Kaleswaram
Dravidian) sub-group, which also includes the non-literary languages like Srisailam Bhimeswaram

Gondi, Kuvi, Koya, Pengo, Konda and Manda.[66]

Proto-Telugu is the reconstructed linguistic ancestor of all the dialects and

registers of Telugu.[67] Russian linguist Mikhail S. Andronov, places the split
Locations of Trilinga Kshetras
of Telugu at c.1000 BCE.[68]

The linguistic history of Telugu is periodised as follows:[19][69]

Pre-historic Telugu (c. 600 BCE–200 BCE)

Old Telugu (200 BCE–1000 CE)
Middle Telugu (1000 CE–1600 CE)
Modern Telugu (1600 CE–present)

Pre-historic Telugu (c. 600 BCE – 200 BCE)

Pre-historic Telugu is identified with the period around 600 BCE or even earlier.[70][71] Pre-historic Telugu is
considered one of the most conservative languages of the Dravidian family based on its linguistic features.[72][73]

Plural Markers: One notable feature is the presence of contrast in plural markers, such as -ḷ and -
nkkVḷ (a combination of -nkk and -Vḷ), which was lost in the earliest forms of many other Dravidian
languages.[74] Examples include pū-ḷ (flowers), ā-ḷ (cows), distinct from kolan-kuḷ (tanks), and ī-gaḷ
(houseflies).
Nominative Markers: The nominative markers were -nḏu (masc.sg.p1) and -aṁbu (inanimate.sg),
which continued to appear in early inscriptions.[75]
Personal Pronouns: Reconstructed personal pronouns include ñān (I) with the oblique form ñā, and
ñām or ēm (we).[76]
Phonemic Retention: The early language displayed high phonemic retention, with characteristic
phonemes like the voiced retroflex approximant (ḻ or /ɻ/) and the voiced alveolar plosive (ḏ or /d/),
which evolved into the alveolar trill (ṟ or /r/) in different positions. Both /d/ and /r/ are evidenced as
distinct phonemes in early epigraphic records.[77][78]
Tenses: Tenses were structured as "past vs non-past," and gender was categorized as "masculine vs
non-masculine."[79]
Demonstratives: Three demonstratives were in use: ā (distant 'that'), ī (proximate 'this'), and ū
(intermediate 'yonder'; in Classical Telugu, ulla).[80]
Non-Palatalized Initials: Non-palatalized initials are identified in words like kēsiri ("they did"), found in
inscriptions up until the 8th century CE.[81]
Word Endings: Words typically ended in vowels, though some had consonant endings with sonorants
like -y, -r, -m, -n, -l, -ḷ, -ḻ, and -w. Classical Telugu developed an epenthetic -u that vowelized the final
consonant, a feature that has been partly retained in Modern Telugu.
 Place Name Suffixes: Archaic place name suffixes include -puḻōl, -ūr, -paḷḷiya, -pāḷiyam, -paṟṟu, -
konḏa, -pūṇḍi, -paṭṭaṇa(ṁbu), pāḻu, paṟiti, and pāka(m).[77]
Apical Displacement: Apical displacement was underway for certain words.[82]
Conjunctive Marker: The conjunctive marker -um had various structural applications.[83]

Earliest records
One of the earliest Telugu words, nágabu, found at the Amaravati Stupa, is dated to around 200 BCE.[84] This word
was further analyzed by Iravatham Mahadevan in his attempts to decipher the Indus script.[85] Several Telugu
words, primarily personal and place names, were identified at Amaravati, Nagarjunakonda, Krishna river basin,
Ballari, Eluru, Ongole and Nellore between 200 BCE and 500 CE.[86]

The Ghantasala Brahmin inscription[87] and the pillar inscription of Vijaya Satakarni at Vijayapuri,
Nagarjunakonda, and other locations date to the first century CE.[23][88] Additionally, the Tummalagudem
inscription of the Vishnukundinas dates to the 5th century CE.[89][23] Telugu place names in Prakrit inscriptions are
attested from the 2nd century CE onwards.[90][91]

A number of Telugu words were found in the Sanskrit and Prakrit inscriptions of the Satavahana dynasty,
Vishnukundina dynasty, and Andhra Ikshvakus.[23] The coin legends of the Satavahanas, in all areas and all periods,
used a Prakrit dialect without exception. Some reverse coin legends are in Telugu[24][92] and Tamil languages.[93]

Post-Ikshvaku period
The period from the 4th century CE to 1022 CE marks the second phase of
Telugu history, following the Andhra Ikshvaku period. The first long
inscription entirely in Telugu, dated to 575 CE, is attributed to the Renati
Choda king Dhanunjaya and found in the Kadapa district.[90][94][26]

An early Telugu label inscription, "tolacuwānḍru" (తొలచువాండ్రు ; transl.

rock carvers or quarrymen), is found on one of the rock-cut caves around the
Keesaragutta temple, 35 kilometers from Hyderabad.[95][96] This inscription
is dated to the Vishnukundina period of around 400 CE[97][98] and is the
earliest known short Telugu inscription from the Telangana region.[98]

Several titles of Mahendravarman I in Telugu language, dated to c. 600 CE,

were inscribed on cave-inscriptions in Tamil Nadu.[99]
Telugu Talli Bomma (statue of
From the 6th century onwards, complete Telugu inscriptions began to appear Mother Telugu), the personification
of Telugu language in Andhra
in districts neighbouring Kadapa such as Prakasam and Palnadu.[100]: 10
Pradesh
Metrically composed Telugu inscriptions and those with ornamental or
literary prose appear from 630 CE.[101][102] The Madras Museum plates of
Balliya-Choda dated to the mid-ninth century CE, are the earliest copper plate grants in the Telugu language.[103]

During this period, Telugu was heavily influenced by Sanskrit and Prakrit, corresponding to the advent of Telugu
literature. Initially, Telugu literature appeared in inscriptions and poetry in the courts of rulers, and later in written
works, such as Nannayya's Andhra Mahabharatam (1022 CE).[104]

Middle Ages
The third phase is marked by further stylisation and sophistication of the literary languages. During this period the
split of the Telugu from the Telugu-Kannada alphabet took place.[105]
Vijayanagara Empire
The Vijayanagara Empire gained dominance from 1336 to the late 17th century, reaching its peak during the rule of
Krishnadevaraya in the 16th century, when Telugu literature experienced what is considered its Golden Age.[104]
The 15th-century Venetian explorer Niccolò de' Conti, who visited the Vijayanagara Empire, found that the words
in the Telugu language end with vowels, just like those in Italian, and hence referred to it as "The Italian of the
East";[106] a saying that has been widely repeated.[107]

Delhi Sultanate, Qutb Shahi, and Nizam era

A distinct dialect developed in present-day Hyderabad region, due to Persian and Arabic influence. This influence
began with the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate rule by the Tughlaq dynasty in the northern Deccan Plateau
during the 14th century.

In the latter half of the 17th century, the Mughal Empire extended further south, culminating in the establishment of
the Hyderabad State by the dynasty of the Nizam of Hyderabad in 1724. This heralded an era of Persian influence
on the Telugu language, especially Hyderabad State. The effect is also evident in the prose of the early 19th century,
as in the kaifiyats.[104]

Colonial period
In the late 19th and the early 20th centuries, the influence of the English language was seen, and modern
communication/printing press arose as an effect of British rule, especially in the areas that were part of the Madras
Presidency. Literature from this time had a mix of classical and modern traditions and included works by such
scholars as Gidugu Venkata Ramamoorty, Kandukuri Veeresalingam, Gurajada Apparao, Gidugu Sitapati and
Panuganti Lakshminarasimha Rao.[104]

In the princely Hyderabad State, the Andhra Mahasabha was started in 1921 with the main goal of promoting
Telugu language, literature, its books and historical research. Key figures in this movement included Madapati
Hanumantha Rao (founder of the Andhra Mahasabha), Komarraju Venkata Lakshmana Rao (founder of the Library
Movement in Hyderabad State), and Suravaram Pratapa Reddy.[108]

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 like movies, television, radio and newspapers. This form of the
language is also taught in schools and colleges as a standard.[109]

Post-independence period
Telugu is one of the 22 languages with official status in India.[110] The Andhra Pradesh Official Language Act,
1966, declares Telugu the official language of the state that is currently divided into Andhra Pradesh and
Telangana.[111][112] It also has official language status in the Yanam district of the union territory of Puducherry. It
is the fourth most spoken Indian language in India after Hindi, Bengali and Marathi.[113] It is one of the six classical
languages of India.[114][115]

Telugu Language Day is celebrated every year on 29 August, the birthday of Telugu poet Gidugu Venkata
Ramamurthy.[116][117] The fourth World Telugu Conference was organised in Tirupati in the last week of December
2012. Issues related to Telugu language policy were deliberated at length.[118][119] The American Community
Survey has said that data for 2016 which were released in September 2017 showed Telugu is the third most widely
spoken Indian language in the US. Hindi tops the list followed by Gujarati, as of the 2010 census.[120][121]

In the Indian subcontinent, a command over the Telugu language, alongside Sanskrit, Tamil, Meitei, Oriya, Persian,
or Arabic, is highly appreciated and respected for learning dances (most significantly Indian Classical Dances) as
dancers could have the tools of these languages to go into the primary material texts.[122]
Geographic distribution
Telugu is natively spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and
Yanam district of Puducherry. Telugu speakers are also found in the
neighbouring states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha,
Chhattisgarh, some parts of Jharkhand, and the Kharagpur region of West
Bengal in India. Many Telugu immigrants are also found in the states of
Gujarat, Goa, Bihar, Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, and
Rajasthan. As of 2018 7.2% of the population, Telugu is the fourth-most-
spoken native language in India after Hindi, Bengali, and Marathi. In
Karnataka, 7.0% of the population speak Telugu, and 5.6% in Tamil
Nadu.[123]

There are more than 400,000 Telugu Americans in the United

States.[124][125] As of 2018, Telugu is the fastest-growing language in the
United States, (especially in New Jersey and New York City), with the Geographic distribution of Telugu
number of Telugu speakers in the United States increasing by 86% between immigrants in light blue; Telugu is
native to dark blue.
2010 and 2017.[126] As of 2021, it is the 18th most spoken native language in
the United States and the third most spoken South Asian language after
Hindi and Urdu.[127] Minority Telugus are also found in Australia, New Zealand, Bahrain, Canada, Fiji, Malaysia,
Sri Lanka, Singapore, Mauritius, Myanmar, Europe (Italy, the United Kingdom), South Africa, Trinidad and
Tobago, and the United Arab Emirates.[15][128]

Legal status
Telugu is the official language of the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It is one of the 22 languages
under schedule 8 of the constitution of India. It is one of the official languages of the union territories of
Puducherry. Telugu is a protected language in South Africa. According to the Constitution of South Africa, the Pan
South African Language Board must promote and ensure respect for Telugu along with other languages.[129] The
Government of South Africa announced that Telugu will be re-included as an official subject in the South African
schools after it was removed from the curriculum in state schools.[130]

In addition, with the creation in October 2004 of a legal status for classical languages by the Government of India
on 8 August 2008, Telugu was also given classical language status due to several campaigns.[131][23][132]

Epigraphical records
According to the famous Japanese historian Noboru Karashima who served as the president of the Epigraphical
Society of India in 1985, there are approximately 10,000 inscriptions which exist in the Telugu language as of the
year 1996 making it one of the most densely inscribed languages.[39] Telugu inscriptions are found in all the
districts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.[135] They are also found in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, and
Chhattisgarh.[139] According to recent estimates by ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) the number of inscriptions
in the Telugu language goes up to 14,000.[100][140] Adilabad, Medak, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Ranga Reddy,
Hyderabad, Mahbubnagar, Anantapur, Chittoor and Srikakulam produced only a handful of Telugu inscriptions in
the Kakatiya era between 1135 CE and 1324 CE.[141][142]
Geographical influence

Telugu region boundaries

Andhra is characterised as having its own mother tongue, and its territory has been equated with the extent of the
Telugu language. The equivalence between the Telugu linguistic sphere and the geographical boundaries of Andhra
is also brought out in an eleventh-century description of Andhra boundaries. Andhra, according to this text, was
bounded in north by Mahendra mountain in the modern Ganjam district in Odisha and to the south by
Srikalahasteeswara temple in Tirupati district.[143] However, Andhra extended westwards as far as Srisailam in
Nandyal district, about halfway across the modern state.[144] According to other sources in the early sixteenth
century, the northern boundary is Simhachalam and the southern limit is Tirumala of the Telugu
ation.[145][146][147][148][149][150]

Telugu Place Names

Telugu place names are present all around Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Common suffixes are -ooru, -pudi, -
padu, -peta, -pattanam, -wada, -gallu, -cherla, -seema, -gudem, -palle, -palem, -konda, -veedu, -valasa, -pakam, -
paka, -prolu, -wolu, -waka, -ili, -kunta, -parru, -villi, -gadda, -kallu, -eru, -varam,-puram,-pedu and -palli.
Examples that use this nomenclature are Nellore, Tadepalligudem, Guntur, Chintalapudi, Yerpedu, Narasaraopeta,
Sattenapalle, Visakapatnam, Vizianagaram, Ananthagiri, Vijayawada, Vuyyuru, Macherla, Poranki, Ramagundam,
Warangal, Mancherial, Peddapalli, Siddipet, Pithapuram, Banswada, and Miryalaguda.

Dialects
There are four regional dialects in Telugu:[151]

Western : Telangana
Southern: Rayalaseema
Central: Coastal Andhra
Northern : North Andhra
Colloquially, Telangana, Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra dialects are
considered the three Telugu dialects and regions.[152]

Waddar, Chenchu, and Manna-Dora are all closely related to Telugu.[153]

Other dialects of Telugu are Berad, Dasari, Dommara, Golari, Kamathi, Andhra Pradesh before bifurcation
Komtao, Konda-Reddi, Salewari, Vadaga, Srikakula, Visakhapatnam, East (1956–2014)
Godavari, Rayalaseema, Nellore, Guntur, Vadari Bangalore, and Yanadi.[154]

Phonology
The Roman transliteration used for transcribing the Telugu script is the National Library at Kolkata romanisation.

Telugu words generally end in vowels. In Old Telugu, this was absolute; in the modern language m, n, y, w may end
a word. Sanskrit loans have introduced aspirated and murmured consonants as well.

Telugu does not have contrastive stress, and speakers vary on where they perceive stress. Most place it on the
penultimate or final syllable, depending on word and vowel length.[155]
Consonants
The table below lists the consonant phonemes of Telugu,[156][157] along with
the symbols used in the transliteration of the Telugu script used here (where
different from IPA).

A man living in Germany speaking

Telugu.

A woman residing in America

speaking Telugu.

Telugu consonants

Denti-
alveolar Post-alv./
Labial Retroflex Velar Glottal
Palatal
plain sibilant

Nasal mm nn ɳṇ

unaspirated pp tt t͡s ts ʈṭ t͡ʃ c kk

voiced bb dd d͡z dz ɖḍ d͡ʒ j ɡg

Plosive/
Affricate
aspirated* pʰ ph tʰ th ʈʰ ṭh t͡ʃʰ ch kʰ kh

breathy voiced* bʱ bh dʱ dh ɖʱ ḍh d͡ʒʱ jh ɡʱ gh

Fricative* ff ss ʂṣ ʃś hh

Approximant ʋv ll ɭḷ jy

Tap ɾr

The aspirated and breathy-voiced consonants occur mostly in Sanskrit and Prakrit loanwords,
additionally /tʰ/ is used to substitute /θ/ in English loans, the only aspirate which occurs natively is /dʱ/
which occurs only in a few compound numbers e.g. /pɐddʱenimidi/ "18" likely a result of the proto
Dravidian laryngeal */H/[158] there is also an unaspirated /pɐddenimidi/ version which is used more
commonly. All of the fricatives except for native /s/ also only occurs in loanwords.[157]
Perso-Arabic phonemes like /q, x, ɣ, z/ are substituted with /k, kʰ, ɡ, d͡ʒ/ similar to Hindi.[157]
/t͡s, d͡z/ occur only in native words and lack aspirated/breathy forms. Native words with /t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ/ before
non front vowels became /t͡s, d͡z/; this change became phonemised after loaning words with /t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ/
from other languages. Intervocalically /d͡z/ can become [z] e.g. [rɐːzu, d͡zoːli, ɡudd͡zu].[157]
/ʋ/ can be rounded to a [β̞ ʷ] around rounded vowels.[157]
The common Proto Dravidian approximant */ɻ/ merged with /ɖ/ in Telugu while it was preserved as /ɽ/
in the other Southern II branch languages.[158]
 Many of the old /ɳ/ and /ɭ/ merged with /n/ and /l/.[158]
Most consonants contrast in length in word-medial position, meaning that there are long (geminated) and short
phonetic renderings of the sounds. A few examples of words that contrast by length of word-medial consonants:[157]

/ɡɐdi/ gadi (room) – /ɡɐdːi/ gaddi (grass)

/ɐʈu/ aṭu (that side) – /ɐʈːu/ aṭṭu (pancake)
/moɡɐ/ moga (male) – /moɡːɐ/ mogga (bud)
/nɐmɐkɐmu/ namakamu (a vedic hymn) – /nɐmːɐkɐmu/ nammakamu (belief)
/kɐnu/ kanu (to give birth to) – /kɐnːu/ kannu (eye)
/kɐlɐ/ kala (dream) – /kɐlːɐ/ kalla (falsehood)
/mɐɾi/ mari (again) – /mɐɾːi/ marri (banyan tree)
All retroflex consonants occur in intervocalic position and when adjacent to a retroflex consonant, for instance. /
ʋɐːɳiː/ vāṇī 'tippet', /kɐʈɳɐm/ kaṭṇam 'dowry', /pɐɳɖu/ paṇḍu 'fruit'; /kɐɭɐ/ kaḷa 'art'. With the exception of /ɳ/
and /ɭ/, all occur word-initial in a few words, such as /ʈɐkːu/ ṭakku 'pretence', /ʈhiːʋi/ ṭhīvi 'grandeur', /ɖipːɐ/ ḍippā
'half of a spherical object', and /ʂoːku/ ṣōku 'fashionable appearance'.[157]

The approximant /j/ occurs in word-initial position only in borrowed words, such as. /jɐnɡu/ yangu, from English
'young', /jɐʃɐsːu/ yaśassu from Sanskrit yaśas /jɐʃɐs/ 'fame'.

Vowels
Vowels in Telugu contrast in length; there are short and long versions of all vowels except for /æ/, which only
occurs as long. Long vowels can occur in any position within the word, but native Telugu words do not end in a
long vowel. Short vowels occur in all positions of a word, with the exception of /o/, which does not occur word-
finally.[157] The vowels of Telugu are illustrated below, along with the Telugu script and romanisation.

Vowels (అచ్చులు acchulu)

Front Central Back

Close iఇi iː ఈ ī uఉu uː ఊ ū

Mid eఎe eː ఏ ē oఒo oː ఓ ō

Open a~ɐఅa aː ~ ɐː ఆ ā

An emphatic u maybe added to loans ending with a consonant, eg. school > iskūlu.

Allophones
In most dialects, the vowel /æː/ only occurs in loan words. In the Guntur dialect, [æː] is a frequent allophone of /aː/
in certain verbs in the past tense.

Telugu has two diphthongs: /ai/ (ఐ) and /au/ (ఔ).

Roots alter according to whether the first vowel is tense or lax.[159] Also, if the second vowel is open (i.e., /aː/ or
/a/), then the first vowel is more open and centralised (e.g., [mɛːka] 'goat', as opposed to [meːku] 'nail'). Telugu
words also have vowels in inflectional suffixes that are harmonised with the vowels of the preceding syllable.[160]

Colloquial speech[161]
In some colloquial speech ṇ, ḷ might completely merge with n, l except in clusters with retroflex
plosives.
 Telanganan dialects merge ś to ṣ while other dialects merge ś with s, eg. iṣṭam, dēśam > istaw̃,
dēsam/dēṣam.

Non initial and particularly final m tends to be [w̃].

Initial kṣ tend to be kś before front vowels and kṣ/ṭṣ before other in educated speech, ch for
uneducated speech; medially tts(h) for all.

Cluster simplification, eg. viplavam, amlam, raktam, anyāyam > yipalavaw̃, āw̃alaw̃, rattaw̃,
annēyaw̃.

va, vā becomes (w)o, {ā, ō} initially, eg. vāḍu > āḍu/ōḍu. Before front vowels the v becomes y, eg.
vennela > yennela.
Some aspirates might be debuccalized to a h while previous actual h's might be deleted, eg.
mukham, mahā > muhaw̃/mugaw̃, mā.

Telanganan speech tend to have less aspirated consonants.

Palatalization, eg. madhyāhnam > majjhānam/majjhēnam.

ph, ts, dz > f, s, j.

Differences in suffixing, eg. kannu-lu > Coastal kaḷḷu, Rayalseema kaṇḍḷu/kaṇḷu, Telangana kanlu.

Sri Lankan Telugu too lacks ṇ, ḷ, merges c with s and has vowel alternations like i instead of final -u,
perhaps due to Tamil and Sinhalese influence.[162]

Grammar
The traditional study of Telugu Grammar is known as vyākaraṇam (వ్యాకరణం). The first treatise on Telugu
grammar, the Āndhra Śabda Cintāmaṇi, was written in Sanskrit by Nannayya, considered the first Telugu poet and
translator, in the 12th century CE. This grammar followed patterns described in grammatical treatises such as
Aṣṭādhyāyī and Vālmīkivyākaranam, but unlike Pāṇini, Nannayya divided his work into five chapters, covering
samjnā, sandhi, ajanta, halanta and kriya.

In the 19th century, Chinnaya Suri wrote a condensed work on Telugu grammar called Bāla Vyākaraṇam,
borrowing concepts and ideas from Nannayya's grammar.

Morphosyntax
Relations between participants in an event are coded in Telugu words through suffixation; there are no prefixes or
infixes in the language.[156] There are six word classes in Telugu: nominals (proper nouns, pronouns), verbs (actions
or events), modifiers (adjectives, quantifiers, numerals), adverbs (modify the way in which actions or events
unfold), and clitics.

Telugu nouns are inflected for number (singular, plural), noun class (three classes traditionally termed masculine,
feminine, and neuter) and case (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, vocative, instrumental, and locative).[163]

Word order
The basic word order in Telugu is subject-object-verb (SOV).[164]
Noun classes (gender)
As with other Dravidian languages, gender in Telugu follows a semantic system,[165] in the sense that it is mostly
the meaning of the word which defines the noun class to which it belongs. There are three noun classes: masculine
(human males, he-gender), feminine (human females, she-gender), and neuter (all non-humans, it-gender). The
gender of most nouns is encoded through agreement/indexation in pronominal suffixes rather than overtly on the
noun.[156]

anna waccāḍu
older.brother come-past-masc
The older brother came

amma wacc-indi
mother come-past-fem
Mother came

In terms of the verbal agreement system, genders in marking on the Telugu verb only occur in the third person.[156]

Third person Singular Plural

tericā-ḍu tericā-ru
Masculine He opened They opened

tericin-di tericā-ru
Feminine She opened They opened

tericin-di tericā-yi/tericina-wi
Neuter It opened They (non-human) opened

The Telugu gender system differs from other Dravidian languages such as Tamil in that the Telugu feminine shares
indexation morphemes with the masculine plural (-ru) and with the neuter singular (-di). What characterises the
three-gender system is then the individual behaviour of the singular-plural pairs of suffixes.[165]

Verbal suffixes
Gender
(singular : plural)

Masculine -ḍu : -ru

Feminine -di : -ru

Neuter -di : -yi/-wi

Pronouns
Telugu pronouns include personal pronouns (the persons speaking, the persons spoken to, or the persons or things
spoken about); indefinite pronouns; relative pronouns (connecting parts of sentences); and reciprocal or reflexive
pronouns (in which the object of a verb is acted on by the verb's subject).
Personal pronouns

Telugu pronouns

I నేను, nēnu

మనం, manaṃ
we మనము, manamu

we but not you మేము, mēmu

నీవు, nīvu
you ( singular) నువ్వు, nuvvu

you (plural) మీరు, mīru

she ఆమె, aame

he అతను, atanu

they (humans) వాళ్ళు, vāḷḷu

it అది, adi

they (non-humans) అవి, avi

In informal Telugu, personal pronouns distinguish masculine from non-masculine.[166][167]

Demonstratives
There is a wide variety of demonstrative pronouns in Telugu, whose forms depend on both proximity to the speaker
and the level of formality. The formal demonstratives may also be used as formal personal pronoun, that is, the
polite forms for this woman or this man and that woman or that man can also simply mean she and he in more
formal contexts.

In the singular, there are four levels of formality when speaking about males and females, although the most
formal/polite form is the same for both human genders. In both singular and plural, Telugu distinguishes two levels
of distance from speaker (like in English), basically this and that, and these and those.

Singular
Proximal Distal
(close to speaker, "this") (far from speaker, "that")

Gender/Formality Feminine Masculine Neuter Feminine Masculine Neuter

very informal idi vīḍu adi vāḍu

informal īme itanu āme atanu

idi adi
formal īviḍa īyana āviḍa āyana

very formal vīru vāru

In the plural, there are no distinctions between formality levels, but once again masculine and feminine forms are
the same, while the neuter demonstratives are different.
 Plural

Proximal Distal
(close to speaker, "these") (far from speaker, "those")

Feminine Masculine Neuter Feminine Masculine Neuter

vīỊỊu/vīru ivi vāỊỊu/vāru avi

Case system
The nominative case (karta), the object of a verb (karma), and the verb are somewhat in a sequence in Telugu
sentence construction. "Vibhakti" (case of a noun) and "pratyāyamulu" (an affix to roots and words forming
derivatives and inflections) depict the ancient nature and progression of the language. The "Vibhaktis" of Telugu
language " డు [ɖu], ము [mu], వు [vu], లు [lu]", etc., are different from those in Sanskrit and have been in use for a
long time.

Lexicon
Majority of the lexicon in Telugu is inherited from Proto-Dravidian language, a reconstructed hypothetical language
of third millennium BCE.[168][169] Telugu retained some of the most archaic words, markers and morphemes of the
Dravidian origin.[170][171] It shares its cognates with its closest South-Dravidian-II languages like Gondi, Kuwi and
also with other Dravidian languages such as Tamil and Kannada.

The lexicon of Classical Telugu works shows a pervasive influence of Sanskrit; there is also evidence suggesting an
earlier influence even before Nannaya.[172] During the period 1000–1100 CE, Nannaya's re-writing of the
Mahābhārata in Telugu (మహాభారతము) established the liberal borrowing of Sanskrit words.[173]

Literature in acca telugu or jānu telugu (జానుతెలుగు) by poets like Adibhatla Narayana Dasu and Ponneganti
Telaganna emphasised the importance of native lexicon of Dravidian origin, in contrast to the extensive borrowings
from Sanskrit and Prakrit.[174][70] Spoken Telugu preserved most of its Dravidian lexicon intact in various
colloquial dialects.

The vocabulary of Telugu, especially in the city of Hyderabad, has borrowings from Persian and Arabic (through
Urdu and directly) languages. These words have been modified to fit Telugu phonology. This was due to Turkic rule
in these regions, such as the erstwhile kingdoms of Golkonda and Hyderabad (e.g., కబురు, /kaburu/ for Urdu
/xabar/, ‫ خ ب ر‬or జవాబు, /dʒavaːbu/ for Urdu /dʒawɑːb/, ‫)ج واب‬.

Many words were borrowed from English language in the modern era and a few from Portuguese during the
colonial era. Modern Telugu vocabulary can be said to constitute a diglossia because the formal, standardised
version of the language is either lexically Sanskrit or heavily influenced by Sanskrit, as taught in schools, and used
by the government and Hindu religious institutions. However, colloquial Telugu is less influenced by Sanskrit and
varies depending upon region.

Prakruti and Vikruti

Telugu has many Tatsama words. They are called Prakruti, which are equivalent to Sanskrit words. The equivalent
colloquial or Tadbhava words are called Vikruti, which means distorted. However, Prakruti is only used as a
medium of instruction in educational institutions, offices etc.
 Prakruti Vikruti

అగ్ని Agni (fire) అగ్గి Aggi

భోజనం Bhojanam (food) బోనం Bonam

విద్య Vidya (education) విద్దె Vidhe, విద్దియ Vidhiya

రాక్షసి Raakshasi (evil) రక్కసి Rakkasi

శూన్య Soonya (zero) సున్న Sunna

దృష్టి Drushti (sight) దిష్టి Dishti

కనిష్టం Kanishtam (minimum) కనీసం Kaneesam

అగరవర్తి Agaravarti (incense, agara+varthi, scent wounded) అగరవత్తి Agaravatti

విభూతి Vibhoothi (ash) విభూధి Vibhudhi

చనక Chanaka (chick pea, Chanakya is derived from the same root) శనగ śanaga

కవచ Kavacha (protective shell) గవచ Gavacha, గవ్వ Gavva

భిక్షం Bhiksham (alms) బిచ్చం Bicham

ద్వితీయ Dvitiya (second) విదియ Vidiya

తృతీయ Trutiya (third) తదియ Thadhiya

జాగ్రత Jaagrata (alert) జాగ్రత్త Jaagratta

వామతి Vamati (vomit) వాంతి Vanthi

స్వంత Swantha (own) సొంత Sonta

అటవి Atavi (forest) అడవి Adavi

త్వర Twara (fast) తొరగా Toraga

రక్తము Rakthamu (blood) రగతము Ragathamu

Sample text
The given sample text is Article 1 from the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.[175]

English
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and
should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Telugu
ప్రతిపత్తిస్వత్వముల విషయమున మానవులెల్లరును జన్మతః స్వతంత్రు లును సమానులును నగుదురు. వారు వివేచన-
అంతఃకరణ సంపన్నులగుటచే పరస్పరము భ్రా తృభావముతో వర్తింపవలయును.

Romanisation (ISO 15919)

Pratipattisvatvamula viṣayamuna mānavulellarunu janmataḥ svatantrulunu samānulunu naguduru. Vāru vivēcana-
antaḥkaraṇa sampannulaguṭacē parasparamu bhrātr̥ bhāvamutō vartimpavalayunu.
IPA
/pɾɐt̪ ipɐt̪ t̪ isʋɐt̪ ʋɐmulɐ viʂɐjɐmun̪ ɐ maːn̪ ɐʋulellaɾun̪ u d͡ʒɐn̪ mɐt̪ ɐhɐ sʋɐt̪ ɐn̪ t̪ ɾulun̪ u sɐmaːn̪ ulun̪ u n̪ ɐɡud̪ uɾu ǁ
ʋaːɾu ʋiʋeːt͡ʃɐn̪ ɐ ɐn̪ t̪ ɐkkɐɾɐɳɐ sɐmpɐn̪ n̪ ulɐɡuʈɐt͡ʃeː pɐɾɐspɐɾɐmu bʱɾaːt̪ ɾubʱaːʋɐmut̪ oː ʋɐɾt̪ impɐʋɐlɐjun̪ u ǁ/

Writing system
Telugu script is an abugida comprising 60 symbols – 16 vowels, 3
Consonants – హల్లు లు, hallulu
vowel modifiers, and 41 consonants. Telugu has a complete set of
letters that follow a system to express sounds. The script is derived క ఖ గ ఘ ఙ
from the Brahmi script like those of many other Indian ka kha ga gha ṅa
languages.[176][177] Telugu script is written from left to right and IPA: /ka/ IPA: /kʰa/ IPA: /ɡa/ IPA: /ɡʱa/ IPA: /ŋa/
comprises sequences of both simple and complex characters. It is
చ ఛ జ ఝ ఞ
syllabic in nature – the basic units of writing are syllables. Inasmuch
ca cha ja jha ña
as the number of possible syllables is very large, syllables are IPA: /t͡ʃa/ IPA: /t͡ʃʰa/ IPA: /d͡ʒa/ IPA: /d͡ʒʱa/ IPA: /ɲa/
composed of more basic units such as vowels ("acchu" or "swaram")
and consonants ("hallu" or "vyanjanam"). Consonants in consonant ట ఠ డ ఢ ణ
ṭa ṭha ḍa ḍha ṇa
clusters take shapes that are very different from the shapes they take
IPA: /ʈa/ IPA: /ʈʰa/ IPA: /ɖa/ IPA: /ɖʱa/ IPA: /ɳa/
elsewhere. Consonants are presumed pure consonants, that is,
without any vowel sound in them. However, it is traditional to write త థ ద ధ న
and read consonants with an implied "a" vowel sound. When ta tha da dha na
IPA: /ta/ IPA: /tʰa/ IPA: /d/a IPA: /dʱa/ IPA: /na/
consonants combine with other vowel signs, the vowel part is
indicated orthographically using signs known as vowel "mātras". The ప ఫ బ భ మ
shapes of vowel "mātras" are also very different from the shapes of pa pha ba bha ma
the corresponding vowels. IPA: /pa/ IPA: /pʰa/ IPA: /ba/ IPA: /bʱa/ IPA: /ma/

Historically, a sentence used to end with either a single bar। ("pūrna య ర ల వ ళ

ya ra la va ḷa
virāmam") or a double bar॥ ("dīrgha virāmam"); in handwriting, IPA: /ja/ IPA: /ɾa/ IPA: /la/ IPA: /ʋa/ IPA: /ɭa/
Telugu words were not separated by spaces. However, in modern
times, English punctuation (commas, semicolon, etc.) has virtually శ ష స హ
replaced the old method of punctuation.[178] sa ṣa sa ha
IPA: /sa/ IPA: /ʂa/ IPA: /sa/ IPA: /ha/

Telugu has full-zero ("anusvāra" or "sunna" ) ( ం ), half-zero

("arthanusvāra" or "candrabindu" or "ara-sunna" ) (ఁ) and visarga ( ః ) to convey various shades of nasal
sounds. [la] and [La], [ra] and [Ra] are differentiated.[178]

Telugu has ĉ [t͡s] and ĵ [d͡z], which are not represented in Sanskrit.

Telugu Guṇintālu (తెలుగు గుణింతాలు)

These are some examples of combining a consonant with different vowels.
క కా కి కీ కు కూ కృ కౄ కె కే కై కొ కో కౌ క్ కం కః
ఖ ఖా ఖి ఖీ ఖు ఖూ ఖృ ఖౄ ఖె ఖే ఖై ఖొ ఖో ఖౌ ఖ్ ఖం ఖః

Number system
Telugu has ten digits employed with the Hindu–Arabic numeral system. However, in modern usage, the Arabic
numerals have replaced them.
 Telugu numerals
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
sunna okaṭi renḍu mūḍu nālugu aidu āru ēḍu enimidi tommidi

౦ ౧ ౨ ౩ ౪ ౫ ౬ ౭ ౮ ౯

Telugu is assigned Unicode codepoints: 0C00-0C7F (3072–3199).[179]

Wall painting at a shop in India. It

first shows the painted party
symbols of all the major political
parties in the region during the
nationwide elections in India in
2014. It also has a Telugu inscription
showing availability of political flags,
banners, caps, badges and other
election material.

Telugu[1][2]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0C00.pdf) (PDF)

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F

U+0C0x ఀ ఁ ం ః ఄ అ ఆ ఇ ఈ ఉ ఊ ఋ ఌ ఎ ఏ

U+0C1x ఐ ఒ ఓ ఔ క ఖ గ ఘ ఙ చ ఛ జ ఝ ఞ ట

U+0C2x ఠ డ ఢ ణ త థ ద ధ న ప ఫ బ భ మ య

U+0C3x ర ఱ ల ళ ఴ వ శ ష స హ ఼ ఽ ా ి

U+0C4x ీ ు ూ ృ ౄ ె ే ై ొ ో ౌ ్

U+0C5x ౕ ౖ ౘ ౙ ౚ ౝ

U+0C6x ౠ ౡ ౢ ౣ ౦ ౧ ౨ ౩ ౪ ౫ ౬ ౭ ౮ ౯

U+0C7x ౷ ౸ ౹ ౺ ౻ ౼ ౽ ౾ ౿
Notes

1.^ As of Unicode version 16.0

2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points
Literature

Ancient Telugu Writings Period (300 BC – 500 CE)

Amaravati Stupa
Amarāvati Stupa is a ruined Buddhist stūpa at the village of Amaravathi, Palnadu district, Andhra Pradesh, India,
probably built in phases between the third century BCE and about 250 CE. The word "nagabu" was one of the first
Telugu words that was written on the Amaravati Stupa.[19][84]

Early Medieval Telugu Writings Period (500 – 850 CE)

These writings were mostly written by the Vishnukudinas, Telugu Chodas,
and the Chalukyas.

Kallamalla Writing (575 CE)

This is the first writing entirely written in Telugu. It was written by Renati
Choda king Dhanunjaya. in 575 CE. It was found on the premises of Ancient Telugu Writing displayed at
Telugu Museum
Chennakesava-Siddeshwara temple at Kalamalla village in Yerraguntla
Mandal of the district.

Indravarma Sasanam
This was a writing written by Indra Varma in the 6th century. Indra Varma was a Vishnukudina king in the 6th
century.

Janashrayi-Chhandovichiti
The 6th- or 7th-century Sanskrit text Janashrayi-Chhandovichiti (or
Janāśraya-chandas) deals with the metres used in Telugu, including some
metres that are not found in Sanskrit prosody. This indicates that Telugu
Old Telugu Script – Vishnukundina
poetry existed during or around the 6th century.[180] Indra Varma Sasanam 6th century

Vipparla and Lakshmipuram Writings

Vipparla Inscription of Jayasimha I and the Lakshmipuram inscription of the Mangi yuvaraja were the earliest
Telugu inscriptions of Eastern chalukyas found in the 7th century AD.

Addanki Poem
Addanki inscription also known as the Pandaranga inscription belongs to 848AD,[181] excavated near the Thousand
Pillar Temple of Addanki. It is testimony to a flourishing Telugu literature much before the available literary texts.
Locals believe that this is the first poem ever to be written in Telugu, also called the first Padya Sasanam(Poetic
inscription) with (dvipada, with Yati and Prasa; style taruvoja)Staying with the Boya campaign, Pandaranga got
victories in all military campaigns of his master Gunaga Vijayaditya III. The inscription spoke about the donation of
land by the king to him for his successful military exploits.
Telugu Jain Literature Period (850-1020 CE)

Malliya Rechana
Malliya Rechana composed the first Telugu poetic prosody book
Kavijanasrayam (pre-Nannayya chandassu). This was a popular one and
referred by many poets. There seems to be even an earlier prosody book by
Rechana's guru Vaadindra Chudamani which is not available.[182][183][184]

Veturi Prabhakara Sastry in 1900s mentioned the existence of Pre-Nannayya

Chandassu in Raja Raja Narendra Pattabhisheka Sanchika.[184] Accurate
dating of this piece of literature happened after the 1980s discoveries in
Karimnagar.[185][157][186] Rechana's work is variously dated from 940 CE to
12th and 13th century. Most scholars date him to post-Nannaya period.

Adikavi Pampa
Adikavi Pampa had written a Telugu work named Jinendra Puranam, a Jain work written in 941 CE.

The Pre-Nannaya Period (before 1020 CE)

In the earliest period Telugu literature existed in the form of inscriptions, precisely from 575 CE onward. Metrically
composed Telugu inscriptions and those with ornamental or literary prose appear from 630 CE.[101][102] Most
scholars posit that Telugu literature existed prior to Nannaya (11th century), the first known Telugu poet.[100]: 16 T.
Vijay Kumar notes, "Since no literary texts in Telugu pre-dating 1020 C.E. have so far actually been discovered, the
existence of any pre-Nannaya literature remains a matter of speculation and debate."[102]

The Age of the Puranas (1020–1400 CE)

This is the period of Kavitrayam or Trinity of Poets. Nannayya, Tikkana, and Yerrapragada (or Errana) are known as
the Kavitrayam.

Nannaya's (Telugu: నన్నయ) Andhra Mahabharatam written in early 11th century is commonly referred to as the
first Telugu literary composition (Aadi Kavyam).[102] Although there is evidence of Telugu literature before
Nannaya, he is given the epithet Aadi Kavi ("the first poet"). Nannaya Bhattu acknowledged the help extended to
him by his friend Narayana Bhattu in his composition in fields like making choices of grammatical forms, metres,
form of the book, etc. and compares it to that extended to Arjuna by God Sri Krishna in the Bharata war. Nannaya
was the first to establish a formal grammar of written Telugu. This grammar followed the patterns which existed in
grammatical treatises like Aṣṭādhyāyī and Vālmīkivyākaranam but unlike Pāṇini, Nannayya divided his work into
five chapters, covering samjnā, sandhi, ajanta, halanta and kriya.[14] Nannaya completed the first two chapters and
a part of the third chapter of the Mahabharata epic, which is rendered in the Champu style.

Tikkana Somayaji (1205–1288 CE): Nannaya's Andhra Mahabharatam was almost completed by Tikanna Somayaji
(Telugu: తిక్కన సోమయాజి) (1205–1288) who wrote chapters 4 to 18.

Yerrapragada: (Telugu: ఎర్రా ప్రగడ) who lived in the 14th century, finished the epic by completing the third chapter.
He mimics Nannaya's style in the beginning, slowly changes tempo and finishes the chapter in the writing style of
Tikkana. These three writers – Nannaya, Tikanna and Yerrapragada – are known as the Kavitraya ("three great
poets") of Telugu. Other such translations like Marana's Markandeya Puranam, Ketana's Dasakumara Charita,
Yerrapragada's Harivamsam followed. Many scientific works, like Ganitasarasangrahamu by Pavuluri Mallana and
Prakirnaganitamu by Eluganti Peddana, were written in the 12th century.
Sumati Satakam, which is a neeti ("moral"), is one of the most famous Telugu Satakams. Satakam is composed of
more than a 100 padyalu (poems). According to many literary critics Sumati Satakam was composed by Baddena
Bhupaludu (Telugu: బద్దెన భూపాల) (CE 1220–1280). He was also known as Bhadra Bhupala. He was a Chola
prince and a vassal under the Kakatiya empress Rani Rudrama Devi, and a pupil of Tikkana. If we assume that the
Sumati Satakam was indeed written by Baddena, it would rank as one of the earliest Satakams in Telugu along with
the Vrushadhipa Satakam of Palkuriki Somanatha and the Sarveswara Satakam of Yathavakkula Annamayya. The
Sumatee Satakam is also one of the earliest Telugu works to be translated into a European language, as C. P. Brown
rendered it in English in the 1840s.

Palkuriki Somanatha: Important among his Telugu language writings are the Basava Purana, Panditaradhya charitra,
Malamadevipuranamu and Somanatha Stava–in dwipada metre ("couplets"); Anubhavasara, Chennamallu Sisamalu,
Vrushadhipa Sataka and Cheturvedasara–in verses; Basavodharana in verses and ragale metre (rhymed couplets in
blank verse); and the Basavaragada.

Gona Budda Reddy: His Ranganatha Ramayanam was a pioneering work in the Telugu language on the theme of
the Ramayana epic. Most scholars believe he wrote it between 1300 and 1310 A.D., possibly with help from his
family. The work has become part of cultural life in Andhra Pradesh and is used in puppet shows.

In the Telugu literature Tikkana was given agraasana (top position) by many famous critics.

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 Telugu grammar. Other well-known writings by Chinnayasoori are Neethichandrika,
Sootandhra Vyaakaranamu, Andhra Dhatumoola, and Neeti Sangrahamu.

Kandukuri Veeresalingam (1848–1919) is generally considered the father of modern Telugu literature.[187] 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 Kalpavrukshamu.[188] C. Narayana Reddy won the Jnanpith Award in 1988 for his poetic work,
Viswambara. Ravuri Bharadhwaja won the third Jnanpith Award for Telugu literature in 2013 for Paakudu Raallu, a
graphic account of life behind the screen in film industry.[189] 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.

Media

Telugu support on digital devices

Telugu input, display, and support were initially provided on the Microsoft Windows platform. Subsequently,
various browsers, computer applications, operating systems, and user interfaces were localised in Telugu language
for Windows and Linux platforms by vendors and free and open-source software volunteers. Telugu-capable smart
phones were also introduced by vendors in 2013.[190]
See also
Telugu grammar
Telugu people
Telugu states
Telugu years
List of languages by number of native speakers in India
List of Telugu-language newspapers
List of Telugu-language television channels
States of India by Telugu speakers
Telugu language policy

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External links
Telugu language (https://www.britannica.com/topic/Telugu-language) at Encyclopædia Britannica
Dictionary of mixed Telugu By Charles Philip Brown (https://archive.org/details/dictionarymixed00unkn
goog)
Origins of Telugu Script (https://web.archive.org/web/20050603081433/http://www.engr.mun.ca/~adlur
i/telugu/language/script/script1a.html)

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