Telugu

Telugu తెలుగు
Spoken in:	India
Region:	Andhra Pradesh
Total speakers:	76 million native, 86.1 million total (including second language speakers)
Ranking:	13 (native)
Language family:	Dravidian  South-Central   Telugu
Writing system:	Telugu script
Official status
Official language of:	India
Regulated by:	no official regulation
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	te
ISO 639-2:	tel
ISO 639-3:	tel
This page contains Indic text. Without rendering support you may see irregular vowel positioning and a lack of conjuncts. More...

Telugu (తెలుగు;['t̪elʊgʊ]), a Dravidian language (South-Central Dravidian languages), is the official language of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, and one of the twenty-two official languages of India. Including non-native speakers, it is the most-spoken Dravidian language, Telugu is mainly spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh and in the neighboring states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa, and Chhattisgarh in India. It is also spoken in Bahrain, Fiji, Malaysia, Mauritius, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, and the United Kingdom, where there is a considerable Telugu diaspora.

Telugu belongs to the South-central Dravidian language subfamily, whose members originated from the Proto-Dravidian spoken in the central part of the Deccan plateau. Most of the songs (kirtanas) of Carnatic music are in Telugu language. Telugu has a long literary tradition, which experienced its "golden age" during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries C.E., often referred to as the "Southern Period." Kandukuri Viresalingam Pantulu (1848-1919) is known as the father of modern Telugu literature. His novel, Rajasekhara Charitamu, inspired by the Vicar of Wakefield, marked the beginning of a dynamic of socially conscious Telugu literature and its transition to the modern period. Kanyasulkam (Bride-Money), the first social play in Telugu by Gurazada Appa Rao, was followed by the progressive movement, the free verse movement and the Digambara style of Telugu verse.

Origins

Telugu originated from the Proto-Dravidian language, belonging to the south-central family. Telugu belongs to the South-central Dravidian language subfamily, whose members originated from the Proto-Dravidian spoken in the central part of the Deccan plateau. Other languages of the South-Central group include the rustic Gondi, Konda, Kui, and Kuvi languages, all of which are linguistically closest to Telugu. It is the most widely spoken language in the Dravidian language family.

Etymology

The etymology of the word Telugu is not known for certain. It is explained as being derived from trilinga, as in Trilinga Desa, "the country of the three lingas." According to a Hindu legend, Trilinga Desa is the land in between three Shiva temples, Kaleshwaram, Srisailam, and Draksharamam. Trilinga Desa forms the traditional boundaries of the Telugu region. Other forms of the word, such as Telunga, Telinga, and Tenunga also existed. It is also said that Trilinga, in the form "Triliggon" occurs in Ptolemy as the name of a locality to the east of the Ganga river. Other scholars compare Trilinga with other local names mentioned by Pliny, such as Bolingae, Maccocalingae, and Modogalingam. The latter name is given as that of an island in the Ganges. A.D. Campbell, in the introduction to his Telugu grammar, suggested that Modogalingam may be explained as a Telugu translation of Trilingam, and compared the first part of the word modoga, with mUDuga, a poetical form for Telugu mUDu, three. Bishop Caldwell, on the other hand, explained Modogalingam as representing a Telugu mUDugalingam, the three Kalingas, a local name which occurs in Sanskrit inscriptions and one of the Puranas. Kalinga occurs in the Ashoka Inscriptions, and in the form Kling, it has become, in the Malay country, the common word for the people of Continental India.

According to K.L. Ranjanam, the word is instead derived from talaing, who were chiefs who conquered the Andhra region. M.R. Shastri is of the opinion that it is from telunga, an amalgamation of the Gondi words telu, meaning "white," and the pluralization -unga, probably referring to white or fair-skinned people. According to G.J. Somayaji, ten- refers to 'south' in Proto-Dravidian, and the word could be derived from tenungu meaning "people of the South."

The ancient name for telugu land seems to be telinga/telanga desa. It seems probable that the base of this word is teli, and that -nga, or gu is the common Dravidian formative element. A base teli occurs in Telugu “teli” (“bright”); “teliyuTa” (“to perceive”), and so on. However, this etymology is contested. Telugu pandits commonly state Tenugu to be the proper form of the word, and explain this as the "mellifluous language" from tene or honey. The word Kalinga might be derived from the same base as Telugu kaluguTa, to live to exist, and would then simply mean "man."

History

Telugu, as a Dravidian language, descends from Proto-Dravidian, a proto-language.

The linguistic history of Telugu is periodized as follows:

• Pre-historic Telugu (c. 600 B.C.E.–200 B.C.E.)
• Old Telugu (200 B.C.E.–1000 C.E.)
• Middle Telugu (1000 C.E.–1600 C.E.)
• Modern Telugu (1600 C.E.–present)

Pre-historic Telugu

Pre-historic Telugu is identified with the period around 600 B.C.E. or even earlier. Pre-historic Telugu is considered one of the most conservative languages of the Dravidian family based on its linguistic features.

• 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. 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.
• Personal Pronouns: Reconstructed personal pronouns include ñān (I) with the oblique form ñā, and ñām or ēm (we).
• 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.
• Tenses: Tenses were structured as "past vs non-past," and gender was categorized as "masculine vs non-masculine."
• Demonstratives: Three demonstratives were in use: ā (distant 'that'), ī (proximate 'this'), and ū (intermediate 'yonder'; in Classical Telugu, ulla).
• Non-Palatalized Initials: Non-palatalized initials are identified in words like kēsiri ("they did"), found in inscriptions up until the eighth century C.E.
• 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).
• Apical Displacement: Apical displacement was underway for certain words.
• Conjunctive Marker: The conjunctive marker -um had various structural applications.

Earliest records

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

The Ghantasala Brahmin inscription and the pillar inscription of Vijaya Satakarni at Vijayapuri, Nagarjunakonda, and other locations date to the first century C.E. Additionally, the Tummalagudem inscription of the Vishnukundinas dates to the fifth century C.E. Telugu place names in Prakrit inscriptions are attested from the second century C.E. onwards.

A number of Telugu words were found in the Sanskrit and Prakrit inscriptions of the Satavahana dynasty, Vishnukundina dynasty, and Andhra Ikshvakus. 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 and Tamil languages.

Telugu Talli Bomma (statue of Mother Telugu), the personification of Telugu language in Andhra Pradesh

Post-Ikshvaku period

The period from the fourth century C.E. to 1022 C.E. marks the second phase of Telugu history, following the Andhra Ikshvaku period. The first long inscription entirely in Telugu, dated to 575 C.E., is attributed to the Renati Choda king Dhanunjaya and found in the Kadapa district.

An early Telugu label inscription, "tolacuwānḍru" (తొలచువాండ్రు; Template:Translation), is found on one of the rock-cut caves around the Keesaragutta temple, 35 kilometers from Hyderabad. This inscription is dated to the Vishnukundina period of around 400 C.E. and is the earliest known short Telugu inscription from the Telangana region.

From the sixth century onwards, complete Telugu inscriptions began to appear in districts neighbouring Kadapa such as Prakasam and Palnadu. Metrically composed Telugu inscriptions and those with ornamental or literary prose appear from 630 C.E. The Madras Museum plates of Balliya-Choda dated to the mid-ninth century C.E., are the earliest copper plate grants in the Telugu language.

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 C.E.

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.

Vijayanagara Empire

The Vijayanagara Empire gained dominance from 1336 to the late seventeenth century, reaching its peak during the rule of Krishnadevaraya in the sixteenth century, when Telugu literature experienced what is considered its Golden Age. The fifteenth-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"; a saying that has been widely repeated.

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 fourteenth century.

In the latter half of the seventeenth 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.

Colonial period

In the late nineteenth and the early twentieth 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.

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.

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.

Post-independence period

Telugu is one of the 22 languages with official status in India. The Andhra Pradesh Official Language Act, 1966, declares Telugu the official language of the state that is currently divided into Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It is one of the six classical languages of India.

Telugu Language Day is celebrated every year on 29 August, the birthday of Telugu poet Gidugu Venkata Ramamurthy.

Geographic distribution

Telugu is mainly spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh and in the neighboring states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa, and Chhattisgarh in India. It is also spoken in Bahrain, Fiji, Malaysia, Mauritius, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, and the United Kingdom, where there is a considerable Telugu diaspora. Telugu is the second most widely-spoken language in the country after Hindi.

Dialects

There are four regional dialects in Telugu:

• Western : Telangana
• Southern: Rayalaseema
• Central: Coastal Andhra
• Northern : North Andhra

The dialects of Telugu identified by SIL are Berad, Dasari, Dommara, Golari, Kamathi, Komtao, Konda-Reddi, Salewari, Telangana, Telugu, Vadaga, Srikakula, Vishakhapatnam, East Godavari, West Godavari, Rayalseema, Nellore, Guntur, Vadari, and Yanadi (Yenadi).

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 Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, and Hindi, Standard Telugu is often called a Shuddha Bhaasha ("pure language").

Sounds

Vowels

Like other major Dravidian languages, the Telugu vowel set adds short /e/ and /o/ in addition to the long /eː/ and /oː/ of the Indo-Aryan languages.

అ

ఆ

ఇ

ఈ

ఉ

ఊ

ఋ

ౠ

ఌ

ౡ

ఎ

ఏ

ఐ

ఒ

ఓ

ఔ

అం

అః

/a/

/ɑː/

/ɪ/

/iː/

/u/

/uː/

/ru/

/ruː/

/lu/

/luː/

/e/

/eː/

/ai/

/o/

/oː/

/au/

/am/

/aha/

The rhotics ఋ and ౠ (originally /r/ and /rː/), like the liquids ఌ and ౡ (originally /l/ and /lː/) have now turned into the syllables /ru/, /ruː/, /lu/, /luː/ respectively. They are fast going out of currency and are no longer included in the standard Telugu school textbooks issued by the government of Andhra Pradesh, which now prefers the actual consonants with a /u/ appended (e.g. /ruʃɪ/ (monk) used to be written ఋషి but nowadays, రుషి is preferred).

Consonants

క ఖ గ ఘ ఙ
చ ఛ జ ఝ ఞ
ట ఠ డ ఢ ణ
త థ ద ధ న
ప ఫ బ భ మ
య ర ల వ శ ష స హ ళ క్ష ఱ

The consonants correspond almost one-to-one to the set in Sanskrit, with two exceptions. One is the historical form of /r/ ఱ which is now again being phased out by the current form ర. (e.g. /gurːam/ (horse) was written గుఱ్ఱం but is now written గుర్రం). The other is the retroflex lateral ళ /ɭ/.

The table below indicates the articulation of consonants in Telugu.

Telugu Vyanjana Ucchārana Pattika

Prayatna Niyamāvali		Kanthyamu (jihvā Mūlam)		Tālavyamu (jihvā Madhyam)		Mūrdhanyamu (jihvāgramu)		Dantyamu (jihvāgramu)		Dantōshtyam		Ōshtyamu (adhōstamu)
Sparśam, Śvāsam, Alpaprānam		ka		ca		Ta		ta		-		pa
Sparśam, Śvāsam, Mahāprānam		kha		cha		Tha		tha		-		pha
Sparśam, Nādam, Alpaprānam		ga		ja		Da		da		-		ba
Sparśam, Nādam, Mahāprānam		gha		jha		Dha		dha		-		bha
Sparśam, Nādam, Alpaprānam, Anunāsikam, Dravam, Avyāhatam		nga		nja		Na		na		-		ma
Antastham, Nādam, Alpaprānam, Dravam, Avyāhatam		-		ya		ra (Lunthitam) La (Pārśvikam)		la (Pārśvikam) Ra(Kampitam)		va		-
Ūshmamu, Śvāsam,Mahāprānam, Avyāhatam		Visarga		śa		sha		sa		-		-
Ūshmamu, Nādam,Mahāprānam, Avyāhatam		ha		-		-		-		-		-

Phonology

Though the Telugu consonant set lists aspirated consonants (both voiced and unvoiced), they are reserved mostly for transcribing Sanskrit borrowings. To most native speakers, the aspirated and unaspirated consonants are practically allophonic (like in Tamil). The distinction is made however, rather strictly, in written or literary Telugu.

Grammar

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. Telugu also has the Vibhakthi విభక్తి (preposition) tradition.

Telugu	రాముడు (Ramudu) బంతిని (bantini) కొట్టాడు(kottaadu)
Literal translation	Rama ball hit
Reformatted	"Rama hit the ball"

Inflection

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

Instrumental	Ramunito	రామునితో	(తో; to)
Dative	Ramuniki	రామునికి	(కి; ki or కు; ku)
Ablative	Ramudinunchi	రాముడినుంచి	(నుంచి; nunchi)
Genitive	Ramuni	రాముని	(ని; ni)

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

Here is how other cases are manifested in Telugu:

Location

Case	Usage	English example	Telugu example
Adessive case	adjacent location	near/at/by the house	ఇంటి/పక్క /ɪŋʈɪprakːa/
Inessive case	inside something	inside the house	ఇంట్లో /ɪŋʈloː/
Locative case	location	at/on/in the house	ఇంటిదగ్గర /ɪŋʈɪd̪agːara/
Superessive case	on the surface	on (top of) the house	ఇంటిపై /ɪŋʈɪpaj/

Motion

Case	Usage	English example	Telugu example
Allative case	movement to (the adjacency of) something	to the house	ఇంటికి /ɪŋʈɪkɪ/, ఇంటివైపు /ɪŋʈɪvajpu/
Delative case	movement from the surface	from (the top of) the house	ఇంటిపైనుంచి /ɪŋʈɪnɪɲcɪ/
Egressive case	marking the beginning of a movement or time	beginning from the house	ఇంటినుంచి /ɪŋʈɪnɪɲcɪ/ (ఇంటికెల్లి /ɪŋʈɪkelːɪ/ in some dialects)
Elative case	out of something	out of the house	ఇంటిలోనుంచి /ɪŋʈɪnɪɲcɪ/ (ఇంట్లకెల్లి /ɪŋʈlakelːɪ/ in some dialects)
Illative case	movement into something	into the house	ఇంటిలోనికి /ɪŋʈɪloːnɪkɪ/ (ఇంట్లోకి /ɪŋʈloːkɪ/)
Sublative case	movement onto the surface	on(to) the house	ఇంటిపైకి /ɪŋʈɪpajkɪ/
Terminative case	marking the end of a movement or time	as far as the house	ఇంటివరకు /ɪŋʈɪvaraku/

Morphosyntactic alignment

Case	Usage	English example	Telugu example
Oblique case	all-round case; any situation except nominative	concerning the house	ఇంటిగురించి /ɪŋʈɪgurɪɲcɪ/

Relation

Case	Usage	English example	Telugu example
Benefactive case	for, for the benefit of, intended for	for the house	ఇంటికోసం /ɪŋʈɪkoːsam/ (ఇంటికొరకు /ɪŋʈɪkoraku/)
Causal case	because, because of	because of the house	ఇంటివలన /ɪŋʈɪvalana/
Comitative case	in company of something	with the house	ఇంటితో /ɪŋʈɪt̪oː/
Possessive case	direct possession of something	owned by the house	ఇంటియొక్క /ɪŋʈɪjokːa/

Polyagglutination

While the examples given above are single agglutinations, Telugu allows for polyagglutination, the unique 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"

Vowel harmony

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

Inclusive and exclusive pronouns

Telugu exhibits one of the rare features that Dravidian languages share with few others: the 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 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-person pronouns (ఆయన /ɑːjana/ m. and ఆవిడ /ɑːvɪɽa/ f.) pertaining to both genders. A specialty of the Telugu language, however, is that the third-person non-respectful feminine (అది /ad̪ɪ/) is used to refer to animals and objects, and no special neuter gender is used.

Vocabulary

Like all Dravidian languages, Telugu has a base of words which are essentially Dravidian in origin. Words that describe objects and actions associated with common or everyday life: Like తల; tala (head), పులి; puli (tiger), ఊరు; ūru (town/city) have cognates in other Dravidian languages and are indigenous to the Dravidian language family.

However, Telugu is also largely Sanskritized, that is, it has a wide variety of words of Sanskrit and Prakrit origin. The Indo-Aryan influence can be attributed historically to the rule of the Satavahana kings, who used Prakrit as the official language of courts and government, and to the influence of literary Sanskrit during the eleventh-fourteenth centuries C.E. Today, Telugu is generally considered the Dravidian language with the most Indo-Aryan influence.

The vocabulary of Telugu, especially in the Hyderabad 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: 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 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 name Telugu written in the Telugu script

The earliest evidence for Brahmi script in South India comes from Bhattiprolu in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh. Bhattiprolu was a great center of Buddhism since the fourth century B.C.E. (Pre-Mauryan time), from which Buddhism spread to east Asia. A variant of Asokan Brahmi script, the progenitor of Old Telugu script, was found on the Buddha’s relic casket. The script also traveled to Rayalaseema region, the original home of the Chalukyas. The famous tenth century Muslim historian and scholar, Al-Biruni, called Telugu language and script "Andhri."

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 sixteen are vowels, three are vowel modifiers, and forty-one are 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, and so on) was introduced with the advent of print.

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

Telugu is assigned Unicode codepoints: 0C00-0C7F (3072-3199).

Vocabulary examples

Telugu	IPA	English
ఒకటి	/okaʈɪ/	one
జింక	/ɟɪŋka/	deer
చింతపండు	/cɪnt̪apaɳɖu/	Tamarind
అమ్మ	/amːa/	mother
ఊయల	/uːyala/	cradle
ఇల్లు	/ɪlːu/	house
మందారం	/mand̪ɑːram/	Hibiscus
వెన్నెల	/venːela/	moonlight
బ్రహ్మాండం	/bramːɑːɳɖam/	excellent/universe

Carnatic music

Though Carnatic music has a profound cultural influence on all of the South Indian States and their respective languages, most of the songs (Kirtanas) are in Telugu language. This is because the existing tradition is, to a great extent, an outgrowth of the musical life of the principality of Thanjavur in the Kaveri delta. Thanjavur was the heart of the Chola dynasty (from the ninth century to the thirteenth), but in the second quarter of the sixteenth century, a Telugu Nayak viceroy (Raghunatha Nayaka) was appointed by the emperor of Vijayanagar, thus establishing a court whose language was Telugu. Telugu Nayak rulers acted as the governors in the present day Tamil Nadu area with headquarters at Thanjavur (1530-1674 C.E.) and Madurai(1530-1781 C.E.). 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.

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 Muttuswami Dikshitar 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; serves as a refrain for several passages the composition). The texts of his kritis are all, with a few exceptions in Sanskrit, in Telugu (the contemporary language of the court), and 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. 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:

pre-1020 C.E.—pre-Nannayya period

1020-1400—Age of the Puranas

1400-1510—Age of Srinatha

1510-1600—Age of the Prabandhas

1600-1820—Southern period

1820 to date—Modern period

In the earliest period there were only inscriptions, dating from 575 C.E. onwards. Nannaya's (1022-1063) translation of the Sanskrit Mahabharata into Telugu is the only piece of Telugu literature from this period as yet discovered. After the death of Nannaya, there was a kind of social and religious revolution in the Telugu country.

Tikkana (thirteenth century) and Yerrana (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 popularized 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 Gonabudda Reddy. The works of Potana (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.

The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries C.E. are regarded as the "golden age" of Telugu literature. Krishnadevaraya's Amuktamalayada, and Peddana's Manucharitra are regarded as Mahakavyas. Telugu literature flourished in the south in the traditional "samsthanas" (centers) 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 popularized 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.

Kandukuri Viresalingam Pantulu (1848-1919) is known as the father of modern Telugu literature. 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 Rayaprolu Subba Rao, Gurazada Appa Rao, Viswanatha Satyanarayana, Katuri Venkateswara Rao, Jashuva, Devulapalli Venkata Krishna Sastry, and Sri Sri Puttaparty Narayana Charyulu.

Viswanatha Satyanarayana won India's national literary honor, the Jnanpith Award. Kanyasulkam (Bride-Money), the first social play in Telugu by Gurazada 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 (Malapalli), Viswanatha Satyanarayana (Veyi Padagalu), Kutumba Rao and Buchchi Babu.

Jnanpith award winners for Telugu

• 1970 Viswanatha Satyanarayana
• 1988 Dr. C. Narayana Reddy

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Andronov, Mikhail S. A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian Languages. LINCOM publishers, 2003. ISBN 978-3895867057
• Brown, Charles Philip. A Grammar of the Telugu . london: W. H. Allen & Co., 1857. ISBN 812060041X
• Frawley, William J. (ed.). International Encyclopedia of Linguistics. Oxford University Press, 2003. ISBN 978-0195139778
• Grierson, George A. Linguistic Survey of India. Kalpaz Publications, 2017 (original 1906). ISBN 978-9351282990
• Hill, Edward C. A Primer in Telugu Characters. Indological primers series. New Delhi: Manohar Publications, 1991. ISBN 9788185425399
• Krishnamurti, Bhadriraju. Language, Education and Society. New Delhi: Sage Publications, 1998. ISBN 9780761992417
• Krishnamurti, Bhadriraju. The Dravidian Languages. Cambridge University Press, 2003. ISBN 0521771110
• Krishnamurti, Bhadriraju, and J.P.L. Gwynn. A Grammar of Modern Telugu. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1985. ISBN 9780195616644
• Morris, Henry. A Descriptive and Historical Account of the Godavery District in the Presidency of Madras. Outlook Verlag, 2023. ISBN 978-3368505486
• Pollock, Sheldon. Language of the Gods in the World of Men: Sanskrit, Culture, and Power in Premodern India. University of California Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0520260030
• Reddy, Emani Siva Nagi. Evolution of Building Technology: Early and Madieval [i.e. Medieval] in Andhradeśa. Bharatiya Kala Prakashan, 1998. ASIN B0006FD2HC
• Schmitthenner, Peter L. Telugu Resurgence C.P. Brown and Cultural Consolidation in Nineteenth-Century South India. New Delhi: Manohar, 2001. ISBN 9788173042911
• Sircar, D.C. Indian Epigraphy. Motilal Banarsidass, 2016. ISBN 978-8120811669
• Sundarayya, P. Telangana People's Struggle and Its Lessons. Foundation Press, 2006. ISBN 978-8175963160
• Yandell, Keith E., and John J. Paul. Religion and Public Culture: Encounters and Identities in Modern South India. Routledge, 2015. ISBN 978-1138878884

External links

All links retrieved December 19, 2024.

• A Telugu-English Dictionary by Charles Philip Brown
• A Telugu-English Dictionary by J.P.L. Gwynn
• Learn Telugu
• Telugu World

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

• Telugu_language  ^history

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

• History of "Telugu"

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.