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Accusative: Ramuduni రాముడుని (ని ni) रामम् Instrumental: Ramuduki రాముడుకి (కి ki) रामेनDative: Ramuduki రాముడుకి (కి ki) रामायAblative: Ramuduninchi రాముడునించి (నించి ninchi) रमत्Genetive: Ramududi రాముడుది (ది di) रामस्यThese agglutinations apply to all nouns generally in the singular and plural

Vocabulary

Writing system

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Telugu is usually written using the Telugu alphabet, a Brahmic script. The Telugu script is phonetic in nature. It has 56 characters in total. Its appearance is quite similar to the Kannada alphabet. It is assigned Unicode codepoints: 0C00-0C7F (3072-3199).

Examples

ఒకటి - one
రెండు - Two
మూడు - Three
అమ్మ - Mother
ఆవు - Cow
ఇల్లు - House
ఈగ - HouseFly

Literature in Telugu

The Vijayanagara dynasty produced one of the most prolific set of poets during the reign of Sri Krishnadevaraya. Tenali Ramakrishna, Dhoorjati, Allasani Peddanna were Krishnadevaraya's court poets.

Sri Pothuluri Verrabrahmendra Swami (like his western counterpart Nostradamus) composed "Kalagnanam", the records of the past, present, and future.

The famous epic in Indian literature Mahabharatha was translated into telugu over a period of a few centuries by Nannaya, Tikkana and Yerrapragada. Nannaya is also credited to have participated in formalizing telugu grammar.

A number of famous luminaries in classical Indian music called "Carnatic Music" wrote their works in telugu. Tyagaraja, Annamacharya and Kshetrayya are but a few of a number of contributors. Modern composers like Mysore Vasudevachari also chose Telugu as their medium of composition.

Some popular works and their authors

  • Samagraandhra Saahithyamu (The Complete Telugu Literature) - Aarudhra
  • Gona Ganna Reddy - Adavi Baapiraaju
  • Naarayanarao - Adavi Baapiraaju
  • Thuphaanu (The strom) - Adavi Baapiraaju
  • Mama charithra (The Uncle's History) - Allasaani Peddana
  • Bhagavatham - Bammera Pothana
  • Chivaraku migilaedhi? (The remains?) - Buchchibabu
  • Vishwambhara - C. Narayana Reddy
  • Vijayavilaasamu - Chaemakoori Venkatakavi
  • Gayopaakyaanam - Chilakamarti Lakshmi Narasimham
  • Timiramu lo samaramu (The battle in the ocean)- Daasaradhi
  • Paanasaala - Davvoori Raamireddy
  • Krishna pakshamu (The waning phase of moon) - Devulapalli Krishna Sastri
  • Sivabhaaratham - Gadiyaaram Venkatasesha Sastri
  • Ranganaadha Raamayanamu - Gonabuddhaa Reddy
  • Chithraangi - Chalam
  • Maidhaanam - Chalam
  • Saavithri - Chalam
  • Kanyaasulkamu - Gurajada Apparao
  • Gabbilamu (The untouchable bat) - Gurram Jashuva
  • Piradousi - Gurram Jashuva
  • Dasakumaara charithra - Kaethana
  • Andhrakavula Charithra (The history of Andhra Poets)- Kandukuri Veeresalingam
  • Raajasekhara Charithra (The history of Rajasekhara) - Kandukuri Veeresalingam
  • Andhra Mahaabhaarathamu (The great Mahabharatha in Telugu) - Kavitrayam (Nannayya, Tikkana, Yerrapragada)
  • Rukmini parinayamu (Rukmini's wedding) - Koochimanchi Timmana
  • Sreenaadhudu (The poet Srinadha ) - Korlapati Sriraamamurthy
  • Maarkandaeya puraanamu - Maadhava
  • Amaravati Kathalu (The stories from Amaravati)- Mullapudi Venkata Ramana
  • Raamayana vishavruksham - Muppala Ranganayakamma
  • Yenki paatalu - Nandoori Subbarao
  • Kumaara Sambhavamu - Nanne Choadudu
  • Bathikina collegee - Palagummi Padmarao
  • Basava puraanamu - Palkooriki Somanaadhudu
  • Saakshi (The witness) - Panuganti Lakshmi Narasimham
  • Baalavyaakaranamu - Paravasthu Chinnayasuri
  • Kalaa poornodhayamu - Pingali Soorana
  • Alpajeevi (The miserable) - Rachakonda Viswanatha Sastri
  • Vasu charithra - Ramaraaja Bhooshanudu
  • Paakudu raallu - Ravuri Bharadwaj
  • Jada kuchchulu - Raayaprolu Subbarao
  • Ramyaaloakam - Raayaprolu Subbarao
  • Aamukta Maalyadha - Sri Krishna Deva Raya
  • Mahaaprasthaanamu - Sri Sri
  • Haravilaasamu - Srinatha
  • Kaasikandamu - Srinatha
  • Palnaati veeracharithra - Srinatha
  • Srungaara naishadhamu - Srinatha
  • Aandhrula Saanghika Charithra - Suravaram Pratapareddy
  • Paanduranga mahatyamu - Tenali Raamakrisha
  • Baapu aathmakadha (Rashtra gaanamu) - Thummala Seetaraamamoorhty Chowdhary
  • Nirvachanoththara Raamayanamu - Tikkana
  • Paarijaathaapaharanamu - Timmana
  • Devi bhaagavatham - Tirupati Venkata Kavulu
  • Paandavodyogamulu - Tirupati Venkata Kavulu
  • Merupula Marakalu - Tripuranaeni Gopichand
  • Maala pilla - Unnava Lakshminaarayana
  • Cheliyalikatta - Viswanatha Satyanarayana
  • Kalpavrukshamu - Viswanatha Satyanarayana
  • Kinnerasaani Paatalu - Viswanatha Satyanarayana
  • Srimadraamaayana - Viswanatha Satyanarayana
  • Swargaaniki Nichchenalu - Viswanatha Satyanarayana
  • Vaeyipadagalu - Viswanatha Satyanarayana
  • Yaeekaveera - Viswanatha Satyanarayana
  • Harivansamu - Yerrapragada
  • Nrusimhapuranam - Yerrapragada

External links

  • Ethnologue report for Telugu http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=TCW
  • On-line English-Telugu Dictionaries (C. P. Brown's and V. Rao Vemuri's) http://www.sahiti.org/dict/index.jsp?code=TCW
  • List of online Telugu-related resources http://www.geocities.com/language_directory/languages/telugu.htm
Last updated: 05-02-2005 12:08:30
 

Telugu language


Telugu belongs to the family of Dravidian languages and is the official language of the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is also one among the 22 official national languages of India. In India, Telugu is the most spoken mother tongue after Hindi. 19th century Englishmen called it the "Italian of the East" as all words in Telugu end with a vowel sound and are often quite melodic to the ear.


Telugu (Telugu)
Spoken in: India
Region: Andhra Pradesh and neighboring states
Total speakers: 80 million
Ranking: 12
Genetic classification: Dravidian

 South-central
  Telugu
   Telugu

Official status
Official language of: India
Regulated by: ?
Language codes
ISO 639-1 te
ISO 639-2 tel
SIL TCW


Contents

History

Telugu was initially called Andhra bhasha (the language of Andhra). Andhra was the name of the area consisting of the present coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh. In 1956, 10 Nizam districts and 4 districts of Rayalaseema were merged to Andhra and the collection was called Andhra Pradesh. Prakrut had significant effect on Telugu in earlier ages. But from Nannayya, Sanskrit had major influence on Telugu for the next 500-600 years.

Classification

Telugu is a member of the Telugu languages , along with Chenchu language , Savara language , and Waddar language . The Telugu languages are part of the South-central branch of the Dravidian languages.

Geographic distribution

Telugu is mainly spoken in Andhra Pradesh in India and in neighboring states in India, but it is also spoken in Bahrain, Fiji, Malaysia, Mauritius, United States, Singapore, United Kingdon , and United Arab Emirates. Telugu people live in almost all parts of the World.


Official status

Telugu is one of the official languages of India. It is the official language of the state of Andhra Pradesh

Dialects

The dialects of Telugu identified by Ethnologue are Berad, Dasari, Dommara, Golari, Kamathi, Komtao, Konda-Reddi, Salewari, Telangana, Telugu, Vadaga, Vadari, Srikakula, Vishakapatnam, East Godavari, Rayalseema, Nellore and Guntur. In Tamil Nadu the Telugu dialect is classified into Salem, Coimbatore, Chennai Telugu dialects. It is also widely spoken in Virudhunagar, Tuticorin, maduar districts

Derived languages

Creoles and other languages that are derived from this language.

Sounds

Vowels

Consonants

Phonology

Historical sound changes

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. Linguists classify Telugu as a Dravidian Language as this pattern is found in other Dravidian languages but not in Sanskrit. Telugu also has the Vibhakthi(విభక్తి) (or preposition) tradition.


Telugu - Ramudu bantini kottadu రాముడు బంతిని కొట్టాడు
literally - రాముడు (Rama) బంతి (ball) కొట్టు(hit)
Reformatting it - Ramudu(Rama) hit the ball


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

For example, the declension of Ramudu:

Nominative: Ramudu రాముడు - (-) रामः