Telugu language

Dravidian language of southern India

Telugu

తెలుగు
File:Telugu.svg

The word "Telugu" in Telugu script

Pronunciation| [ˈteluɡu]
Native to| India
Ethnicity| Telugu people

Native speakers

| 83 million (2011)[1][2]
L2 speakers: 13 million[1]

Language family

Dravidian

* South-Central
* Telugu

Early form

Old Telugu

Dialects|

* see Telugu languages

Writing system

| Telugu script
Bharati Braille (Telugu)

Signed forms

| Signed Telugu
Official status

Official language in

|  India

* Andhra Pradesh
* Telangana
* Puducherry (Yanam)
* West Bengal (additional)[3]

Recognised minority
language in

South Africa (protected language)[4]

Language codes
ISO 639-1| `te`
ISO 639-2| `tel`
ISO 639-3| `tel` – inclusive code
Individual code:
`wbq` – Waddar (Vadari)

Linguist List

| `tel`
Glottolog| `telu1262` Telugu
`oldt1249` Old Telugu
Linguasphere| `49-DBA-aa`

Telugu is native to Andhra Pradesh and Telangana

This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.
Part of a series onFile:Different scripts of different languages of India.svg

Constitutionally recognised
languages of India
Category
Official Languages of the Indian Republic

* Assamese
* Bengali
* Bodo
* Dogri
* Gujarati
* Hindi
* Kannada
* Kashmiri
* Konkani
* Maithili
* Malayalam
* Marathi
* Meitei (Manipuri)
* Nepali
* Odia
* Punjabi
* Sanskrit
* Santali
* Sindhi
* Tamil
* Telugu
* Urdu

Related
Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India
Official Languages Commission
Languages by number of native speakers

* v
* t
* e

Telugu (/ˈtɛlʊɡuː/;[5] తెలుగు, Telugu pronunciation: [ˈteluɡu]) is a Dravidian language spoken by Telugu people predominantly living in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where it is also the official language. It is the most widely spoken member of the Dravidian language family and one of the twenty-two scheduled languages of the Republic of India.[6][7] It is one of the few languages that has primary official status in more than one Indian state, alongside Hindi and Bengali.[8][9] Telugu is one of six languages designated as a classical language (of India) by the Government of India.[10][11]

Telugu is also a linguistic minority in the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, West Bengal, and the union territories of Puducherry and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It is also spoken by members of the Telugu diaspora spread across countries like United States, Australia, United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand in the Anglosphere; Myanmar, Malaysia, South Africa, Mauritius; and the Arabian Gulf countries of UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia etc.[12][13][14][15]

With nearly 81 million native speakers as per the 2011 census, Telugu is the fourth most spoken language in India and 15th in the world in the Ethnologue list of languages by number of native speakers.[16][17][18] It is also the fastest-growing language in the United States, where there is a large Telugu-speaking community.[19][20] It is also a protected language in South Africa and is offered as an optional third language in schools in the KwaZulu-Natal province.[4][21] Roughly 10,000 pre-colonial inscriptions exist in the Telugu language.[22]

## Contents

* 1 Etymology
* 2 History
* 2.1 Earliest records
* 2.2 Post-Ikshvaku period
* 2.3 Middle Ages
* 2.4 Vijayanagara Empire
* 2.5 Delhi Sultanate and Mughal influence
* 2.6 Colonial period
* 2.7 Post-independence period
* 3 Geographic distribution
* 4 Legal status
* 5 Epigraphical records
* 6 Geographical influence
* 6.1 Telugu region boundaries
* 6.2 Telugu place names
* 7 Dialects
* 8 Phonology
* 8.1 Consonants
* 8.2 Vowels
* 8.2.1 Allophones
* 9 Grammar
* 9.1 Morphosyntax
* 9.1.1 Word order
* 9.1.2 Noun classes (gender)
* 9.2 Pronouns
* 9.2.1 Personal pronouns
* 9.2.2 Demonstratives
* 9.3 Case system
* 10 Lexicon
* 11 Writing system
* 11.1 Telugu Guṇintālu (తెలుగు గుణింతాలు)
* 11.2 Number system
* 12 Literature
* 12.1 The Pre-Nannayya Period (before 1020 CE)
* 12.2 The Jain Literature Phase (850–1000 CE)
* 12.3 The Age of the Puranas (1020–1400 CE)
* 12.4 Nannaya Bhattarakudu or Adi Kavi (1022–1063 CE)
* 12.5 Baddena Bhupala (1220–1280 CE)
* 13 Media
* 13.1 Telugu support on digital devices
* 14 See also
* 15 References
* 16 Bibliography
* 17 External links

## Etymology[edit | edit source]

Bhimeswaram

Srisailam

Kaleswaram

class=notpageimage|

Locations of Trilinga Kshetras

Speakers of Telugu refer to it as simply Telugu or Telugoo.[23] Older forms of the name include Teluṅgu, Tenuṅgu and Teliṅga.[24] Atharvana Acharya in the 13th century wrote a grammar of Telugu, calling it the Trilinga Śabdānusāsana (or Trilinga Grammar).[25] Appa Kavi in the 17th century explicitly wrote that Telugu was derived from Trilinga. Scholar Charles P. Brown made a comment that it was a "strange notion" since the predecessors of Appa Kavi had no knowledge of such a derivation.[26]

George Abraham Grierson and other linguists doubt this derivation, holding rather that Telugu was the older term and Trilinga must be the later Sanskritisation of it.[27][28] If so the derivation itself must have been quite ancient because Triglyphum, Trilingum and Modogalingam are attested in ancient Greek sources, the last of which can be interpreted as a Telugu rendition of "Trilinga".[29]

Another view[whose?] holds that tenugu is derived from the Proto-Dravidian word *ten ("south")[30] 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.[31][32]

## History[edit | edit source]

Satavahana bilingual coinage in Prakrit and Dravidian (c.150 CE)

File:Satavahanas. Sri Vasisthiputra Pulumavi.jpg

File:Vasishthiputra Pulumavi coin legend.jpg

Bilingual coinage of Satavahana Emperor Sri Vasishthiputra Pulumavi in Prakrit and Dravidian, and transcription of the obverse Prakrit legend.

Obverse: Portrait of the king. Legend in Prakrit in the Brahmi script (starting at 12 o'clock):
𑀭𑀜𑁄 𑀯𑀸𑀲𑀺𑀣𑀺𑀧𑀼𑀢𑀲 𑀲𑀺𑀭𑀺 𑀧𑀼𑀎𑀼𑀫𑀸𑀯𑀺𑀲
Raño Vāsiṭhiputasa Siri-Puḷumāvisa
"Of King Lord Pulumavi, son of Vasishthi"

Reverse: Ujjain and arched-hill symbols. Legend in Dravidian (closer to Tamil than Telugu),[33] and the Dravidian script,[33] similar to the Brahmi script[34] (starting at 12 o'clock):
𑀅𑀭𑀳𑀡𑀓𑀼 𑀯𑀸𑀳𑀺𑀣𑀺 𑀫𑀸𑀓𑀡𑀓𑀼 𑀢𑀺𑀭𑀼 𑀧𑀼𑀮𑀼𑀫𑀸𑀯𑀺𑀓𑀼
Arahaṇaku Vāhitti Mākaṇaku Tiru Pulumāviku[35]
or: Aracanaku Vācitti Makaṇaku Tiru Pulumāviku[36]
"Of King Tiru Pulumavi, son of Vasishthi"[34]

According to linguist Bhadriraju Krishnamurti, Telugu, as a Dravidian language, descends from Proto-Dravidian, a proto-language. Linguistic reconstruction suggests that Proto-Dravidian was spoken around the third millennium BCE.[37] According to the Russian linguist Mikhail S. Andronov, Telugu split from the Proto-Dravidian language between 1000 and 1500 BCE.[38][39]

### Earliest records[edit | edit source]

Prakrit Inscriptions with some Telugu words dating back to between 400 BCE and 100 BCE have been discovered in Bhattiprolu in the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh.[40] The English translation of an inscription reads, "gift of the slab by venerable Midikilayakha".[41][42][43]

"The Bhattiprolu stone Buddhist casket in proto Telugu belongs to BCE 300,[43]: 232 the Erragudi Asokan Rock Edict in Proto Telugu belongs to 257 BCE (DC Sarkar’s Ashokan Studies, Calcutta 1979 pages 7–8), the Ghantasala Brahmin inscription[44] and the pillar inscription of Vijaya Satakarni, Vijayapuri, Nagarjunakonda etc., belongs to First Century CE. Further, Tummalagudem inscription of Vishnukundinas belongs to 5th Century CE. (Epigraphia Andhrika, Vol.ii pages 9 to 14)".[45][46][47][48]

One of the first words in the Telugu language, "Nagabu", was found in a Sanskrit inscription of the 1st century BCE at Amaravathi (not to be confused with the newly planned city of Amaravati).[49][50] Telugu words were also found in the Dharmasila inscription of Emperor Ashoka. A number of Telugu words were found in the Sanskrit and Prakrit inscriptions of the Satavahanas, Vishnukundinas, and Ikshwakas.

According to Telugu lore, its grammar has a prehistoric past. The Sage Kanva was said to be the language's first grammarian. A. Rajeswara Sarma discussed the historicity and content of Kanva's grammar. He cited twenty grammatical aphorisms ascribed to Kanva, and concluded that Kanva wrote an ancient Telugu Grammar which was lost.[51]

File:Telugu talli bomma.JPG

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

The coin legends of the Satavahanas, in all areas and all periods, used a Prakrit dialect without exception. Some reverse coin legends are in Tamil,[52] and Telugu languages.[53][54]

### Post-Ikshvaku period[edit | edit source]

Main article: Early Telugu epigraphy

The period from 4th century CE to 1022 CE corresponds to the second phase of Telugu history, after the Andhra Ikshvaku period. This is evidenced by the first inscription that is entirely in Telugu, dated 575 CE, which was found in the Rayalaseema region and is attributed to the Renati Cholas, who broke with the prevailing custom of using Sanskrit and began writing royal proclamations in the local language. During the next fifty years, Telugu inscriptions appeared in Anantapuram and other neighbouring regions.[55] The Madras Museum plates of Balliya-Choda dated to the mid-ninth century CE are the earliest copper plate grants in the Telugu language.[56]

Certain exploration and excavation missions conducted by the Archaeological Department in and around the Keesaragutta temple have brought to light, a number of brick temples, cells and other structures encompassed by brick prakaram along with coins, beads, stucco figures, garbhapatra, pottery, and Brahmi label inscriptions datable to 4th and 5th centuries CE. On top of one of the rock-cut caves, an early Telugu label inscription reading as 'Thulachuvanru' can be noticed. On the basis of palaeography, the inscription is dated around the 4th to 5th centuries CE.[57]

Telugu was more influenced by Sanskrit and Prakrit during this period, which corresponded to the advent of Telugu literature. Telugu literature was initially found in inscriptions and poetry in the courts of the rulers, and later in written works such as Nannayya's Mahabharatam (1022 CE).[58] During the time of Nannayya, the literary language diverged from the popular language. It was also a period of phonetic changes in the spoken language.

### Middle Ages[edit | edit source]

The third phase is marked by further stylization and sophistication of the literary languages. During this period the split of the Telugu from Kannada alphabets took place.[59] Tikkana wrote his works in this script.

### Vijayanagara Empire[edit | edit source]

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.[58]

### Delhi Sultanate and Mughal influence[edit | edit source]

A distinct dialect developed in present-day Telangana region, due to Persian/Arabic influence: the Delhi Sultanate of the Tughlaq dynasty was established earlier 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.[58]

In the princely Hyderabad State, the Andhra Mahasabha was started in 1921 with the main intention of promoting Telugu language, literature, its books and historical research led by Madapati Hanumantha Rao (the founder of the Andhra Mahasabha), Komarraju Venkata Lakshmana Rao (Founder of Library Movement in Hyderabad State), Suravaram Pratapareddy and others.

### Colonial period[edit | edit source]

The 16th-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";[60] a saying that has been widely repeated.[61]

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, Gurazada Apparao, Gidugu Sitapati and Panuganti Lakshminarasimha Rao.[58]

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.[62]

### Post-independence period[edit | edit source]

* 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[63][64]
* Telugu also has official language status in the Yanam district of the union territory of Puducherry
* Telugu Language Day is celebrated every year on 29 August on behalf of the birthday of Telugu poet Gidugu Venkata Ramamurthy.[65][66]
* The fourth World Telugu Conference was organised in Tirupati in the last week of December 2012 and deliberated at length on issues related to Telugu language policy
* Telugu is the 4th most spoken Indian language in India after Hindi, Bengali and Marathi.
* The American Community Survey has said that data for 2016 which were released in September 2017 say Telugu is the third most widely spoken Indian language in the US. Hindi tops the list followed by Gujarati, as of the 2010 census.[67]

## Geographic distribution[edit | edit source]

See also: States of India by Telugu speakers

File:Telugu speakers in India.png

Geographic distribution of Telugu immigrants in light blue, Telugu is native to dark blue.

Telugu is natively spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and Yanam district of Puducherry. Telugu speakers are also found in the neighboring 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. At 7.2% of the population, Telugu is the fourth-most-spoken language in the Indian subcontinent after Hindi, Bengali and Marathi. In Karnataka, 7.0% of the population speak Telugu, and 5.6% in Tamil Nadu.[68]

There are more than 1,000,000 Telugu Americans in the United States, with the highest concentration in Central New Jersey, also known as Little Andhra.[69] As of 2018, Telugu is the fastest-growing language in the United States, with the number of Telugu speakers in the United States increasing by 86% between 2010 and 2017.[70] 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.

## Legal status[edit | edit source]

Telugu is the official language of the Indian state 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.[71] The Government of South Africa announced that Telugu will be re-included as the official subject in the South African schools after it was removed from the curriculum in state schools.

In addition, with the creation in October 2004 of a legal status for classical languages by the Government of India and following a political campaign supported by several Tamil associations.[72] Soon, on 8 August 2008, Telugu was also given the classical language status due to several campaigns.[73][74]

File:Copper plates NMND-9.JPG

Telugu script on Copper plates, Eastern Chalukya, 10th century CE.

## Epigraphical records[edit | edit source]

Main article: Early Telugu epigraphy

According to the famous Japanese historian Noboru Karashima who served as the president of the Epigraphical Society of India in 1985, calculated that 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.[22] Telugu inscriptions are found in all the districts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.[57][75][76][77] They are also found in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, and Chhattisgarh.[78][77][79][80] According to recent estimates by ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) the number of inscriptions in the Telugu language goes up to 14,000.[75][81] Namely Adilabad, Nizamabad, Hyderabad, Anantapur, and Chittoor – produced no more than a handful of Telugu inscriptions in the Kakatiya era between 1175 CE and 1324 CE.[82][83]

## Geographical influence[edit | edit source]

### Telugu region boundaries[edit | edit source]

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 Chittoor district.[citation needed] However, Andhra extended westwards as far as Srisailam in Kurnool district, about halfway across the modern state.[84] According to other sources in the early sixteenth century, the northern boundary is Simhachalam and the southern limit is Tirumala of the Telugu Nation.[85][86][87][88][89][90]

### Telugu place names[edit | edit source]

Main article: Place names in India

Telugu place names are present all around Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Common suffixes are -ooru, -pudi, -pedu, -peta, -patnam, -wada, -gallu, -cherla, -seema, -gudem, -palle, -palem and -palli. Examples that use this are Nellore, Tadepalligudem, Guntur, Chintalapudi, Yerpedu, Narasaraopeta, Sattenapalle, Visakapatnam, Vizianagaram, Ananthagiri, Vijayawada, Vuyyuru, Macherla, Poranki, Ramagundam, Warangal, Mancherial, Peddapalli, Siddipet, Banswada, Miryalaguda etc.

## Dialects[edit | edit source]

File:Andhra Pradesh districts map.svg

The Old Districts

Main articles: Godavari Telugu and Telangana Baasha

There are six major dialects in Modern Telugu:[91]

* Northern Telangana : The old districts of Telangana: comprising Adilabad, Nizamabad, Karimnagar and Warangal

* Southern Telangana : The old districts of Telangana comprising Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda, major parts of Ranga Reddy. Slang here is a blend of Northern Telangana and Rayalaseema.

* Southern AP : The old four districts of Rayalaseema together with Nellore and Prakasham.

* South-Central AP : The old districts of AP comprising Guntur and Krishna. Parts of Khammam of TS.

* East-Central AP : The old Godavari districts.

* Eastern AP : The old Vishakapatnam, Vijayanagaram and Srikakulam districts.

Colloquially, Telangana, Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra dialects are considered the three Telugu dialects and regions [92]

Waddar, Chenchu, and Manna-Dora are all closely related to Telugu.[93] Other dialects of Telugu are Berad, Dasari, Dommara, Golari, Kamathi, Komtao, Konda-Reddi, Salewari, Vadaga, Srikakula, Vishakhapatnam, East Godavari, Rayalaseema, Nellore, Guntur, Vadari and Yanadi.[94]

## Phonology[edit | edit source]

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. Atypically for a Dravidian language, voiced consonants were distinctive even in the oldest recorded form of the language. 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.[95]

### Consonants[edit | edit source]

The table below lists the consonantal phonemes of Telugu,[96][97] along with the symbols used in the transliteration of the Telugu script used here.

Telugu consonants  | Labial | Denti-
alveolar | Retroflex | Post-alv./
Palatal | Velar | Glottal

|
|
|
|
|
|

Nasal | m m  | n n  | ɳ ṇ  |  |  |
Stop/
Affricate | unaspirated | p p  | t t
t͡s ts  | ʈ ṭ  | t͡ʃ c  | k k  |
voiced | b b  | d d
d͡z dz  | ɖ ḍ  | d͡ʒ j  | ɡ g  |
aspirated* | pʰ ph  | tʰ th  | ʈʰ ṭh  | t͡ʃʰ ch  | kʰ kh  |
breathy voiced* | bʱ bh  | dʱ dh  | ɖʱ ḍh  | d͡ʒʱ jh  | ɡʱ gh  |
Fricative*  | f f  | s s  | ʂ ṣ  | ʃ ś  |  | h h
Approximant | ʋ v  | l l  | ɭ ḷ  | j y  |  |
Tap |  | ɾ r  |  |  |  |

* 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/[98] 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.[97]
* Perso-Arabic phonemes like /q, x, ɣ, z/ are substituted with /k, kʰ, ɡ, d͡ʒ/ similar to Hindi.[97]
* /t͡s, d͡z/ occurs only in native words and doesn't have aspirated/breathy forms. Native words with /t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ/ before non front vowels became /t͡s, d͡z/, the change became phonemized after loaning words with /t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ/ from other languages. Intervocalically /d͡z/ can become [z] e.g. [rɐːzu, d͡zoːli, ɡudd͡zu].[97]
* /ʋ/ can be rounded to a [β̞ʷ] around rounded vowels.[97]
* The common Proto Dravidian approximant */ɻ/ merged with /ɖ/ in Telugu while it was preserved as /ɽ/ in the other Southern II branch languages.[98]
* Many of the old /ɳ/ and /ɭ/ merged with /n/ and /l/.[98] The Telangana dialect might completely merge /ɳ/ and /ɭ/ with /n/ and /l/.[citation needed]

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:[97]

* /ɡɐdi/ gadi 'room' – /ɡɐdːi/ gaddi 'throne'
* /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', /bɐːɭʈi/ bāḷṭi 'bucket' (from Portuguese balde 'bucket'). 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', /ɖɦoːkɐː/ ḍhōkā 'danger', and /ʂoːku/ ṣōku 'fashionable appearance'.[97]

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

### Vowels[edit | edit source]

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.[97] The vowels of Telugu are illustrated below, along with the Telugu script and romanization.

Vowels (అచ్చులు acchulu) | Front | Central | Back

|
|
|

Close | i⠀ఇ⠀i | iː⠀ఈ⠀ī |  | u⠀ఉ⠀u | uː⠀ఊ⠀ū
Mid | e⠀ఎ⠀e | eː⠀ఏ⠀ē | o⠀ఒ⠀o | oː⠀ఓ⠀ō
Open |  | a ~ ɐ[97]⠀అ⠀a | aː ~ ɐː⠀ఆ⠀ā |

#### Allophones[edit | edit source]

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 ai and /au/ ఔ au.

Roots alters according to whether the first vowel is tense or lax.[99][need illustrations] Also, if the second vowel is open (i.e., /aː/ or /a/), then the first vowel is more open and centralized (e.g., [mɛːka] 'goat', as opposed to [meːku] 'nail').[citation needed] Telugu words also have vowels in inflectional suffixes that are harmonized with the vowels of the preceding syllable.[100]

## Grammar[edit | edit source]

Main article: Telugu grammar

The traditional study of Telugu Grammar is known as vyākaraṇam (వ్యాకరణం). The first treatise on Telugu grammar, the Āndhra Śabda Cinṭāmaṇi, 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. Every Telugu grammatical rule is derived from Pāṇinian concepts.

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[edit | edit source]

Relations between participants in an event are coded in Telugu words through suffixation; there are no prefixes or infixes in the language.[96] 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).[101]

#### Word order[edit | edit source]

The basic word order in Telugu is subject-object-verb (SOV).

Example  | అంబేద్కర్ బడికి వెళ్తాడు.

|

Words  | అంబేద్కర్ | బడికి | వెళ్తాడు.
Transliteration | ambedkar | baḍiki | veḷtāḍu
Gloss | ambedkar-NOM.MASC | school-LOC | go-MASC
Constituents  | Subject  | Object  | Verb
Translation  | Ambedkar goes to school.

The example above can also be interpreted as 'Ambedkar will go to school', depending on the context, but it does not affect the SOV order.

#### Noun classes (gender)[edit | edit source]

As with other Dravidian languages, gender in Telugu follows a semantic system,[102] 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.[96]

Masculine  | anna | vacc-ā-ḍu

|
|

gloss  | older.brother  | come-past-MASC
Translation  | The older brother came
Feminine  | amma | vacc-in-di
gloss  | mother  | come-past-FEM
Translation  | Mother came

In terms of the verbal agreement system, genders in marking on the Telugu verb only occurs in the third person.[96]

Third person  | Singular | Plural

|
|

Masculine | terucā-ḍu

He opened

| terucā-ru

They opened

Feminine | terucin-di

She opened

| terucā-ru

They opened

Neuter | terucin-di

It opened

| terucā-yi

They (non-human) opened

The Telugu gender system is different from Dravidian languages like Tamil given that the Telugu feminine shares indexation morphemes with the masculine plural (-ru) and with the neuter singular (-di). What characterizes the three-gender system is then the individual behavior of the singular-plural pairs of suffixes.[102]

Gender  | Verbal suffixes

(singular/plural)

|

Masculine | -ḍu/ -ru
Feminine | -di/ -ru
Neuter | -di/ -yi

### Pronouns[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

| Singular  | Plural

|
|

Person  | Familiar | Inclusive | Exclusive
First (speaker)  | nēnu (నేను)

| manaṃ(mu)

I and you

| mēmu (మేము)

we but not you

Second (addressee) | nīvu/nuvvu

you

| mīru (మీరు)

you/you guys/you all

Third (topic)  | aame (ఆమె)

she

| vāḷḷu

they (human)

atanu (అతను)

adi (అది)

| avi (అవి)

they (non-human)

In informal Telugu, personal pronouns distinguish masculine from non-masculine.[103][104]

#### Demonstratives[edit | edit source]

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

(close to speaker, "this")

| Distal

(far from speaker, "that")

Gender/Formality | Feminine | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Masculine | Neuter
very informal | idi  | vīḍu  | idi  | adi  | vāḍu  | adi
informal | īme  | itanu  | āme  | atanu
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

(close to speaker, "these")

| Distal

(far from speaker, "those")

Feminine | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Masculine | Neuter
vīỊỊu/vīru  | ivi  | vāỊỊu/vāru  | avi

### Case system[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

The lexicon of Telugu shows a pervasive influence of Sanskrit that goes back at least 1000 years; there is also evidence suggesting an earlier influence. It's estimated that 80% of Telugu's lexicon is derived from Sanskrit.[105][106] Indologist David Shulman states that "Telugu must have swallowed Sanskrit whole, as it were, even before Nannaya."[107] He further notes that "every Sanskrit word is potentially a Telugu word" and that Telugu speech and literary texts are Sanskritized to an "enormous degree".[107] During the period 1000–1100 CE, Nannaya's re-writing of the Mahābhārata in Telugu (మహాభారతము) established the liberal borrowing of Sanskrit words. Telugu absorbed tatsamas from Sanskrit.[108]

The relexification of Dravidian languages by Indo-Iranian languages is not an uncommon occurrence.[109] Likewise is the case of Brahui —a Dravidian language spoken in the Balochistan and upper Sindh regions of Pakistan— with Indo-Iranian (incl. Perso-Arabic) vocabulary accounting for 40% of its lexicon.[110]

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

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, everyday Telugu varies in such features depending upon region.[citation needed]

## Writing system[edit | edit source]

File:Telugu.svg

The word Telugu written in the Telugu script

Main articles: Telugu script and Telugu Braille

File:Telugu consonants.svg

Consonants – hallulu (హల్లులు)

The Telugu script is an abugida consisting of 60 symbols — 16 vowels, 3 vowel modifiers, and 41 consonants. Telugu has a complete set of letters that follow a system to express sounds. The script is derived from the Brahmi script like those of many other Indian languages.[111][circular reference] The 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 ("acchu" or "swaram") and consonants ("hallu" or "vyanjanam"). Consonants in consonant clusters take shapes that are very different from the shapes they take elsewhere. Consonants are presumed 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 "mātras". The shapes of vowel "mātras" are also very different from the shapes of the corresponding vowels.

Historically, a sentence used to end with either a single bar। ("pūrna virāmam") or a double bar॥ ("dīrgha virāmam"); in handwriting, Telugu words were not separated by spaces. However, in modern times, English punctuation (commas, semicolon, etc.) has virtually replaced the old method of punctuation.[112]

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.[112]

Telugu has ĉ and ĵ, which are not represented in Sanskrit. Their pronunciation is similar to the "s" sound in the word treasure (i.e., the postalveolar voiced fricative) and "z" sound in zebra, i.e., the alveolar voiced fricative, respectively.

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 Guṇintālu (తెలుగు గుణింతాలు)[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

Telugu has ten digits employed with the Hindu–Arabic numeral system. However, in modern usage, the Arabic numerals have replaced them.

0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

౦ | ౧ | ౨ | ౩ | ౪ | ౫ | ౬ | ౭ | ౮ | ౯
sunna (Telugu form of Sanskrit word śūnyam) | okaṭi | renḍu | mūḍu | nālugu | aidu | āru | ēḍu | enimidi | tommidi

Telugu is assigned Unicode codepoints: 0C00-0C7F (3072–3199).[113]

Telugu[1][2]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (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 15.0
2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

## Literature[edit | edit source]

### The Pre-Nannayya Period (before 1020 CE)[edit | edit source]

In the earliest period Telugu literature existed in the form of inscriptions, precisely from 575 CE onward.

### The Jain Literature Phase (850–1000 CE)[edit | edit source]

Prabandha Ratnavali (1918) & Pre-Nannayya Chandassu (Raja Raja Narendra Pattabhisekha Sanchika) by Veturi Prabhakara Sastry talk about the existence of Jain Telugu literature during 850-1000 CE. A verse from Telugu Jinendra Puranam by Adikavi Pampa, a couple of verses from Telugu Adi Puranam by Sarvadeva and Kavijanasrayam by Malliya Rechana were all authored by Jain poet's and are the examples for Jain contribution to Telugu Literature.

Historically, Vemulawada was a Jain knowledge hub and played a significant role in patronizing Jain literature and poets. Excavations in the 1980s around Vemulawada revealed and affirmed the existence of Telugu Jain literature.

Malliya Rechana is considered to be the first Telugu Author. P.V. Parabrahma Sastry, Nidadavolu Venkata Rao, P.V.P Sastry also pointed out that many Jain works could have been destroyed. Historical rivalry among Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism is well known.

### The Age of the Puranas (1020–1400 CE)[edit | edit source]

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

### Nannaya Bhattarakudu or Adi Kavi (1022–1063 CE)[edit | edit source]

Nannaya Bhattarakudu's (Telugu: నన్నయ) Andhra Mahabharatam, who lived around the 11th century, is commonly referred to as the first Telugu literary composition (aadi kaavyam).[citation needed] 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. Scholar and poet K. Ayyappa Paniker states that both Nannaya Bhattu and Narayana Bhattu were Kannada origin scholars.[114] 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: ఎర్రాప్రగడ) 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.[relevant?]

### Baddena Bhupala (1220–1280 CE)[edit | edit source]

Sumati Shatakam, which is a neeti ("moral"), is one of the most famous Telugu Shatakams.[citation needed] Shatakam is composed of more than a 100 padyalu (poems). According to many literary critics[who?] Sumati Shatakam 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.[citation needed] If we assume that the Sumati Shatakam was indeed written by Baddena, it would rank as one of the earliest Shatakams in Telugu along with the Vrushadhipa Satakam of Palkuriki Somanatha and the Sarveswara Satakam of Yathavakkula Annamayya.[original research?] The Sumatee Shatakam 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, Vrishadhipa Shataka 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.[115] 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.[116] C. Narayana Reddy won the Jnanpith Award in 1988 for his poetic work, Viswambara. Ravuri Bharadhwaja won the 3rd Jnanpith Award for Telugu literature in 2013 for Paakudu Raallu, a graphic account of life behind the screen in film industry.[117] 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[edit | edit source]

### Telugu support on digital devices[edit | edit source]

Telugu input, display, and support were initially provided on the Microsoft Windows platform. Subsequently, various browsers, computer applications, operating systems, and user interfaces were localized 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.[118]

On 15 February 2018, Apple devices were experiencing crashes of apps and device shutdowns when two particular characters from the Telugu language (specifically జ్ఞా) was rendered on the display. Reports show that this has affected iOS, MacOS, tvOS and watchOS.[119] On 20 February, Apple announced that the bug was fixed with the iOS 11.2.6 update.[120]

## See also[edit | edit source]

* Telugu grammar
* Telugu Language Day
* Telugu people
* Telugu states
* Telugu years
* List of languages by number of native speakers in India
* List of Telugu-language television channels
* States of India by Telugu speakers
* Telugu language policy

## References[edit | edit source]

1. ^ a b Telugu language at Ethnologue (22nd ed., 2019)
2. ^ "Statement 1: Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues – 2011". censusindia.gov.in. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
3. ^ "West Bengal shows 'Mamata' to Telugus". The Hans India. 24 December 2020. Archived from the original on 23 December 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
4. ^ a b "Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 – Chapter 1: Founding Provisions". gov.za. Archived from the original on 28 October 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
5. ^ Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student’s Handbook, Edinburgh
6. ^ "Dravidian languages". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 9 July 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
7. ^ "PART A Languages specified in the Eighth Schedule (Scheduled Languages)". Archived from the original on 29 October 2013.
8. ^ "Schools, Colleges called for a shutdown in Telugu states". Archived from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
9. ^ "Making Telugu compulsory: Mother tongues, the last stronghold against Hindi imposition". The News Minute. 12 December 2017. Archived from the original on 13 May 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
10. ^ "Declaration of Telugu and Kannada as classical languages". Press Information Bureau. Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Government of India. Archived from the original on 16 December 2008. Retrieved 31 October 2008.
11. ^ "Telugu gets classical status". The Times of India. 1 October 2008. Archived from the original on 4 November 2008. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
12. ^ Oonk, Gijsbert (2007). Global Indian Diasporas: Exploring Trajectories of Migration and Theory. Amsterdam University Press. pp. 92–116. ISBN 978-90-5356-035-8. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
13. ^ "Indian population in Australia increases 30 per cent in less than two years; now the third largest migrant group in Australia". Special Broadcasting Service. Archived from the original on 3 July 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
14. ^ "'Telugu population dwindling in Myanmar'". The Hindu. Special Correspondent. 4 March 2018. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2022.`{{cite news}}`: CS1 maint: others (link)
15. ^ Rajan, S. Irudaya; Saxena, Prem (10 October 2019). India's Low-Skilled Migration to the Middle East: Policies, Politics and Challenges. Springer Nature. ISBN 978-981-13-9224-5. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
16. ^ "Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues – 2000". Census of India, 2001. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013.
17. ^ "Infographic: A World of Languages". Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
18. ^ "Summary by language size". Ethnologue. Archived from the original on 11 September 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
19. ^ "Do you speak Telugu? Welcome to America". BBC News. 20 October 2018. Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
20. ^ Bhattacharya, Ananya (24 September 2018). "America's fastest growing foreign language is from south India". Quartz. Archived from the original on 12 August 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
21. ^ "Telugu to be an official subject in South African schools". The Hans India. 21 March 2014. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
22. ^ a b Morrison, Kathleen D.; Lycett, Mark T. (1997). "Inscriptions as Artifacts: Precolonial South India and the Analysis of Texts" (PDF). Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory. Springer. 4 (3/4): 218. doi:10.1007/BF02428062. S2CID 143958738. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 February 2017.
23. ^ Rao & Shulman 2002, Chapter 2.
24. ^ Parpola, Asko (2015), The Roots of Hinduism: The Early Aryans and the Indus Civilization, Oxford University Press, p. 167, ISBN 978-0190226923
25. ^ Chenchiah, P.; Rao, Raja M. Bhujanga (1988). A History of Telugu Literature. Asian Educational Services. p. 55\. ISBN 978-81-206-0313-4. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
26. ^ Brown, Charles P. (1839), "Essay on the Language and Literature of Telugus", Madras Journal of Literature and Science, vol. X, Vepery mission Press., p. 53, archived from the original on 13 October 2022, retrieved 26 January 2017
27. ^ Grierson, George A. (1967) [1906]. "Telugu". Linguistic Survey of India. Vol. IV, Mundā and Dravidian languages. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. p. 576. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
28. ^ Sekaram, Kandavalli Balendu (1973), The Andhras through the ages, Sri Saraswati Book Depot, p. 4, archived from the original on 13 October 2022, retrieved 25 January 2017, "The easier and more ancient "Telugu" appears to have been converted here into the impressive Sanskrit word Trilinga, and making use of its enormous prestige as the classical language, the theory was put forth that the word Trilinga is the mother and not the child."
29. ^ Caldwell, Robert (1856), A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South-Indian Family of Languages (PDF), London: Harrison, p. 64, archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2022
30. ^ Telugu Basha Charitra. Hyderabad: Osmania University. 1979. pp. 6, 7.
31. ^ The Dravidian Languages – Bhadriraju Krishnamurti.
32. ^ Rao & Shulman 2002, Introduction.
33. ^ a b Sircar, D. C. (2008). Studies in Indian Coins (Reprint ed.). Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. p. 113\. ISBN 978-81-208-2973-2. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
34. ^ a b "The Sātavāhana issues are uniscriptural, Brahmi but bilingual, Prākrit and Telugu." in Epigraphia Andhrica. 1975. p. x. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
35. ^ Epigraphia Āndhrica. Government of Andhra Pradesh. 1969. p. XV. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
36. ^ Nākacāmi, Irāmaccantiran̲; Nagaswamy, R. (1981). Tamil Coins: A Study. Institute of Epigraphy, Tamilnadu State Department of Archaeology. p. 132\. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
37. ^ "Proto-Dravidian". Harvard. Archived from the original on 1 January 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
38. ^ "Indian Encyclopaedia – Volume 1", p. 2067, by Subodh Kapoor, Genesis Publishing Pvt Ltd, 2002
39. ^ "Proto-Dravidian Info". lists.hcs.harvard.edu. Archived from the original on 1 January 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
40. ^ Agrawal, D. P.; Chakrabarti, Dilip K. (1979), Essays in Indian protohistory, The Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Studies/B.R. Pub. Corp., p. 326, ISBN 9780391018662, archived from the original on 13 October 2022, retrieved 15 November 2015
41. ^ The Hindu News: Telugu is 2,400 years old, says ASI Archived 3 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine "The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has joined the Andhra Pradesh Official Languages Commission to say that early forms of the Telugu language and its script indeed existed 2,400 years ago"
42. ^ Indian Epigraphy and South Indian Scripts, C. S. Murthy, 1952, Bulletins of the Madras Government Museum, New Series IV, General Section, Vol III, No. 4
43. ^ a b Buhler, G. (1894), Epigraphica Indica, Vol.2, archived from the original on 22 February 2016, retrieved 14 February 2016
44. ^ Epigraphia Indica, Vol. 27 1947–48, pp. 1-4
45. ^ "How Telugu won legal battle for 'classical' tag". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 27 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
46. ^ "Andhra Pradesh Eng Mag September 2016". Issuu. Archived from the original on 19 August 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
47. ^ "R.Gandhi vs The Secretary to the Government". indiankanoon.org. Archived from the original on 19 August 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
48. ^ "R Gandhi Vs the Secretary to the Government Ministry of Home Affairs New Delhi and Another – Citation 1189170 – Court Judgment | LegalCrystal". legalcrystal.com. Archived from the original on 25 May 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
49. ^ Staff Reporter (1 September 2015). "Follow the path of Veturi in research, students urged". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 9 August 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
50. ^ "Vision of Life: Classical Language status for Telugu". 29 August 2010. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
51. ^ Nārada (Maha Thera); Narasimhacharya, Ramanujapuram (1999). The Buddha-Dhamma, Or, the Life and Teachings of the Buddha. ISBN 9788120605596. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
52. ^ Yandell, Keith E.; Paul, John J. (2013). Religion and Public Culture: Encounters and Identities in Modern South India. Taylor & Francis. p. 253\. ISBN 978-1-136-81808-0. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
53. ^ Carla M. Sinopoli 2001, p. 163. sfn error: no target: CITEREFCarla_M._Sinopoli2001 (help)
54. ^ Pollock, Sheldon (2003). The Language of the Gods in the World of Men: Sanskrit, Culture, and Power in Premodern India. University of California Press. p. 290\. ISBN 978-0-5202-4500-6.
55. ^ Period of Old Telugu Times Archived 19 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine – 3 November 2015
56. ^ D. C. Sircar. Indian Epigraphy, Volume 10 of Epigraphy, Palaeography, Numismatics Series. Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1996. p. 50.
57. ^ a b "Ancient Temples of Telangana_Book Pages 1 – 50 – Text Version | AnyFlip". anyflip.com. Archived from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
58. ^ a b c d "APonline – History and Culture-Languages". aponline.gov.in. Archived from the original on 8 February 2012.
59. ^ Krishnamurti, Bhadriraju (2003). The Dravidian Languages. Cambridge University Press. pp. 78–79. ISBN 978-0-521-77111-5.
60. ^ Rao, M. Malleswara (22 December 2012). "When foreigners fell in love with Telugu language". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
61. ^ Morris, Henry (2005). A Descriptive and Historical Account of the Godavery District in the Presidency of Madras. Asian Educational Services. p. 86\. ISBN 978-81-206-1973-9. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
62. ^ Krishnamurti, Bhadriraju; Gwynn, J.P.L. (1985). A Grammar of Modern Telugu. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
63. ^ Rao, M. Malleswara (18 September 2005). "Telugu declared official language". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 10 August 2007. Retrieved 16 July 2007.
64. ^ "AP Fact File: Post-Independence Era". aponline.gov.in. Archived from the original on 20 December 2013.
65. ^ "Telugu Language Day on August 29". The Hindu. 26 August 2010. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
66. ^ "Telugu Language Day 2020: 6 Tollywood songs that emphasize the importance of Telugu language". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
67. ^ "Language spoken at home by ability to speak english for the population 5 years and over". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 27 December 1996. Retrieved 2 December 2017. Note: Excluding other languages with many speakers outside India such as Urdu
68. ^ "Census of India Website : Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India". Censusindia.gov.in. Archived from the original on 28 July 2020. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
69. ^ "The Best Indian Food in New York is Actually in New Jersey". ny.eater.com. 13 March 2017. Archived from the original on 9 December 2018. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
70. ^ "Do you speak Telugu? Welcome to America". BBC News. 20 October 2018. Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
71. ^ "Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 – Chapter 1: Founding Provisions | South African Government". gov.za. Archived from the original on 18 May 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
72. ^ "Explained: How is a language declared 'classical' in India, what benefits it enjoys". The Indian Express. 14 January 2020. Archived from the original on 7 January 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
73. ^ "Vice President stresses the need to preserve and promote classical languages". pib.gov.in. Archived from the original on 9 January 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
74. ^ Dec 18, tnn / Updated; 2017. "How Telugu won legal battle for 'classical' tag | Hyderabad News". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 27 July 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2021.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
75. ^ a b Nagaraju, S. (1995). "Emergence of Regional Identity and Beginning of Vernacular Literature: A Case Study of Telugu". Social Scientist. 23 (10–12): 8–23. doi:10.2307/3517880. JSTOR 3517880. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
76. ^ Pollock, Sheldon (23 May 2006). The Language of the Gods in the World of Men. p. 421\. ISBN 9780520245006. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
77. ^ a b Talbot, Cynthia (2001). Precolonial India in Practice: Society, Region, and Identity in Medieval Andhra. pp. 50, 263. ISBN 9780195136616. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
78. ^ Mitchell, Lisa (2009). Language, Emotion, and Politics in South India: The Making of a Mother Tongue. p. 45\. ISBN 978-0253353016. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
79. ^ A.A. Abbasi, ed. (2001). Dimensions of Human Cultures in Central India: Professor S.K. Tiwari Felication Volume. p. 161\. ISBN 9788176251860. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
80. ^ Salomon, Richard (10 December 1998). Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and Other Indo-European Languages. p. 100\. ISBN 9780195356663. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
81. ^ Talbot, Cynthia (20 September 2001). Precolonial India in Practice: Society, Region, and Identity in Medieval Andhra. ISBN 9780198031239. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
82. ^ Talbot, Cynthia (20 September 2001). Precolonial India in Practice: Society, Region, and Identity in Medieval Andhra. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198031239. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 3 October 2020 - via Google Books.
83. ^ Talbot, Cynthia (15 July 1988). "Gifts to Gods and Brahmins: A Study of Religious Endowments in Medieval Andhra". University of Wisconsin–Madison. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 3 October 2020 - via Google Books.
84. ^ Talbot, Cynthia (20 September 2001). Precolonial India in Practice: Society, Region, and Identity in Medieval Andhra. Oxford University Press. pp. 34–. ISBN 978-0-19-803123-9. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
85. ^ Velcheru Narayana Rao; Shulman, David (2002). Classical Telugu Poetry: An Anthology. Univ of California Press. pp. 6–. ISBN 978-0-520-22598-5. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
86. ^ International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics: IJDL. Department of Linguistics, University of Kerala. 2004. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
87. ^ Rao, Ajay K. (3 October 2014). Re-figuring the Ramayana as Theology: A History of Reception in Premodern India. Routledge. pp. 37–. ISBN 978-1-134-07735-9. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
88. ^ S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar (1994). Evolution of Hindu Administrative Institutions in South India. Asian Educational Services. pp. 6–. ISBN 978-81-206-0966-2. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
89. ^ Talbot, Cynthia (2001). Precolonial India in Practice: Society, Region, and Identity in Medieval Andhra. Oxford University Press. pp. 195–. ISBN 978-0-19-513661-6. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
90. ^ Gundimeda, Sambaiah (14 October 2015). Dalit Politics in Contemporary India. Routledge. pp. 205–. ISBN 978-1-317-38104-4.
91. ^ Bhadriraju, Krishnamurti; Gwynn, J.P.L. (1985). A Grammar of Modern Telugu. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. pp. xvii–xviii.
92. ^ Caffarel, Alice; Martin, J. R.; Matthiessen, Christian M. I. M. (2004). Language Typology: A Functional Perspective. John Benjamins Publishing. p. 434\. ISBN 978-1-58811-559-1. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
93. ^ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Teluguic". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
94. ^ "Telugu". Ethnologue. Archived from the original on 19 August 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
95. ^ Lisker and Krishnamurti (1991), "Lexical stress in a 'stressless' language: judgments by Telugu- and English-speaking linguists." Proceedings of the XII International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (Université de Provence), 2:90–93.
96. ^ a b c d Krishnamurti (1998), "Telugu". In Steever (ed.), The Dravidian Languages. Routledge. pp. 202–240, 260
97. ^ a b c d e f g h i Bhaskararao, Peri; Ray, Arpita (2017). "Illustrations of the IPA – Telugu". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 47 (2): 231–241. doi:10.1017/S0025100316000207. S2CID 232346235.
98. ^ a b c Krishnamurti, Bhadriraju (2003). The Dravidian Languages. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-77111-5. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
99. ^ Wilkinson (1974:251)
100. ^ A Grammar of the Telugu Language, p. 295, Charles Philip Brown, [1] Archived 13 October 2022 at the Wayback Machine
101. ^ Charles Philip Brown (1857). A grammar of the Telugu language (2 ed.). Christian Knowledge Society's Press.
102. ^ a b Corbett, Greville G. (1991). Gender. Cambridge [England]: Cambridge University Press. pp. 151–154. ISBN 0521329396. OCLC 21227561.
103. ^ Albert Henry Arden (1873). A progressive grammar of the Telugu language. Society for promoting Christian knowledge. p. 57. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
104. ^ Charles Philip Brown (1857). A grammar of the Telugu language (2 ed.). Christian Knowledge Society's Press. p. 39\. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
105. ^ Singh, Kumar Suresh; Ghosh, Tapash Kumar; Nath, Surendra (1996). People of India: Delhi. Anthropological Survey of India. p. 36\. ISBN 978-81-7304-096-2. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
106. ^ Sharp, Bernadette; Carl, M.; Zock, M.; Jakobsen, A. L. (2011). Human-Machine Interaction in Translation: Proceedings of the 8th International NLPCS Workshop. Samfundslitteratur. p. 10\. ISBN 978-87-593-1615-3.
107. ^ a b Shulman, David (12 May 2020). Classical Telugu Poetry. Univ of California Press. p. 4\. ISBN 978-0-520-97665-8. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
108. ^ Ramadasu, G (1980). "Telugu bhasha charitra". Telugu academy. `{{cite journal}}`: Cite journal requires `|journal=` (help)
109. ^ Staal, J. F. (1963). "Sanskrit and Sanskritization". The Journal of Asian Studies. 22 (3): 261–275. doi:10.2307/2050186. ISSN 0021-9118. JSTOR 2050186. S2CID 162241490. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
110. ^ "Brahui Language – Structure, Writing & Alphabet – MustGo". MustGo.com. Archived from the original on 21 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022. "Brahui has borrowed a large number of words from Arabic, Balochi, Persian, and Pashto. According to [Elena] Bashir, words of Dravidian origin account for only 15% of Brahui's lexicon, while 20% of Brahui's lexicon comes from Balochi. For example, Brahui maan 'bread' and Balochi naan."
111. ^ te:దస్త్రం:Telugulipi evolution.jpg
112. ^ a b Brown, Charles Philip (1857). A Grammar of the Telugu Language. London: W. H. Allen & Co. p. 5. ISBN 978-81-206-0041-6.
113. ^ United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names; United Nations Statistical Division (2007). Technical Reference Manual for the Standardization of Geographical Names. United Nations Publications. p. 110\. ISBN 978-92-1-161500-5.
114. ^ Paniker, K. Ayyappa (1997). Medieval Indian Literature: Surveys and selections. Sahitya Akademi. p. 538\. ISBN 978-81-260-0365-5.
115. ^ Sarma, Challa Radhakrishna (1975). Landmarks in Telugu Literature. Lakshminarayana Granthamala. p. 30\. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
116. ^ Datta, Amaresh; Lal, Mohan (1991). Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature. Sahitya Akademi. p. 3294.
117. ^ George, K.M. (1992). Modern Indian Literature, an Anthology. Sahitya Akademi. p. 1121\. ISBN 978-81-7201-324-0.
118. ^ "Samsung phones to support 9 Indian languages". Business Line. 13 August 2013. Archived from the original on 26 December 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
119. ^ "People are trolling iPhone users with the 'killer symbol' that crashes their apps". techcrunch. 17 February 2018. Archived from the original on 18 February 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
120. ^ "Apple releases fix for Telugu bug that crashes iPhones". 20 February 2018. Archived from the original on 26 April 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2018.

## Bibliography[edit | edit source]

* Albert Henry Arden, A Progressive Grammar of the Telugu Language (1873).
* Charles Philip Brown, English–Telugu dictionary (1852; revised ed. 1903);
* The Linguistic Legacy of Indo-Guyanese The Linguistic Legacy of Indian-Guyanese Archived 13 October 2022 at the Wayback Machine
* Languages of Mauritius Languages of Mauritius – Mauritius Attractions Archived 24 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine
* Charles Philip Brown, A Grammar of the Telugu Language (1857)
* P. Percival, Telugu–English dictionary: with the Telugu words printed in the Roman as well as in the Telugu Character (1862, Internet Archive edition)
* Gwynn, J. P. L. (John Peter Lucius). A Telugu–English Dictionary Delhi; New York: Oxford University Press (1991; online edition Archived 26 February 2021 at the Wayback Machine).
* Uwe Gustafsson, An Adiwasi Oriya–Telugu–English dictionary, Central Institute of Indian Languages Dictionary Series, 6. Mysore: Central Institute of Indian Language (1989).
* Rao, Velcheru Narayana; Shulman, David (2002), Classical Telugu Poetry: An Anthology, University of California Press, archived from the original on 5 September 2022, retrieved 13 October 2022
* Callā Rādhākr̥ṣṇaśarma, Landmarks in Telugu Literature: A Short Survey of Telugu Literature (1975).
* Wilkinson, Robert W. (1974). "Tense/lax vowel harmony in Telugu: The influence of derived contrast on rule application". Linguistic Inquiry. 5 (2): 251–270.

## External links[edit | edit source]

Justapedia supports:

* Definitions from Wiktionary
* Media from Commons
* Quotations from Wikiquote
* Phrasebook from Wikivoyage
* Telugu edition of Wikipedia

* Telugu language at Curlie
* Telugu language at Encyclopædia Britannica
* Hints and resources for learning Telugu
* English to Telugu online dictionary
* 'Telugu to English' and 'English to Telugu' Dictionary
* Dictionary of mixed Telugu By Charles Philip Brown
* Origins of Telugu Script
* Online English – Telugu dictionary portal that includes many popular dictionaries
* English–Telugu Dictionary
* Telugu Hindu literature

* v
* t
* e

Languages of India

Official
languages|

| Union-level|

* Hindi
* English

|

8th schedule to the
Constitution of India|

* Assamese
* Bengali
* Bodo
* Dogri
* Gujarati
* Hindi
* Kannada
* Kashmiri
* Konkani
* Maithili
* Malayalam
* Meitei (Manipuri)
* Marathi
* Nepali
* Odia
* Punjabi
* Sanskrit
* Santali
* Sindhi
* Tamil
* Telugu
* Urdu

State-level only|

* Angika
* Bhojpuri
* Chhattisgarhi
* Garo
* Gurung
* Ho
* Kamatapuri
* Kharia
* Khasi
* Khortha
* Kokborok
* Kurmali
* Kurukh
* Lepcha
* Limbu
* Magahi
* Magar
* Mizo
* Mundari
* Newari
* Rai
* Rajbangshi
* Sadri
* Sherpa
* Sikkimese
* Sunwar
* Tamang

Major
unofficial
languages|

| Over 1 million
speakers|

* Awadhi
* Bagheli
* Bagri
* Bajjika
* Bhili
* Bundeli
* Dhundhari
* Garhwali
* Gondi
* Harauti
* Haryanvi
* Kangri
* Khandeshi
* Kumaoni
* Lambadi
* Malvi
* Marwari
* Mewari
* Nimadi
* Rajasthani
* Surjapuri
* Tulu
* Wagdi
* Varhadi

|

100,000 – 1 million
speakers|

* Adi
* Angami
* Ao
* Badaga
* Dimasa
* Halbi
* Karbi
* Khotta
* Kodava
* Kolami
* Konyak
* Korku
* Koya
* Kui
* Kuvi
* Ladakhi
* Lotha
* Malto
* Mising
* Nishi
* Phom
* Rabha
* Sema
* Sora
* Tangkhul
* Thadou

Links to related articles

* v
* t
* e

Languages of Andhra Pradesh

Main languages|

* Telugu
* Tamil
* Kannada

Tribal languages|

* Gondi
* Kolami
* Kuvi
* Pattapu
* Chenchu
* Konda
* Koya
* Yerukala
* Ollari
* Mukha-Dora

Related topics|

* Dravidian languages
* Languages of India
* Languages of South Asia

* Category

* v
* t
* e

Languages of Telangana

Main languages|

* Telugu
* Kannada
* Hyderabadi Urdu

Tribal languages|

* Gondi
* Kolami
* Koya
* Naiki
* Chenchu
* Yerukala

Related topics|

* Dravidian languages
* Languages of India
* Languages of South Asia

* Category

* v
* t
* e

Languages of Tamil Nadu

Main languages|

* Tamil
* Telugu
* Kannada
* Malayalam

Tribal languages|

* Mannan
* Kadar
* Malaryan
* Malavedan
* Paliyan
* Paniya
* Ravula
* Eravallan
* Irula
* Kanikkaran language
* Betta Kurumba language
* Muthuvan
* Yerukula
* Mannan
* Kodava
* Jennu Kurumba
* Mullu Kurumba
* Urali
* Malasar
* Thachanadan
* Ullatan
* Pathiya
* Toda language
* Kota language

Other languages and creoles|

* Thanjavur Marathi
* Saurashtra

Related topics|

* Dravidian languages
* Languages of India
* Languages of Sri Lanka
* Languages of South Asia

* Category

* v
* t
* e

Languages spoken in Kerala

Non-tribal languages|

* Arabi Malayalam
* Kannada
* Konkani
* Malayalam
* Tamil
* Telugu
* Tulu

File:Malayalam.svg

Tribal languages|

* Allar
* Bellari
* Eravallan
* Irula
* Kadar
* Kalanadi
* Kanikkaran
* Kodava
* Koraga
* Kota
* Kudiya
* Kumbaran
* Kunduvadi
* Kurumba
* Attapady Kurumba
* Betta Kurumba
* Jennu Kurumba
* Mullu Kurumba
* Malapandaram
* Malaryan
* Malasar
* Mala Malasar
* Malavedan
* Mannan
* Muduga
* Muthuvan
* Paliyan
* Paniya
* Pathiya
* Ravula
* Thachanadan
* Toda
* Ullatan
* Urali
* Wayanad Chetti
* Yerukala

Other languages and creoles|

* Aranadan
* Beary
* Cannanore Portuguese creole
* Cochin Portuguese creole
* English
* Judeo-Malayalam
* Suriyani Malayalam

Related topics|

* Dravidian languages
* Languages of India
* Languages of South Asia

* Category

* v
* t
* e

Languages of Bahrain

Official language|

* Arabic (Bahrani, Gulf)

Semiofficial language|

* English

Minority languages|

* Armenian
* Balochi
* Hindi
* Malayalam (Indians)
* Pashto
* Persian (Ajams)
* Punjabi
* Tamil
* Telugu
* Urdu

Sign languages|

* Arabic Sign Language

* v
* t
* e

Languages of Singapore

Main languages|

| National|

* Malay

|

Official|

* English
* Malay
* Mandarin
* Tamil

Indigenous languages|

* Johor-Riau Malay
* Orang Seletar

Creole languages|

* Baba Malay
* Bazaar Malay
* Chitty Malay
* Kristang
* Singlish
* Singdarin

Immigrant languages|

| Chinese|

* Sinitic
* Cantonese
* Hainanese
* Hakka
* Henghwa
* Hokchew
* Hokkien
* Teochew

|

Indian|

* Dravidian
* Kannada
* Malayalam
* Telugu
* Indo-Aryan
* Bengali
* Gujarati
* Hindi
* Punjabi
* Sindhi
* Sinhala

Indonesian|

* Acehnese
* Banjarese
* Batak
* Angkola
* Mandailing
* Toba
* Baweanese
* Buginese
* Javanese
* Minangkabau

Other|

* Arabic
* Armenian
* Burmese
* Filipino
* Japanese
* Korean
* Nepali
* Thai
* Vietnamese

Sign languages|

* Singaporean Sign Language

* v
* t
* e

Languages of South Africa

* Pan South African Language Board
* Commission for Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Community Rights
* Department of Arts and Culture

Official|

| West Germanic|

* Afrikaans
* English

|

Southern Bantu|

| Sotho–Tswana|

* Northern Sotho (Sesotho sa Leboa)
* Southern Sotho (Sesotho)
* Tswana (Setswana)

|

Nguni|

* Southern Ndebele (isiNdebele)
* Swazi (siSwati)
* Xhosa (isiXhosa)
* Zulu (isiZulu)

Tswa–Ronga|

* Tsonga (Xitsonga)

Venda|

* Venda (Tshivenḓa)

Recognised
unofficial languages
mentioned in the
1996 constitution|

| Indigenous|

* Bhaca
* Khoe
* Khoisan
* Lala
* Lozi
* Nama
* Nhlangwini
* Northern Ndebele
* Phuthi
* Tuu

|

Foreign|

* German
* Greek
* Gujarati
* Hindi
* Portuguese
* Malay (historical)
* Tamil
* Telugu
* Urdu

Religious|

* Arabic
* Hebrew
* Sanskrit

Other|

| LGBT slang|

* Gayle
* IsiNgqumo

|

Other|

* Tsotsitaal and Camtho
* Oorlams Creole
* Fanagalo
* Pretoria Sotho
* Scamto
* SA Sign Language
* Angloromani
* Kaaps

* v
* t
* e

Languages of Malaysia

Main|

| Official|

* Malaysian
* English
* comparison with British English

|

Significant
minority|

| Chinese|

* Sino-Tibetan
* Yue
* Cantonese
* Malaysian Cantonese
* Hakka
* Min
* Eastern Min
* Fuqing
* Fuzhou
* Hainanese
* Pu-Xian Min
* Southern Min
* Hokkien
* Southern Peninsular Malaysian Hokkien
* Penang Hokkien
* Chaoshan Min
* Teochew
* Mandarin Chinese
* Malaysian Mandarin

|

Indian|

* Dravidian
* Malayalam
* Tamil
* Malaysian Tamil
* Telugu
* Indo-European
* Gujarati
* Hindi
* Punjabi
* Urdu

Indonesian
archipelago|

* Acehnese
* Banjar
* Baweanese
* Buginese
* Javanese
* Kerinci
* Mandailing
* Minangkabau
* Rawa

Philippine|

* Philippine
* Iranun
* Maranao
* Molbog
* Suluk

Families|

* Austroasiatic
* Aslian
* Austronesian
* North Bornean
* Kayan–Murik
* Land Dayak
* Malayic
* Philippine
* Sama–Bajaw
* Tai-Kadai
* Tai

Creoles|

* Chavacano
* Kristang
* Manglish
* Malay trade and creole languages
* Baba Malay
* Chetty Malay
* Cocos Malay
* Sabah Malay

Natives &
Indigenous|

| Nationwide|

* Malay
* Malayic

|

Peninsular
Malaysia|

* Batek
* Cheq Wong
* Duanoʼ
* Jah Hut
* Jahai
* Jakun
* Jedek
* Kedah Malay
* Kelantan-Pattani Malay
* Kenaboi1
* Kensiu
* Kintaq
* Kristang
* Lanoh
* Mah Meri
* Minriq
* Mintil
* Negeri Sembilan Malay
* Mos
* Orang Kanaq
* Orang Seletar
* Pahang Malay
* Perak Malay
* Reman Malay
* Sabüm1
* Semai
* Semaq Beri
* Semelai
* Semnam
* Southern Thai
* Temiar
* Temoq2
* Temuan
* Terengganu Malay
* Wila'1

East
Malaysia|

* Abai
* Bahau
* Bajau
* Belait
* Berawan
* Biatah
* Bintulu
* Bonggi
* Bookan
* Bruneian/Kedayan Malay
* Brunei Bisaya
* Bukar–Sadong
* Bukitan
* Coastal Kadazan
* Daro-Matu
* Dumpas
* Dusun
* Eastern Kadazan
* Ganaʼ
* Iban
* Ida'an
* Jagoi
* Jangkang
* Kajaman
* Kalabakan
* Kanowit
* Kayan
* Kelabit
* Kendayan
* Keningau Murut
* Kinabatangan
* Kiput
* Klias River Kadazan
* Kota Marudu Talantang
* Kuijau
* Lahanan
* Lelak1
* Lengilu1
* Lotud
* Lun Bawang
* Mainstream Kenyah
* Melanau
* Momogun
* Murik Kayan
* Narom
* Nonukan Tidong
* Okolod
* Paluan
* Papar
* Punan Bah-Biau
* Punan Batu2
* Penan
* Remun
* Sa'ban
* Sabah Bisaya
* Sama
* Sarawak Malay
* Sebop
* Sekapan
* Selungai Murut
* Sembakung
* Seru1
* Serudung
* Sian
* Sungai
* Tagol
* Timugon
* Tombonuwo
* Tring
* Tringgus
* Tutoh
* Ukit2
* Umaʼ Lasan

Mixed & Others|

* Rojak
* Tanglish
* Esperanto

Immigrants|

* African
* Arab
* Bangladeshi
* Burmese
* Cambodian
* East Timorese
* Filipino
* Indonesian
* comparison with Malaysian
* Iranian
* Japanese
* Korean
* Laotian
* Nepalese
* Pakistani
* Sri Lankan
* Thai
* Vietnamese

Signs|

| Main|

* Malaysian Sign Language
* Manually Coded Malay

|

By states|

* Penang Sign Language
* Selangor Sign Language

* 1 Extinct languages
* 2 Nearly extinct languages

* v
* t
* e

Languages of Mauritius

Official languages|

* English
* French

Vernacular languages|

* Mauritian Creole
* Rodriguan creole

Immigrant languages|

* Bhojpuri
* Tamil
* Telugu
* English
* French
* Punjabi
* Spanish
* German
* Italian
* Hindi
* Hebrew
* Arabic
* Chinese
* Portuguese
* Japanese
* Romani
* Russian
* Danish
* Dutch

Sign languages|

* Mauritian Sign Language

* v
* t
* e

Languages of the United Arab Emirates

Official languages|

* Arabic
* Gulf Arabic

Semiofficial language|

* English

Minority languages|

* Larestani
* Persian dialect
* Urdu
* Hindi
* Persian
* Cebuano
* Pashto
* Kannada
* Malayalam
* Bengali
* Punjabi
* Sindhi
* Tamil
* Balochi
* Russian
* Somali
* Tagalog
* Nepali
* Mandarin
* Telugu

* v
* t
* e

Dravidian languages

South|

| Tamil –
Kannada|

| Kannada
\- Badaga|

| Kannada|

* Kannada
* Holiya
* Urali
* Sholaga
* Betta Kurumba
* Alu Kurumba
* Jennu Kurumba

|

* Badaga · Moundadan Chetty

Toda-Kota|

* Toda
* Kota

Kodagu|

* Kodava
* Kurumba
* Wayanad Chetti

Irula|

* Irula
* Attapady Kurumba
* Muduga

Tamil -
Malayalam|

| Tamil|

* Tamil
* Sankethi
* Eravallan
* Kaikadi
* Kanikkaran
* Malapandaram
* Mala Malasar
* Malasar
* Muthuvan
* Paliyan
* Yerukala

|

Malayalam|

* Malayalam
* Jeseri
* Arabi Malayalam (Mappila Malayalam)
* Judeo-Malayalam
* Suriyani Malayalam
* Aranadan
* Beary
* Kadar
* Malaryan
* Malavedan
* Mullu Kurumba
* Paniya
* Ravula
* Allar
* Malankuravan
* Vishavan
* Kalanadi
* Kunduvadi
* Kurichiya
* Pathiya
* Thachanadan
* Ullatan

Tulu|

* Tulu
* Bellari
* Koraga
* Kudiya

Others|

* Kumbaran
* Kakkala
* Pattapu

South-Central|

| Telugu|

* Telugu
* Chenchu
* Waddar

|

Gondi-Kui|

| Gondi|

* Gondi
* Madiya
* Muria
* Koya
* Nagarchal
* Pardhan
* Khirwar

|

Kui|

* Kui
* Kuvi
* Manda
* Pengo
* Konda
* Mukha-Dora

Central|

| Kolami-Naiki|

* Kolami
* Naiki

|

Parji–Gadaba|

* Duruwa
* Ollari
* Kondekor

North|

| Kurukh-Malto|

* Kurukh
* Malto

|

* Brahui

Unclassified|

* Bharia

Proto-languages|

* Proto-Dravidian
* Proto-South Dravidian

Italics indicate extinct languages (no surviving native speakers and no spoken descendant)

* v
* t
* e

File:Banner of Telangana.png State of Telangana

Capital: Hyderabad

Topics|

* Architecture
* Cuisine
* Culture
* Demographics
* Economy
* Education
* Geography
* Government
* History
* Telugu language
* Language day
* Politics
* People
* List
* Tourism

Dynasties|

* Satavahanas
* Vishnukundinas
* Chalukyas
* Rastrakutas
* Western Chalukyas
* Kakatiyas
* Musunuri Nayakas
* Bahmanis
* Qutb Shahi
* Hyderabad Nizams

Districts|

* Adilabad
* Komaram Bheem
* Bhadradri
* Hanamkonda
* Hyderabad
* Jagitial
* Jangaon
* Jayashankar Bhupalpally
* Jogulamba
* Kamareddy
* Karimnagar
* Khammam
* Mahabubabad
* Mahabub Nagar
* Mancherial
* Medak
* Medchal–Malkajgiri
* Mulugu
* Nagarkurnool
* Nalgonda
* Narayanapet
* Nirmal
* Nizamabad
* Peddapalli
* Rajanna Sircilla
* Ranga Reddy
* Sangareddy
* Siddipet
* Suryapet
* Vikarabad
* Wanaparthy
* Warangal
* Yadadri

Commissionerates|

* Hyderabad
* Karimnagar
* Khammam
* Nizamabad
* Ramagundam
* Siddipet
* Warangal

Major cities|

* Hyderabad
* Warangal
* Nizamabad
* Khammam
* Karimnagar
* Ramagundam
* Mahbubnagar
* Nalgonda
* Adilabad
* Secunderabad
* Suryapet

Tourism|

* Churches
* Dams
* Forts
* Hindu Temples
* Lakes
* National Parks
* Sanctuaries
* Waterfalls

Municipal corporations|

* Hyderabad
* Karimnagar
* Khammam
* Nizamabad
* Ramagundam
* Warangal
* Boduppal
* Peerzadiguda
* Jawaharnagar
* Nizampet
* Badangpet
* Bandlaguda Jagir
* Meerpet–Jillelguda

Related lists|

* List of cities in Telangana by area
* List of cities in Telangana by population
* List of urban agglomerations in Telangana
* List of districts in Telangana
* List of urban local bodies in Telangana
* India Portal

* v
* t
* e

File:Andhraseal.png State of Andhra Pradesh

Capital: Amaravati

Topics|

* Cinema
* Cuisine
* Culture
* Demographics
* Economy
* Education
* Elections
* Geography
* Government
* Council of Ministers
* Highest point
* History
* Language
* Politics
* Sports
* People
* Transport
* Tourism

Regions|

* Coastal Andhra
* Rayalaseema
* Uttarandhra

Districts|

* Alluri Sitarama Raju
* Anakapalli
* Anantapur
* Annamayya
* Bapatla
* Chittoor
* East Godavari
* Eluru
* Guntur
* Kadapa
* Kakinada
* Konaseema
* Krishna
* Kurnool
* Nandyal
* Nellore
* NTR
* Palnadu
* Parvathipuram Manyam
* Prakasam
* Srikakulam
* Sri Satyasai
* Tirupati
* Visakhapatnam
* Vizianagaram
* West Godavari

Million-plus cities|

* Visakhapatnam
* Vijayawada

Cities
(population over 1 lakh)|

* Adoni
* Anantapur
* Bhimavaram
* Chilakaluripet
* Chittoor
* Dharmavaram
* Kadiri
* Eluru
* Gudivada
* Guntakal
* Guntur
* Hindupur
* Kadapa
* Kakinada
* Kurnool
* Machilipatnam
* Madanapalle
* Nandyal
* Narasaraopet
* Nellore
* Nuzvid
* Ongole
* Palakollu
* Proddatur
* Rajahmundry
* Srikakulam
* Tadepalligudem
* Tadipatri
* Tenali
* Tirupati
* Vijayawada
* Visakhapatnam
* Vizianagaram

Tourism|

* Dams
* Forts
* Lakes
* National Parks
* Hindu Temples
* Churches
* Wildlife Sanctuaries
* Waterfalls

History|

* Satavahana dynasty
* Andhra Ikshvaku
* Ananda Gotrika
* Salankayana dynasty
* Vishnukundina dynasty
* Pallava dynasty
* Eastern Chalukyas
* Western Chalukya Empire
* Rashtrakuta dynasty
* Kakatiya dynasty
* Velanati Chodas
* Eastern Ganga dynasty
* Gajapati Empire
* Vijayanagara Empire

Related lists|

* List of cities in Andhra Pradesh by population
* List of urban agglomerations in Andhra Pradesh
* List of revenue divisions in Andhra Pradesh
* List of urban local bodies in Andhra Pradesh
* List of mandals of Andhra Pradesh

* Portal:India

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template