Everything about Telugu Language totally explained
Telugu (in
English; in Telugu: తెలుగు [ˈt̪elʊgʊ]) is a
Dravidian language (
South-Central Dravidian languages) mostly spoken in the Indian state of
Andhra Pradesh, where it's the official language.
Sanskrit has a huge influence on it. Including non-native speakers it's the most spoken Dravidian language, in India and the third most spoken language in the Indian sub-continent after Hindi and Bengali, and one of the twenty-two
official languages of the Republic of India. It is spoken among a diaspora population in the
USA,
Malaysia,
Mauritius,
South Africa,
Ireland,
Fiji,
Réunion,
Trinidad and the
UK among other countries around the world. Extant works in
Carnatic music, particularly the compositions of the present era (post 15th century), were written mostly in the then, highly-sanskritized Telugu. Telugu is one of the top fifteen most widely spoken languages in the world as well as the most spoken language within the Dravidian family. It is widely spoken outside of Andhra Pradesh in cities of neighboring states such as Bangalore and Chennai.
History
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. Inscriptions containing telugu words dated back to 400 CE were discovered at Nandyal in Kurnool district. English translation of one inscription reads: “Gift of the slab by venerable Midikilayakha.
Etymology
The etymology of
Telugu isn't 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 namely
Kalahasthi,
Srisailam and
Draksharamam. Trilinga Desa forms the traditional boundaries of the Telugu region. Other forms of the word, such as Telunga, Telinga,
Telangana and Tenunga were also seen. 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 derived from
talaing, who were chiefs who conquered the Andhra region. M.R. Shastri is of the opinion that it's 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, etc. 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 ‘human.’
Stages
It is possible to broadly define four stages in the
linguistic history of the Telugu language:
400 CE - 500 CE
The discovery of a Brahmi label inscription reading
Thambhaya Dhaanam is engraved on the soap stone reliquary datable to 2nd century
BCE on Paleographical ground proves the fact that Telugu language predates the known conception in Andhra Pradesh.
Primary sources are
Prakrit/Sanskrit
inscriptions found in the region, in which Telugu places and personal names are found. From this we know that the language of the people was Telugu, while the rulers, who were of the
Satavahana dynasty, spoke Prakrit. Telugu words appear in the
Maharashtri Prakrit anthology of poems (the
Gathasaptashathi) collected by the first century BCE Satavahana King
Hala. Telugu speakers were probably the oldest peoples inhabiting the land between the
Krishna and
Godavari rivers.
500 CE - 1100 CE
The first inscription that's entirely in Telugu corresponds to the second phase of Telugu history. This inscription dated 575
CE was found in the
Kadapa and
Kurnool district region and is attributed to the
Renati Cholas. They broke with the prevailing fashion of using
Sanskrit and introduced the tradition of writing royal proclamations in the local language. During the next fifty years, Telugu inscriptions appeared in the neighboring Anantapuram and all the surrounding regions. The first available Telugu inscription in the coastal Andhra Pradesh comes from about 633 CE. Around the same time, the Chalukya kings of Telangana also started using Telugu for inscriptions. Telugu was most exposed to the influence of Sanskrit, as opposed to Prakrit, during this period. This period mainly corresponded to the advent of literature in Telugu. This literature was initially found in inscriptions and poetry in the courts of the rulers, and later in written works such as
Nannayya's
Mahabharatam (1022 CE). During the time of Nannayya, the literary language diverged from the popular language. This was also a period of phonetic changes in the spoken language.
1100 CE - 1400 CE
The third phase is marked by further stylization and sophistication of the literary language. Ketana (thirteenth century) in fact prohibited the use of spoken words in poetic works. This period also saw the beginning of
Muslim rule in the
Telangana region.
During this period the separation of
Telugu script from the common Telugu-
Kannada script took place.
Tikkana wrote his works in this script.
1400 CE - 1900 CE
During the fourth phase, Telugu underwent a great deal of change (as did other Indian languages), progressing from
medieval to modern. The language of the Telangana region started to split into a distinct dialect due to Muslim influence:
Sultanate rule under the
Tughlaq dynasty had been established earlier in the northern Deccan during the fourteenth century. South of the
Godavari river (
Rayalaseema region), however, the
Vijayanagara empire gained dominance from 1336 till the late 1600s, reaching its peak during the rule of
Krishnadevaraya in the sixteenth century, when Telugu literature experienced what is considered to be its
golden age.
Padakavithapithamaha,
Annamayya, contributed many
atcha (pristine) Telugu
Padaalu to this great language. In the latter half of the seventeenth century, Muslim rule extended further south, culminating in the establishment of the princely state of
Hyderabad by the
Asaf Jah dynasty in 1724. This heralded an era of
Persian/
Arabic influence on the Telugu language, especially among the people of
Hyderabad. The effect is also felt in the prose of the early 19th century, as in the
Kaifiyats.
1900 CE to date
The period of the late nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries saw the influence of the
English language and modern communication/printing press as an effect of the
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 scholars like Kandukuri Viresalingam and Panuganti Lakshminarasimha Rao.
Since the 1940s, 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
television,
radio and
newspapers. This form of the language is also taught in schools as a standard. In the current decade the Telugu language, like other Indian languages, has undergone
globalization due to the increasing settlement of Telugu-speaking people abroad. Modern Telugu
movies, although still retaining their dramatic quality, are linguistically separate from post-
Independence films.
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,
South Africa, the
United Arab Emirates, the
United States and the
United Kingdom where there's a considerable Telugu
diaspora. Telugu is the second largest spoken language in the country after Hindi .
Official status
Telugu is one of the 22
official languages of India. It was declared the official language of
Andhra Pradesh when the state was formed in October 1953 on linguistic basis.
Telugu also has official language status in the
Yanam District of the
Union Territory of
Pondicherry.
Dialects
Waddar,
Chenchu,
Savara, and Manna-Dora are all closely related to Telugu. Dialects of Telugu are Berad, Dasari, Dommara, Golari, Kamathi, Komtao, Konda-Reddi, Salewari, Telangana, Telugu, Vadaga, Srikakula, Vishakhapatnam, East Godavari, West Godavari, Rayalseema, Nellore,prakasam 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
Nineteenth-century Englishmen called Telugu the
Italian of the East as all native words in Telugu end with a
vowel sound, but it's believed that
Italian explorer
Niccolò Da Conti coined the phrase in the fifteenth century.
A great number of the words in Telugu end in the sound 'oo', giving the language a very sing-song like sound.
Achulu(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.
| /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 (for example /ruʃɪ/ (
monk) used to be written ఋషి but nowadays,
రుషి is preferred).
Hallulu (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. (for example /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.
| 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're 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, where certain syllables are added to the end of a noun in order to denote its case:
These agglutinations apply to all nouns generally in the singular and plural.
Here is how other cases are manifested in Telugu:
Location
| 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 harmonised 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 isn't 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 personal 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 there's no special neuter gender that's used.
Vocabulary
Like all
Dravidian languages, Telugu has a base of words which are essentially Dravidian in origin. Words that describe objects/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/
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 11th - 14th centuries CE. 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. (for example కబురు, /kaburu/ for
Urdu /xabar/, خبر or జవాబు, /ɟavɑːbu/ for Urdu /ɟawɑːb/, جواب)
Modern Telugu vocabulary can be said to constitute a
diglossia, because the formal, standardized version of the language, heavily influenced by Sanskrit, is taught in schools and used by the government and
Hindu religious institutions. However, everyday Telugu varies depending upon region and social status. There is a large and growing middle class whose Telugu is substantially interspersed with
English. Popular Telugu, especially in urban Hyderabad, spoken by the masses and seen in movies that are directed towards the masses, includes both English and
Hindi/Urdu influences.Lately,this heavy amalgamation of non-native languages with spoken telugu has raised concerns.
Writing system
The earliest evidence for Brahmi script in South India comes from
Bhattiprolu in
Guntur district of
Andhra Pradesh .
Bhattiprolu was a great centre of
Buddhism since 4th century BCE (Pre-Mauryan time) from where 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 famous Muslim historian and scholar of 10th century,
Al-Biruni called Telugu language and script as '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's traditional to write and read consonants with an implied 'a' vowel sound. When consonants combine with other vowel signs, the vowel part is indicated orthographically using signs known as vowel “maatras”. The shapes of vowel “maatras” are also very different from the shapes of the corresponding vowels.
The overall pattern consists of sixty symbols, of which 16 are vowels, three vowel modifiers, and forty-one consonants. Spaces are used between words as word separators.
The sentence ends with either a single bar | (“purna virama”) or a double bar || (“deergha virama”). Traditionally, in handwriting, Telugu words were not separated by spaces. Modern punctuation (commas, semicolon, etc.) were introduced with the advent of print.
There is 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 |
okati |
one |
జింక |
Jinka |
deer |
చింతపండు |
chintapandu |
Tamarind |
అమ్మ |
amma |
mother |
ఊయల |
vuyala |
cradle |
ఇల్లు |
Illu |
house |
మందారం |
Mandaram |
Hibiscus |
వెన్నెల |
Vennela |
moonlight |
బ్రహ్మాండం |
Bramhandam |
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.
Thanjavuru was the heart of the
Chola dynasty (from the 9th century to the 13th), but in the second quarter of the sixteenth century a
Telugu Nayak viceroy (Raghunatha Nayaka) was appointed by the emperor of
Vijayanagara, thus establishing a court whose language was Telugu. Telugu Nayaka rulers acted as the governors in the present day
Tamil Nadu area with headquarters at
Thanjavuru (1530-1674 CE) and
Madurai(1530-1781 CE). After the collapse of
Vijayanagar, Thanjavur and Madurai Nayaks became independent and ruled for the next 150 years until they were replaced by Marathas. This was the period when several Telugu families migrated from
Andhra and settled down in Thanjavur and Madurai. 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's 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 CE |
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 from 575 CE onwards. Nannaya's (1022-1063) translation of the Sanskrit
Mahabharata into Telugu is the piece of Telugu literature as yet discovered. After the death of Nannaya, there was a kind of social and religious revolution in the Telugu country.
Tikkana (thirteenth century) and Yerrapregada (fourteenth century) continued the translation of the Mahabharata started by Nannaya. Telugu poetry also flourished in this period, especially in the time of Srinatha.
During this period, some Telugu poets translated Sanskrit poems and dramas, while others attempted original narrative poems. The popular Telugu literary form called the Prabandha evolved during this period. Srinatha (1365-1441) was the foremost poet, who popularised this style of composition (a story in verse having a tight metrical scheme). Srinatha's "Sringara Naishadham" is particularly well-known.
The
Ramayana poets may also be referred in this context. The earliest Ramayana in Telugu is generally known as the
Ranganatha Ramayana, authored by the chief
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. Padakavitha Pithamaha, Annamayya, contributed many Accha (original) Telugu Padalu to this great language.
The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries CE is 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" (centres) of Southern literature, such as
Madurai and
Tanjore. This age is often referred to as the "Southern Period". There were also an increasing number of poets in this period among the ruling class, women and non-
Brahmins who popularised indigenous (
desi)
meters.
With the conquest of the
Deccan by the
Mughals in 1687, Telugu literature entered a lull.
Tyagaraja's compositions are some of the known works from this period. Then emerged a period of transition (1850-1910), followed by a long period of
Renaissance.
Europeans like C.P. Brown played an important role in the development of Telugu language and literature. In common with the rest of India, Telugu literature of this period was increasingly influenced by European literary forms like the novel, short story, prose and drama.
Paravastu Chinnayya Soori (1807-1861) is a well-known Telugu writer who dedicated his entire life to the progress and promotion of Telugu language and literature.Sri Chinnayasoori wrote the Baala Vyaakaranamu in a new style after doing extensive research on "Andhra Grammar" which is the greatest gift to Telugu literature.Other well-known writings by Chinnayasoori are: (1) Neetichandrika (2) Sootandhra Vyaakaranamu (3) Andhra Dhatumoola and (4) Neeti Sangrahamu.
Kandukuri Veeresalingam (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, Gurajada 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 honour, the
Jnanpith Award.
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"),
Viswanatha Satyanarayana ("
Veyi Padagalu"),
Kodavatiganti Kutumba Rao and Buchi Babu.
Jnanpith award winners for Telugu
Further Information
Get more info on 'Telugu Language'.
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