India is one of the few countries in the world with a wide diversity of languages spoken and cultures within its geographical area. Every state, region, and district have their own peculiarities of languages, dialects, food, clothes, culture and rituals. In this article, we will discuss about Telugu- a language spoken in the Southern part of India.
Primarily spoken in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, Telugu is a Central Dravidian language. Telugu is also the official language of Yanam District in Pondicherry. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India. Among all the Dravidian languages, Telugu is the most widely spoken one. Telugu is the third most spoken language in the Indian sub-continent after Hindi and Bengali.
In 2008, Telugu attained the status of being called a classical language honored by the Indian government. Today Telugu is considered a classical language just like Sanskrit, Kannada and Tamil.
Outside Andhra Pradesh, you can find Telugu being spoken in various other Indian states as well such as Karnataka, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Chattisgarh. Telugu has also been taken outside India by its Diaspora. You can find Telugu speakers in Canada, Australia, South Africa, Singapore, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, the UK, Bahrain, Fiji and various other nations. In the USA, you can find a large number of Telugu speakers especially in Silicon Valley.
Sanskrit influence on Telugu
The earliest known inscriptions containing Telugu words date back to 400 BC which appeared on coins. During the 11th century, Telugu flourished as a literary and poetical language.
Written in a Brahmic alphabet, Telugu was extensively influenced by Sanskrit language. No other language has influenced Telugu as much as Sanskrit has. Telugu vocabulary has borrowed heavily from Sanskrit. Even the pronunciation of some vowels and consonants is done the way it is done in Sanskrit language.
Other influences
In the late 17th century, as Muslim rule established in Hyderabad, Telugu also got influenced by Arabic and Persian languages. Arabic influence can be easily seen in the language spoken and literature written especially in the Hyderabad region, the capital of Andhra Pradesh. Hence Telugu language varies depending upon region to region.
Telugu alphabets & dialects
Telugu alphabet consists of 16 vowels, 41 consonants and 3 vowel modifiers. There are various dialects in Telugu language such as Kamathi, Berad, Dasari, Telangana, Dommara, Kandula, Prakasam, Rayalaseema, Srikakulam, Komtao and many more. If you move towards Tamil Nadu, you will find that Telugu has different dialects there namely Vellore, Madras Telugu, Coimbatore and more. Standard Telugu known as “Shudda Telugu” is mostly spoken in Andhra Pradesh.
Telugu speakers are in huge numbers in India and all over the world. If you want to target Telugu speakers, you need to communicate with them in the same language. Whenever you seek Telugu translations, make sure to do your research and choose a highly reliable and professional translation agency be it translation services Toronto or translation Winnipeg company. The translation company must guarantee accurate Telugu translations which are done and proof-read by experts who have good command over Telugu language.
Albert Carter is a freelancer who writes exclusively for Textronics Communications Ltd, Canada. A renowned translation agency which provides high quality translation services Toronto and translation Winnipeg to corporate clients located in different parts of the world