Telugu, a language that is regarded as the "Italian Of The East" by the ninth century Europeans mainly because of its vowel ending is a second most widely spoken language in India next only to Hindi, India's national language. Telugu is the official language of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and over 75 million people world over can speak this language. According to linguists, Telugu is a Dravidian language. That is to say, it does not belong to the Indo-Aryan family to which Hindi, Sanskrit, Latin and Greek belong.Telugu has a recorded history from the 6th century A. D. and a fine literary record dating back to the 11th century A. D. Much of the Telugu written literature, up to the end of the nineteenth century was in highly formal “literary style.” It is only in the twentieth century that colloquial spoken language began to earn the literary mantle. Nowadays almost all the language used in the media (print, radio, television, movies) is the colloquial style. Telugu accepts foreign words with comfort and ease. With British invasion of India, many English words got included into Telugu and this explains the usage of lots of English words when a Telugu person conducts conversation with fellow Telugu person.
Telugu has a well structured grammar. The order of the sentence is Subject + Object + Verb, a bit different from English. There is a very rich literature in Telugu language dating from 6th Century A.D. All the major epics are translated into Telugu. Some very famous poems are written in Telugu and there are thousands of proverbs in this language. Though most of the Telugu speaking people can speak English, it is always better to start the conversation with some Telugu introductory words that are highly valued by Telugu speaking people and then continue the conversation in English. Here we shall take a look at some introductory telugu words
1. Whenever you meet a Telugu speaking person for the first time say,
నమస్కారము - Namaskaramu - Hello (In English)
మీరు ఎలా వున్నారు - Meeru Elaa Vunnaaru - How are you doing?
(If it is elders or respectable people, we say Meeru (మీరు) - You. If it is people younger to us or just casual friends we say Nuvvu (నువ్వు) - You.)నేను బాగనే వున్నాను - Naenu Baaganae Vunnaanu - I am doing fine.
ఇన్టిలొ అన్తా కుసలమేనా? - Intilo Anthaa Kusalamaenaa? - Is everyone doing good at home
(With India having a strong concept of society and family, it is very essential for person to ask about the welfare of the family members of the counterpart and also it is very common to enquire about family members, what they are doing, how they are progressing and such. This is common in all languages in India)After this, one can continue the conversation in English. Below are some proverbs and a poem in Telugu to give a glimpse of the Telugu literature.
Proverbs!!!!
ఆలస్యమ్ అమ్రుతమ్ విశమ్
Alasyam amrutham visham
If you delay things even Ambrosia turns into Poison
Means - Dont ever delay things
ధేవుడు వరము ఇచ్హినా పూజారి వరమ్ ఇవ్వడు.
Dhaevudu varamu ichhinaa poojaari varam ivvadu.
Even if the God gave the blessing, Priest isnt giving the blessing.
Means - Even if the higher authority gave permission, the subordinates arent giving the permission
ధూరపు కొన్డలు నునుపు
Dhoorapu kondalu nunupu
Distant Mountains are smooth
Means - Grass looks greener on other side
Poem
ఎప్పుడుసంపదగలిగిన
నప్పుడుబంధువులువత్తురదిఎట్లన్నన్
తెప్పలుగజెరువునిండిన
గప్పలుపదివేలుచేరుగదరాసుమతీ
Yeppudu sampadha galigina
Nappudu bandhuvulu vathhu radhi yetlannan
Deppaluga jeruvu nindina
Gappalu padhivaelu chaerugadharaa sumathee
As an when a lake is filled with water, all the frogs appear in that lake. In the same fashion whenever a person becomes rich all the people in the society become his relatives.
Learning process being the same, Telugu is a very interesting language. It has a very rich literature that gives enough feed to senses. Happy learning Telugu!!!!!!!!!
For learning
Telugu | Category
Uncategorized | Level
Unspecified |
Second language
English | Created
Aug 13, 2008 18:26 | Views
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