Telugu script

All you want to know about Telugu script

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Telugu

Type

Abugida

Spoken languages

Telugu

Time period

c. 1500–present

Parent systems

Proto-Canaanite alphabet
 → Phoenician alphabet
  → Aramaic alphabet
   → Brāhmī
    → Bhattiprolu Script
     → Telugu

Sister systems

Kannada

Unicode range

U+0C01–U+0C6F

ISO 15924

Telu
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.

Telugu script, an abugida from the Brahmic family of scripts, is used to write Telugu language, a Dravidian Language found in the Southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh as well as several other neighboring states. The Telugu script is derived from the Telugu-Kannada script[1] and developed independently at the same time as the Kannada script which is why it has strong resemblance to it.[2]

Contents

Derivation from Brahmi script

The Brahmi script used by Mauryan kings eventually reached Krishna River delta and gave rise to Bhattiprolu script found on the urn containing Buddha's relics[3] [4]. Buddhism spread to east Asia from the nearby ports of Ghantasala and Masulipatnam (ancient Maisolos of Ptolemy and Masalia of Periplus)[5]. The Bhattiprolu script also travelled giving rise to the modern Thai, Burmese, Javanese and Balinese scripts, which bear a strong resemblance to Telugu script[6][7] [8]. The Bhattiprolu Brahmi script evolved into the old Telugu-Kannada script by 5th century C.E[9][10][11][12][13].[14][15]

The Muslim historian and scholar Al-Biruni called the Telugu language and script Andhri.[16]

Consonants

Consonant 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 ఱ ల ళ వ శ ష స హ
Pronunciation [ka] [kʰa] [dʒa]

Vowels

Telugu uses fourteen vowels, each of which has both a singular form and a diacritic form used with consonants to create syllables. It is important to note that this language does make a distinction between short and long vowels.

Vowel (singular form) అ ఆ ఇ ఈ ఉ ఊ ఋ ౠ ఎ ఏ ఐ ఒ ఓ ఔ
Vowel (diacritic form) ా ి ీ ు ూ ృ ౄ ె ే ై ొ ో ౌ
Pronunciation [a] [aː] [i] [iː] [u] [uː] [ri/ru] [riː/ruː] [e] [eː] [aj] [o] [oː] [aw]

The singular form is used when the vowel occurs at the beginning of a word or syllable, or is a complete syllable in itself (example: a, u, o). The diacritic form is added to consonants (represented by the dotted circle) to form a consonant-vowel syllable (example: ka, kru, mo). It should be noted that అ does not have a diacritic form, because this vowel is already inherent in all of the consonants. The other diacritic vowels are added to consonants to change their pronunciation to that of the vowel.

Examples:

ఖ + ఈ (ీ) → ఖీ [kʰa] + [iː] → [kʰiː]
జ + ఉ (ు) → జు [dʒa] + [u] → [dʒu]

There are also several other diacritics used in the Telugu script. ్ mutes the vowel of a consonant, so that only the consonant is pronounced. ం and ఁ nasalize the vowels or syllables to which they are attached. ః adds a voiceless breath after the vowel or syllable it is attached to.

Examples:

క + ్ → క్    [ka] + [Ø] → [k]
క + ఁ → కఁ [ka] + [n] → [kan]
క + ం → కం [ka] + [m] → [kam]
క + ః → కః [ka] + [h] → [kah]

Telugu in Unicode

The Unicode range for Telugu is U+0C00–U+0C7F. Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points.

Telugu
Unicode.org 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   వ శ ష స హ         ా ి
U+0C4x ీ ు ూ ృ ౄ   ె ే ై   ొ ో ౌ ్    
U+0C5x           ౕ ౖ                  
U+0C6x ౠ ౡ         ౦ ౧ ౨ ౩ ౪ ౫ ౬ ౭ ౮ ౯
U+0C7x                                

In contrast to a syllabic script such as katakana, where one Unicode code point represents the glyph for one syllable, Telugu combines multiple code points to generate the glyph for one syllable, using complex font rendering rules.[17][18]

References

  1. ^ Bhat, Raghunath (2001). "PALAEOGRAPHIC ART OF INDIA AND SOUTH EAST ASIA". IGNCA. Retrieved on 2007-07-19.
  2. ^ "Telugu script details".
  3. ^ Antiquity of Telugu language and script: http://www.hindu.com/2007/12/20/stories/2007122054820600.htm
  4. ^ Ananda Buddha Vihara
  5. ^ The Great Stupa at Nagarjunakonda in Southern India-【佛学研究网】 佛教文化网 中国佛教网 中国佛学网 佛教信息网 佛教研究 佛学讲座 禅学讲座 吴言生说禅
  6. ^ http://myteluguworld.com/telugu.htm (dead link)
  7. ^ My Thais - Sepia Mutiny
  8. ^ Balinese alphabet, language and pronunciation
  9. ^ The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Writing Systems by Florian Coulmas, p. 228
  10. ^ Vishwabharath by K. N. Murthy and G. U. Rao, http://tdil.mit.gov.in/TelugulScriptDetailsApr02.pdf
  11. ^ Indiain Epigraphy: a guide to the study of inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the other Indo-Aryan languages, by Richard Solomon, Oxford University Press, 1998, p.40, ISBN 0195099842
  12. ^ Indian Epigraphy by Dineschandra Sircar, Motilal Banarsidass, 1996, p.46, ISBN 8120811666
  13. ^ The Dravidian Languages by Bhadriraju Krishnamurti, 2003, Cambridge University Press, pp.78-79, ISBN 0521771110
  14. ^ Comparative Dravidian linguistics: Current perspectives by Bhadriraju Krishnamurti. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. ISBN 0198241224
  15. ^ K. Raghunath Bhat, http://ignca.gov.in/nl001809.htm
  16. ^ Al-biruni. English translation of 'Kitab-ul Hind'. New Delhi: National Book Trust. 
  17. ^ "Developing OpenType Fonts for Telugu Script".
  18. ^ "Unicode 4.0.0: South Asian Scripts".

External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telugu_script"

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