A Dravidian language of southeastern India spoken by about 96 million people — official in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, with a rich classical literary tradition.
Where it’s spoken
Telugu is the official language of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and one of India’s six classical languages. It is also spoken by significant minorities in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, and Maharashtra, and by a large diaspora in the United States, Singapore, and Gulf countries. Telugu-language cinema (“Tollywood”) is one of the largest film industries by output.
What it sounds like
Telugu has been called “the Italian of the East” for its open syllables — most words end in a vowel, giving the language a lilting, musical quality. It has a rich vowel system including phonemic length and a complex set of dental, retroflex, and aspirated consonants typical of South Asian languages.
How it’s written
Telugu script is a Brahmic abugida descended from the Kadamba script. Its letterforms are characterized by curling, rounded strokes and headstrokes (“talakattu”) above most letters. The script is shared in basic structure with the related Kannada script.
History
Telugu inscriptions date to the 6th century CE. The language flourished under the Vijayanagara Empire (14th–16th centuries), when its classical literature reached a peak with works like Allasani Peddana’s Manucharitra.
Find more languages by letter
Telugu starts with T and ends with U. Browse other languages along the same letter.
Languages that contain a letter from "Telugu":