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Telugu
[ tel-uh-goo ]
noun
- a Dravidian language spoken mainly in Andhra Pradesh state, SE India.
- a member of the people speaking this language.
adjective
- of Telugu or the Telugu.
Telugu
/ ˈtɛləˌɡuː /
noun
- a language of SE India, belonging to the Dravidian family of languages: the state language of Andhra Pradesh
- -gus-gu a member of the people who speak this language
adjective
- of or relating to this people or their language
Example Sentences
In Telangana, pressure has grown on the government to publish a report on the Telugu film industry that’s been waiting to see the light of the day for two years.
Even among Indian American spellers, a particular subgroup is overrepresented: families from the southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where Telugu is the primary language.
Pratibha, 40, who uses only one name, told BBC Telugu that she suffered a heatstroke just days ago and was experiencing severe headaches.
The Hindi service will now be produced by the Collective Newsroom, along with Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu - as well as a YouTube channel BBC News India in English.
The actress has worked in several languages, including Hindi, Telugu and Kannada, and has also won a number of awards for her roles.
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More About Telugu
What does Telugu mean?
Telugu is a Dravidian language spoken mainly in the state of Andhra Pradesh in southeastern India.
Telugu also refers to the speakers of this language.
India is a large country located in southern Asia, and Andhra Pradesh is one of its 25 states. The Dravidian family of languages includes many of the languages spoken in Southern India and the country of Sri Lanka, including Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam.
According to the 2011 Census of India, there were over 81 million speakers of Telugu. At that time, it was the fourth most popular language in India, with 6.7 percent of the population speaking it. Telugu is the official language of the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Spoken Telugu has several different regional dialects, which depend on a person’s geographic area, class, and caste. Written Telugu is more uniform and, like other Dravidian languages, is based on the Brahmi script rather than ancient Sanskrit.
Telugu is written from left to right, and its alphabet currently consists of 60 symbols, including 16 vowels and 41 consonants.
Why is Telugu important?
The first records of the term Telugu come from around 1731. The exact origin of the word Telugu is not known, but it is commonly thought to come from the Sanskrit word Trilingas, meaning “the country of the three lingas.” Lingas supposedly refers to the large mountains that marked the border of the ancient country of the Telugu people. Telugu is the name that speakers of the language use to refer to the language itself.
The first records of an ancient version of Telugu date back to 575. The modern version of Telugu emerged in the 1000s with a translation of the Mahabharata by the poet Nannaya Bhatta.
Like much of India, the area that is now Andhra Pradesh was ruled by a variety of people of different cultures throughout its history. This can be seen today by the various dialects of Telugu that borrow words from Hindi, Urdu, and English.
Did you know … ?
The English word bandicoot comes from the Telugu word pandi-kokku, meaning “pig-rat.” Bandicoot rats are native to southeast India.
What are real-life examples of Telugu?
As you might expect, a person of Indian heritage or who is knowledgeable about India is more likely to be familiar with the Telugu language.
Deeply shocked and saddened by the demise of legendary singer, telugu pride, great humanitarian, ‘Gana Gandharva’ Padma Bhushan Shri SP Balasubrahmanyam garu.
— K Raghu Rama Krishna Raju (@RaghuRaju_MP) September 25, 2020
Many happy returns of the day to one of the greatest script writers of Telugu films, Sri. Parachuri Gopala Krishna garu. @GkParuchuri . Honored to have acted in his scripts and working closely with him. 🙏❤️
— Vishnu Manchu (@iVishnuManchu) September 25, 2020
What other words are related to Telugu?
Quiz yourself!
True or False?
Telugu is a language mainly spoken in the northeastern part of India.
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