Telugu language

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telugu_script, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telugu


Telugu (తెలుగు) is a Dravidian language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is the official language of Andhra Pradesh, one of the largest states of India.


It is the mother tongue for the majority of people of Andhra Pradesh, but it is also spoken in neighbouring states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Maharashtra and Chattisgarh. Telugu is the third most spoken language in India.


 Telugu is widely spoken in cities like Bengaluru and Chenna.


The earliest evidence for Brahmi script in South India comes from Bhattiprolu in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh.^[19] Bhattiprolu was a great centre of Buddhismsince 4th century BCE (Pre-Mauryan time) from where Buddhism spread to east Asia. A variant of Asokan Brahmi script, called Bhattiprolu Script, the progenitor of Old Telugu script, was found on the Buddha’s relic casket.


Telugu script, an abugida from the Brahmic family of scripts, is used to write Telugu language, a South Central Dravidian Language found in theSouthern 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]

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]. The Bhattiprolu Brahmi script evolved into the old Telugu-Kannada script by 5th century C.E.^{[8][9][10][11][12][13][14]}

The Muslim historian and scholar Al-Biruni called the Telugu language and script Andhri.^[15]

Vowels

Independent	With క (k)	ISO	IPA	Independent	With క (k)	ISO	IPA
అ	క	a	[ʌ]	ఆ	కా	ā	[a:]
ఇ	కి	i	[i]	ఈ	కీ	ī	[i:]
ఉ	కు	u	[u]	ఊ	కూ	ū	[u:]
ఋ		r̥	[rɨ, ru]	ౠ		r̥̄	[rɨ:, ru:]
ఌ		l̥		ౡ		l̥̄
ఎ	కె	e	[e]	ఏ	కే	ē	[e:]
ఒ	కొ	o	[o]	ఓ	కో	ō	[o:]
ఐ	కై	ai	[aj]	ఔ	కౌ	au	[aw]

Consonants

Character	ISO	IPA	Character	ISO	IPA	Character	ISO	IPA	Character	ISO	IPA	Character	ISO	IPA
క	k	[k]	ఖ	kh	[kʰ]	గ	g	[g]	ఘ	gh	[gʱ]	ఙ	ṅ	[ŋ]
చ	c	[tʃ]	ఛ	ch	[tʃʰ]	జ	j	[dʒ]	ఝ	jh	[dʒʱ]	ఞ	ñ	[ɲ]
ట	ṭ	[ʈ]	ఠ	ṭh	[ʈʰ]	డ	ḍ	[ɖ]	ఢ	ḍh	[ɖʱ]	ణ	ṇ	[ɳ]
త	t	[t]	థ	th	[tʰ]	ద	d	[d]	ధ	dh	[dʱ]	న	n	[n]
ప	p	[p]	ఫ	ph	[pʰ]	బ	b	[b]	భ	bh	[bʱ]	మ	m	[m]
య	y	[j]	ర	r	[r]	ల	l	[l]	వ	v	[ʋ]	ళ	ḷ	[ɭ]
శ	ś	[ɕ]	ష	ṣ	[ʂ]	స	s	[s]	ఱ	ṛ	[ɽ]	హ	h	[h]

Numerals

0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
౦	౧	౨	౩	౪	౫	౬	౭	౮	౯