Telugu
Telugu is a major Dravidian language belonging to the South-Central Dravidian subgroup (ISO 639-3: tel, Glottocode: telu1262).
Speakers
According to the 2011 Census of India, Telugu has 81,127,740 native speakers, making it one of the most widely spoken Dravidian languages.
Distribution in India
Telugu is predominantly spoken in the southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where it holds official status. Significant populations of Telugu speakers are also found in neighboring states, including Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, and the union territory of Puducherry.
Major Grammatical Features
- Phonology: Telugu phonology features a contrast between short and long vowels, retroflex consonants (/ʈ/, /ɖ/, /ɳ/, /ɭ/), and a historical vowel harmony system. Most native words end in a vowel (typically /u/), a phonetic feature that historically earned it the description "Italian of the East."
- Morphology: It is a highly agglutinative, suffixing language. Nouns inflect for number (singular and plural) and case (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive, locative, etc.) using postpositions. Verbs inflect for tense (past, present, future), aspect, mood, and show agreement with the subject in person, number, and gender.
- Syntax: The basic word order is Subject-Object-Verb (SOV). Modifiers, such as adjectives and genitives, typically precede the head noun, and the language exclusively uses postpositions.