Telugu grammar

The first treatise on Telugu grammar (Telugu: వ్యాకరణం vyākaraṇam), the Andhra Sabda Chintamani (Telugu: ఆంధ్ర శబ్ద చింతామణి Āndhra śabda cintāmaṇi) was written in Sanskrit by Nannayya, who is considered the first poet (ādikavi) and grammarian of the Telugu language, in the 11th century CE. After Nannayya, Atharvana and Ahobala composed the sutras, the vartikas and the bhashyam.

In the 19th century, Chinnaya Suri wrote a simplified work on Telugu grammar called Bāla Vyākaraṇam (lit. Children's grammar), borrowing concepts and ideas from Nannayya, in Telugu.[1]

According to Nannayya, language without 'Niyama' or the language which doesn't adhere to Vyākaranam is called Grāmya (lit of the village) or Apabhraṃśa, is unfit for literary usage. All literary texts in Telugu follow the Vyākaraṇam.[1]

Inflection

Telugu is more inflected than other literary Dravidian languages. Telugu nouns are inflected for number (singular, plural), gender (masculine and non-masculine) and grammatical case (nominative, accusative, instrumental, dative, ablative, genitive, locative, and vocative).[2]

Gender

Telugu has three genders:

• masculine (puru liṅgamu),
• feminine (strī liṅgamu),
• neuter (napunsaka liṅgamu).

In Telugu the occurrence of the suffix (–ḍu) almost always encodes masculine gender. For example:

• tammuḍu (younger brother),
• mukhyuḍu (important man),
• Rāmuḍu (Rāma),
• nāyakuḍu (leader).

However, there are nouns that do not end in (-ḍu) that belong to the masculine class.For example:

• annayya (elder brother),
• māmayya (uncle).

Most of the words ending in -ḍu are borrowings from Sanskrit words ending in -a, and therefore the feminine forms of these words are equivalent to the Sanskrit words.

Masculine	Sanskrit original	Feminine
nartakuḍu	nartaka	nartaki
vācakuḍu	vācaka	vācaki
premikuḍu	premika	preyasi

Sometimes, a word ending in -ḍu is feminized by adding the suffix -ālu to the root. The -a ending of the root becomes -ur. This phenomenon is known as the rugāgama sandhi.

Masculine	Sanskrit original	Feminine
nartakuḍu	nartaka	nartakurālu
priyuḍu	priya	priyurālu
bhaktuḍu	bhakta	bhakturālu

Neuter-gendered words usually contain the suffix -amu. This suffix descends from the Old Telugu suffix -ambu and is increasingly losing the final -u to become -aṁ. These neuter words are often borrowed from Sanskrit neuter-gendered words ending in -a, -am, -i, or -u. The final -a usually becomes -amu, and the final -u becomes -uvu.

Sanskrit original	Telugu
citrapaṭam	citrapaṭamu
ākāśam	ākāśamu
nīra	nīru
madhu	madhuvu

However, Telugu sometimes uses the same forms for singular feminine and neuter genders – the third person pronoun (అది /ad̪ɪ/) is used to refer to animals and objects.[3]

Number (vachanam)

Anything with quantity one is singular (ekavachanam). Anything more than one in number is called plural (bahuvachanam), as in English.

In Telugu the plural is also used to address elders with respect. Some nouns are always plural and some are always singular. For example, water (neellu) is always plural.

God (bhagavantudu), sun (suryudu), earth (bhūmi), and moon (chandrudu) are always singular form. However, ḍevullu is a plural form of bhagavantudu, used when referring to multiple deities.

Case (విభక్తి vibhakti)

Telugu has eight cases.

Telugu	English	Usual Suffixes	Transliteration of Suffixes
Prathamā Vibhakti (ప్రథమా విభక్తి)	Nominative	డు, ము, వు, లు	ḍu, mu, vu, lu
Dvitīyā Vibhakti (ద్వితీయా విభక్తి)	Accusative	నిన్, నున్, లన్, కూర్చి, గురించి	nin, nun, lan, kūrchi, gurinchi
Trutīyā Vibhakti (తృతీయా విభక్తి)	Instrumental	చేతన్, చేన్, తోడన్, తోన్	chētan, chēn, tōḍan, tōn
Chaturthi Vibhakti (చతుర్థి విభక్తి)	Dative	కొఱకున్, కై	korakun, kai
Panchamī Vibhakti (పంచమీ విభక్తి)	Ablative	వలనన్, కంటెన్, పట్టి	valanan, kaṇṭen, paṭṭi
Shashthī Vibhakti (షష్ఠీ విభక్తి)	Genitive	కిన్, కున్, యొక్క, లోన్, లోపలన్	kin, kun, yokka, lōn, lōpalan
Saptamī Vibhakti (సప్తమీ విభక్తి)	Locative	అందున్, నన్	andun, nan
Sambodhanā Prathamā Vibhakti (సంబోధనా ప్రథమా విభక్తి)	Vocative	ఓ, ఓయీ, ఓరీ, ఓసీ	ō, ōī, ōrī, ōsī

Word order

Telugu word order is free because nouns are inflected for case. However, speakers tend to use SOV (subject–object–verb).

Sentence	రాముడు బడికి వెళ్తాడు.
Words	రాముడు	బడికి	వెళ్తాడు.
Transliteration	Rāmuḍu	baḍiki	veḷtāḍu
Gloss	Ram	to school	goes.
Parts	Subject	Object	Verb
Translation	Ram goes to school.

Punctuation

Telugu uses single and double vertical bars to indicate a comma and a full stop. However modern Telugu uses punctuation marks which are borrowed from English.[4]

Sandhi or joining

Sandhi is the fusion of sounds across word boundaries and the alteration of sounds due to neighboring sounds or due to the grammatical function of adjacent words.

Telugu sandhis can be divided into native ones and those derived from Sanskrit ones.

Sanskrit Sandhis

These sandhis usually take place when the two words undergoing Sandhi are words borrowed from Sanskrit.

Savarṇadīrghasandhi

The savarṇadīrgha sandhi, from Sanskrit savarṇa 'same sound' and dīrgha 'long', this sandhi takes place when the first word ends in the same vowel that the second word starts with. The two vowels join to form one long vowel.

Examples of the savarṇadīrgha sandhi

Initial word	Final word	Result
deva	ālayamu	dēvālayamu
pārvati	īśvaruḍu	pārvatīśvaruḍu
aṇu	utpatti	aṇūtpatti

Guṇasandhi

The guṇasandhi takes place when a word final -a is followed by either -i, -u or -r̥. The sandhi yields -ē, -ō and -ar respectively. -ē, -ō and -ar are collectively called the guṇas, hence the name.

Examples of the guṇasandhi

Initial word	Final word	Result
mahā	indra	mahēndra
dhana	utpatti	dhanōtpatti
dēva	r̥ṣi	dēvarṣi

Vr̥ddhisandhi

The vr̥ddhisandhi, from Sanskrit vr̥ddhi-, 'growth', takes place when a word final -a is followed by -ē or -ai, -ō or -au, and -ar or -ār, and yields -ai, -au and -ār respectively. -ai, -au and -ār are collectively called the vr̥ddhis, hence the name.

Examples of the vr̥ddhisandhi

Initial word	Final word	Result
vasudha	ēka	vasudhaika
mahā	aikyata	mahaikyata
vīra	ōjassu	vīraujassu
divya	auṣadhamu	divyauṣadhamu

Yaṇādēśasandhi

The yaṇādēśasandhi takes place when word final -i, -u or -r̥ is followed by a non-similar vowel. The sandhi yields either -y-, -v- or -r- respectively. These are known as the yaṇās.

Examples of the yaṇādēśasandhi

Initial word	Final word	Result
ati	āśa	atyāśa
su	āgatamu	svāgatamu
pitr̥	ājña	pitrājña

Native sandhis

These sandhis usually occur when one or both of the words is a native Dravidian word, or is a Sanskrit borrowing that is treated as such (ex. iṣṭamu).

Akārasandhi

This sandhi occurs when a word final -a is followed by any vowel. The word final -a is removed, and the following vowel takes its place.

Examples of akārasandhi

Initial word	Final word	Result
iṅkā	ēṇṭi	iṅkēṇṭi
puṭṭina	illu	puṭṭinillu
amma	aṇṭē	ammaṇṭē
teliyaka	uṇḍenu	teliyakuṇḍenu

Ikārasandhi

This sandhi occurs when a word final -i is followed by any vowel. The word final -i is removed, and the following vowel takes its place.

Examples of ikārasandhi

Initial word	Final word	Result
mari	eppuḍu	mareppuḍu
vāḍi	illu	vāḍillu
ēmi	aṇṭivi	ēmaṇṭivi
ēmi	a(y)inadi	ēma(y)inadi
ēmi	undi	ēmundi

Ukārasandhi

This sandhi occurs when a word final -u is followed by any vowel. The word final -u is removed, and the following vowel takes its place.

Example of ukārasandhi

Initial word	Final word	Result
ceppu	iṅkā	ceppiṅkā
vāḍu	evaḍu	vāḍevaḍu
nīḷlu	unnāyā	nīḷlunnāyā
vāḍu	annāḍu	vāḍannāḍu

Trikasandhi

One of the most complicated of the sandhis, the trikasandhi is of two forms:

1. When a final -ā -ī or -ē is followed by a non-clustured consonant, the vowel is shortened, and the unclustered consonant is geminated.
2. When the word mūḍu (three) is followed by a consonant, the word final -ḍu is eliminated. This triggers the first rule of the trikasandhi, and the now-word-final -ū is shortened, and the following consonant is geminated. When the consonant is l-, sometimes it is geminated to -ḷḷ- instead.

Examples of the trikasandhi

Initial word	Final word	Result
ī	kālamu	ikkālamu
ē	cōṭu	eccōṭu
ā	bhaṅgi	abbaṅgi
mūḍu	lōkamulu	mullōkamulu
mūḍu	kōṭi	mukkōṭi

Āmrēḍitasandhi

This sandhi deals with repeated words, i.e., pairs of same words. This sandhi forms some of the most used irregular-looking words in the language. It has three rules:

1. When a vowel-initial word is repeated, the final vowel of the first word is eliminated.
2. Word final forms of ka (ka, ki, ku, ke, etc.) of the first word are eliminated and the first rule is applied.
3. The andādi words (anduku, iggulu, tumuru, tuniyalu, etc.) when compounded lead to irregular forms.

Examples of the āmrēḍitasandhi

Word	Result
aura	auraura
endun	endendun
appaṭiki	appaṭappaṭiki
ūran	ūrūran
ceduru	cellāceduru
iggulu	iṟṟiggulu

Dviruktaṭakārasandhi

Sometimes regarded as a form of the āmrēḍitasandhi, the dviruktaṭakārasandhi occurs when kaḍādi (kaḍa, naḍuma, madhyāhnamu, bayalu, etc.) words are compounded. A dviruktaṭakāra, a geminated -ṭṭ- forms from this sandhi, hence the name.

Examples of the dviruktaṭakārasandhi

Initial word	Final word	Result
madhyāhnamu	madhyāhnamu	miṭṭamadhyāhnamu
pagalu	pagalu	paṭṭapagalu
naḍuma	iṇṭlō	naṭṭiṇṭlō

Gasaḍadavādēśasandhi

• Trika Sandhi.
• Dugagama Sandhi.
• Saraladesha Sandhi
• Gasadadavadesha Sandhi.
• Rugagama Sandhi.
• Yadagama Sandhi.
• Prathametara Vibhakti Sxandhi.
• Uchadadi sandhi.

Samasam or nominal compounds

Samasam or samasa occurs with various structures, but morphologically speaking they are essentially the same: each noun (or adjective) is in its (weak) stem form, with only the final element receiving case inflection.

Some of the Telugu samasams are:

• Tatpuruṣa Samasam.
  • Prathama tatpurusha samasam
  • Dvitiya tatpurusha samasam
  • Trutiya tatpurusha samasam
  • Chaturthi tatpurusha samasam
  • Panchami tatpurusha samasam
  • Shashti tatpurusha samasam
  • Saptami tatpurusha samasam
  • Nai tatpurusha samasam
• Karmadhāraya Samasam.
  • Viśeshana purwapada karmadharaya samasam
  • Viśeshana uttarapada karmadharaya samasam
  • Viśeshana ubhayapada karmadharaya samasam
  • Upamana purvapada karmadharaya samasam
  • Upamana uttarapada karmadharaya samasam
  • Avadharana purvapada karmadharaya samasam
  • Sambhavana purvapada karmadharaya samasam
• Dvigu Samasam.
• Dvandva Samasam.
• Bahuvrīhi Samasam.
• Amredita Samasam.
• awyaee bhava samasam

Alankaram or ornamentation

Telugu Alankaram is a figure of speech which means ornaments or embellishments which are used to enhance the beauty of the poems. There are two types of Alankarams, 'Shabdalankaram' which primarily focuses on Sound and 'Arthalamkaram' which focuses on meaning. These two alankarams are further broken down in to different categories.[5] shabdalankaras are 6 types where as there are nearly 30 to 40 types in ardhalankaras.

• Shabdalankaram
  • Vruttyanuprasa
  • Chekanuprasa
  • Latanuprasa
  • antyanuprasa
  • Yamakam
  • Mukta pada grastam
• Arthalamkaram
  • Upamanaalankaram
  • Utprekshaalankaram
  • Rupakaalankaram
  • Shleshalankaram
  • Arthantaranyaasam
  • Atishayokti
  • Drushtantam
  • Swabhavokti
  • vyajastu
  • virodhi
  • vishamamu
  • parikaramu
  • branti madala
  • kramalam

Chandassu or Telugu prosody

Metrical poetry in Telugu is called 'Chandassu' or 'Chandas'. ya-maa-taa-raa-ja-bhaa-na-sa-la-gam is called the chandassu chakram. Utpalamala, Champakamala, Mattebha vikreeditham, Sardoola Vikreeditham, Kanda, Aata veladi, Theta geethi, Sragdhara, Bhujangaprayata, etc. are some metrics used in Telugu poetry.

Prakruti and Vikruti

Telugu has many Tatsama words. They are called Prakruti, which are equivalent to Sanskrit words. The equivalent colloquial words are called Vikruti, which means distorted. However, Prakruti is only used as a medium of instruction in educational institutions, offices etc.
For example:

Prakruti	Vikruti
అగ్ని Agni (fire)	అగ్గి Aggi
భోజనం Bhojanam (food)	బోనం Bonam
విద్య Vidya (education)	విద్దె Vidhe, విద్దియ Vidhiya
రాక్షసి Raakshasi (evil)	రక్కసి Rakkasi
శూన్య Shoonya (zero)	సున్న Sunna
దృష్టి Drishti (sight)	దిష్టి Dishti
కనిష్టం Kanishtam (minimum)	కనీసం Kaneesam
అగరవర్తి Agaravarti (inscent, agara+varthi, scent wounded)	అగరవత్తి Agaravatti
విభూతి Vibhoothi (ash)	విభూధి Vibhudhi
చనక Chanaka (chick pea, Chanakya is derived from the same root)	శనగ śanaga
కవచ Kavacha (protective shell)	గవచ Gavacha, గవ్వ Gavva
భిక్షం Bhiksham (alms)	బిచ్చం Bicham
ద్వితీయ Dvitiya (second)	విదియ Vidiya
తృతీయ Trutiya (third)	తదియ Thadhiya
జాగ్రత Jaagrata (alert)	జాగ్రత్త Jaagratta
వామతి Vamati (vomit)	వాంతి Vanthi
స్వంత Swantha (own)	సొంత Sonta
అటవి Atavi (forest)	అడవి Adavi
త్వర Twara (fast)	తొరగా Toraga
రక్తము Rakthamu (blood)	రగతము Ragathamu

See also

• Telugu language
• Telugu literature
• Telugu people
• Telugu development
• Satavahana Dynasty
• Sanskrit grammar
• Sanskrit pronouns and determiners

References

1. Gopavaram, Padmapriya; Subrahmanyam, Korada (2011). "1". A Comparative Study Of Andhrasabdachintamani And Balavyakaranam. Hyderabad: University of Hyderabad.
2. Charles Philip Brown (1857). A grammar of the Telugu language (2 ed.). Christian Knowledge Society's Press.
3. Charles Philip Brown (1857). A grammar of the Telugu language (2 ed.). Christian Knowledge Society's Press. p. 39.
4. A Short Outline of Telugu Phonetics.
5. Gopavaram, Padmapriya; Subrahmanyam, Korada (2011). A Comparative Study Of Andhrasabdachintamani And Balavyakaranam. Hyderabad: University of Hyderabad.