Telugu Facts for you

As Andhra Pradesh celebrates the formation day and the central government gives the status of Classical language to Telugu, here are some facts for you.

• Telugu is one of the fifteen most widely spoken languages in the world.

• Telugu is second largest spoken language in India.

• Including non-native speakers Telugu is the most spoken Dravidian Language

• Though Carnatic music has a profound cultural influence on all of the South Indian States and their respective languages, most of the songs (Kirtanas) are in Telugu language.

• Telugu is one of the four classical languages identified by the Government of India along with Sanskrit, Tamil and Kannada.

• Inscriptions in Telugu date back to 400 BC

• Telugu is mainly spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh and in the neighboring states of Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa,Chhattisgarh, some parts of Jharkhand and the Kharagpur region of West Bengal in India. It is also spoken in Australia,Bahrain, Fiji, Malaysia, Singapore,Mauritius,Ireland,South Africa, the United Arab Emirates,the United States and the United Kingdom where there is a considerable Telugu diaspora.

• Waddar,Chenchu,Savara and Manna-Dora are all closely related to Telugu. Dialects of Telugu are Berad, Dasari, Dommara, Golari, Kamathi, Komtao, Konda-Reddi, Salewari, Telangana, Telugu, Vadaga, Srikakula, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, West Godavari, Rayalseema, Nellore,prakasam Guntur, Vadari and Yanadi (Yenadi).

• In Tamil Nadu the Telugu dialect is classified into Salem, Coimbatore, and Chennai Telugu dialects.It is also widely spoken in Virudhunagar, Tuticorin, Madurai and Thanjavur districts.

• Italian explorer Niccolò Da Conti called it Italian of the east as all native words in Telugu end with a vowel sound.

• "...Among these five languages, the Telinga appears to be most polished, and though confessedly a difficult language, it must be numbered among those which are the most worthy of cultivation; its varierty of inflection being such as to give it a capacity of expressing ideas with high degree of facilty, justness and elegance..." - Rev. W.Carey.

• "...But those who may at first question the utility of so many letters in the Teloogoo, will perhaps relinquish most of their objections, when they find that the variety of sound in this language is greater, and better represented than English..." - A.D Campbell
  

• "Telugu Delayanna Desambu Telugu. Desa Bhashalandu Telugu Lessa." - Sri Krishna Devarayalu

and finally

Telugu also makes it to the UNESCO's list of languages that are on the way to extinction.

The onus is on us to see such a thing never happens.