Introduction

Telugu is one of the language of the southern Indian states Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and a Union Territory Yanam. It stands third in the number of native speakers in India. Telugu is a Dravidian language which is very expressive and one of the regular languages of the world. Well over 75 million people in the world speak Telugu. Learning Telugu Alphabets is the basic foundation for learning Telugu script.

History

Telugu in olden days was usually known by different names like Telengu, Tenungu, Telings. Telugu is famous mainly for its vowel ending sounds which helped it gain dominance in Karnatic music. Rajeswara Sarma stated about the historicity and content of Kanva’s grammar in Sanskrit. During 16th century in the reign of Vijayanagara Emperor- Sri Krishnadevaraya was considered as the Golden Age of Telugu. Telugu was declared as the official language of the State of Andhra Pradesh by The Andhra Pradesh Official Language Act in 1966.

Alphabets in Telugu

The alphabets in telugu are known as “Varnamala” which are broadly characterized as Acchulu and Hallulu.

Telugu alphabets can be made into sets by considering the shape of them

There are 9 such sets

Set 1 : అ, ఆ,ట, త, ల, ఱ : These depict human face with close observation

Set 2: గ, న, స : These depict letter N of English Alphabets

Set 3: ఇ, ఞ, ణ : These depict the heart symbol

Set 4: అం, ఈ, ఝ, ఠ, య, ర : In all these alphabets we have letter ‘O’

Set 5: ఉ , ఊ, డ, ఢ, థ, ద, ధ : These are similar to spades in playing cards

Set 6: ఎ, ఏ, ఐ, ఘ, ప, ఫ, మ, వ, ష, హ : These depict a squirrel

Set 7: ఒ, ఓ, ఔ, ఙ, చ, ఛ, జ, బ, భ : These depict the number 2 and Neck of the Crane

Set 8: క, క్ష : These are similar to letter S in English Alphabet

Set 9: ఖ, శ, ళ

ఖ- This is formed by combining 2 and 1

శ- This is similar to number 8

ళ- This is similar to symbol of Infinity

The Varnamala can be listed as below:

Varnamala	Hindi Examples	Pronounced as	Phonetic Examples
అ	అమ్మ	a	Up
ఆ	ఆవు	aa	Arm
ఇ	ఇల్లు	i	Is
ఈ	ఈగ	ee	Eat
ఉ	ఉడుత	u	Uber
ఊ	ఊయల	oo	Oops
ఎ	ఎలుక	e	Ate
ఏ	ఏనుగు	ae	Aerobics
ఐ	ఐదు	ai	Ant
ఒ	ఒంటె	o	Open
ఓ	ఓడ	oa	Old
ఔ	ఔషదము	au	Outside
అం	అంబారీ	aM	Number
ఆః	నమః	AH
క	కలము	ka	King
ఖ	ఖడ్గము	kha	Khaki
గ	గద	ga	Gun
ఘ	ఘంట	gha	Ghastly
ఙ		gna
చ	చరఖా	cha	Chair
ఛ	ఛత్రము	chha	Chhatisgarh
జ	జడ	ja	Jam
ఝ	ఝషము	jha	Jhalem
ఞ		ini
ట	టమాట	ta	Take
ఠ	కంఠము	tha	Thane
డ	దమరు	Da	Danger
ఢ	ఢంకా	Dha	Disk
ణ	వీణ	ana
త	తల	ta	Tank
థ	రథము	tha	Thick
ద	దండ	da	The
ధ	ధనుస్సు	dha	Buddha
న	నగ	na	Name
ప	పలక	pa	Parent
ఫ	ఫలము	pha	Fuse
బ	బస్సు	ba	Bank
భ	భవనము	bha	Bhavan
మ	మంచము	ma	Made
య	యంత్రము	ya	Yacht
ర	రవి	ra	Rain
ల	లత	la	Lawyer
వ	వల	va	Vase
శ	శంఖము	sa	Shine
ష	షరాయి	Sa	Share
స	సబ్బు	sha	Sale
హ	హంస	ha	Hat
ళ	తాళము	La	Lamb
క్ష	క్షత్రియుడు	ksha	Rickshaw
ఱ	ఱమ్పము	Ra

Vowels

Out of the 50 letters in the Telugu Varnamala, there are a total of 14 Acchulu(Vowels) in Telugu.

These are the independent alphabets which have vowel sounds like a, u, o. These are produced by comparatively open configuration of the vocal tract, with vibration of the vocal cords but without audible friction

Except for ‘అం’ all other alphabets are produced by free flow of air through the mouth without being blocked by the teeth, tongue and lips

Acchulu	Telugu Examples	Pronounced as	Phonetic Examples
అ	అమ్మ	a	up
ఆ	ఆవు	aa	Arm
ఇ	ఇల్లు	i	Is
ఈ	ఈగ	ee	Eat
ఉ	ఉడుత	u	Uber
ఊ	ఊయల	oo	Oops
ఎ	ఎలుక	e	Ate
ఏ	ఏనుగు	ae	Aerobics
ఐ	ఐదు	ai	Ant
ఒ	ఒంటె	o	Open
ఓ	ఓడ	oa	Old
ఔ	ఔషదము	au	Outside
అం	అంబారీ	aM	Number
ఆః	నమః	AH

Acchulu are basically of four types Hraswamulu, Dheergamulu, Vakramulu, Vakrathamulu

Hraswamulu : These alphabets don’t require any stress to speak

Hraswamulu	Telugu Examples	Pronunced As	Phonetic Examples
అ	అమ్మ	a	Up
ఇ	ఇల్లు	i	Is
ఉ	ఉడుత	u	Uber
ఎ	ఎలుక	e	Ate
ఒ	ఒంటె	o	Open

Dheergamulu: These alphabets require some letters to speak

Dheergamulu	Telugu Examples	Pronounced As	Phonetic Examples
ఆ	ఆవు	aa	Arm
ఈ	ఈగ	ee	Eat
ఊ	ఊయల	oo	Oops
ఏ	ఏనుగు	ae	Aerobics
ఓ	ఓడ	oa	Old

Vakramulu

Vakramulu	Telugu Examples	Pronounced as	Phonetic Examples
ఎ	ఎలుక	e	Ate
ఏ	ఏనుగు	ae	Aerobics
ఒ	ఒంటె	o	Open
ఓ	ఓడ	oa	Old

Vakrathamulu

Vakrathumulu	Telugu Examples	Pronounced as	Phonetic Examples
ఐ	ఐదు	ai	Ant
ఔ	ఔషదము	au	Outside

Consonants

Hallulu, which are Consonants. These are produced by the partial or complete obstruction of the air stream by a constriction of the speech organs.Consonants of Telugu can be listed below

Hallulu	Telugu Examples	Pronounced as	Phonetic Examples
క	కలము	ka	King
ఖ	ఖడ్గము	kha	Khaki
గ	గద	ga	Gun
ఘ	ఘంట	gha	Ghastly
ఙ		gna
చ	చరఖా	cha	Chair
ఛ	ఛత్రము	chha	Chhatisgarh
జ	జడ	ja	Jam
ఝ	ఝషము	jha	Jhalem
ఞ		ini
ట	టమాట	ta	Take
ఠ	కంఠము	tha	Thane
డ	దమరు	Da	Danger
ఢ	ఢంకా	Dha	Disk
ణ	వీణ	ana
త	తల	ta	Tank
థ	రథము	tha	Thick
ద	దండ	da	The
ధ	ధనుస్సు	dha	Buddha
న	నగ	na	Name
ప	పలక	pa	Parent
ఫ	ఫలము	pha	Fuse
బ	బస్సు	ba	Bank
భ	భవనము	bha	Bhavan
మ	మంచము	ma	Made
య	యంత్రము	ya	Yacht
ర	రవి	ra	Rain
ల	లత	la	Lawyer
వ	వల	va	Vase
శ	శంఖము	sa	Shine
ష	షరాయి	Sa	Share
స	సబ్బు	sha	Sale
హ	హంస	ha	Hat
ళ	తాళము	La	Lamb
క్ష	క్షత్రియుడు	ksha	Rickshaw
ఱ	ఱమ్పము	Ra

Merging Vowels and Consonants

When we add the Acchulu to Hallulu we get a new word with a unique sound.

These are the rules to be followed for combinations of Acchulu and Hallulu

ఆ is added to the consonant by adding ా

ఇ is added to the consonant by adding ి

ఈ is added to the consonant by adding ీ

ఉ is added to the consonant by adding ు

ఊ is added to the consonant by adding ూ

ఎ is added to the consonant by adding ె

ఏ is added to the consonant by adding ే

ఐ is added to the consonant by adding ై

ఒ is added to the consonant by adding ొ

ఓ is added to the consonant by adding ో

ఔ is added to the consonant by adding ౌ

అం is added to the consonant by adding ం

ఆః is added to the consonant by adding ః

one example is listed below

Acchulu+Hallulu	Telugu Examples	Pronounced as	Phonetic Examples
క = క+అ	కన్ను	ka	Colour
కా = క+ఆ	కాకి	kaa	Carton
కి = క +ఇ	కింద	ki	King
కీ = క+ఈ	కీలకం	kee	Keep
కు = క+ఉ	కుంబకోణం	ku	Kung Fu
కూ=క+ఊ	క్రూరత్వం	koo	Cool
కె = క+ఎ	కెప్టెన్	ke	Case
కే= క +ఏ	కేరింత	kae	Camera
కై= క +ఐ	కైవసం	kai	Kite
కొ= క+ఒ	కొవొతు	ko	Cold
కో= క+ఓ	కోలాటం	koa	Corporation
కౌ= క+ఔ	కౌగిలి	kow	Cow
కం= క +అం	కంపు	kam	Kangaroo
కః= క+ఆః		kaha

Sample Text

To see how Telugu alphabets are used as building blocks to make complex sentences, please see the following

దయ అనెది ఒక భాష దానిని చెవిటివారు వినగలరు మరియు గుడ్డివారు చూడగలరు

“Kindness is the language that the deaf can hear and the blind can see”

–Mark Twain

Sample Video

Watch this fun video on Telugu alphabets