Telugu, as a Dravidian language, descends from
Proto-Dravidian, a
proto-language.
Linguistic reconstruction suggests that Proto-Dravidian was spoken around the fourth millennium BCE.
Comparative linguistics confirms that Telugu belongs to the South Dravidian-II (also called South-Central Dravidian) sub-group, which also includes the non-literary languages like
Gondi,
Kuvi,
Koya,
Pengo,
Konda and Manda. Proto-Telugu is the reconstructed linguistic ancestor of all the dialects and registers of Telugu. Russian linguist Mikhail S. Andronov, places the split of Telugu at 1000 BCE. The linguistic history of Telugu is periodised as follows: • Pre-historic Telugu ( 600 BCE–200 BCE) • Old Telugu (200 BCE–1000 CE) • Middle Telugu (1000 CE–1600 CE) • Modern Telugu (1600 CE–present)
Pre-historic Telugu (c. 600 BCE – 200 BCE) Pre-historic Telugu is identified with the period around 600 BCE or even earlier. Pre-historic Telugu is considered one of the most conservative languages of the Dravidian family based on its linguistic features. • Plural Markers: One notable feature is the presence of contrast in plural markers, such as
-r,
-ḷ and
-nkkVḷ (a combination of
-nkk and
-Vḷ), which was lost in the earliest forms of many other Dravidian languages. Examples include
pū-ḷ (flowers),
ā-ḷ (cows), distinct from
kolan-kuḷ (tanks), and
ī-gaḷ (houseflies). By the time of early writings, -kVḷ marker underwent back-stem formation with the root words, losing its status as a distinct plural marker, eg. mrā̃-kulu ( Modern māku). Other examples include goḍugu, ciluka, eluka, īga. • Nominative Markers: The nominative markers were
-nḏu (masc.sg.p1) and
-aṁbu (inanimate.sg), which continued to appear in early inscriptions. • Phonemic Retention: The early language displayed high phonemic retention, with characteristic phonemes like the
voiced retroflex approximant (
ḻ or /ɻ/) and the
voiced alveolar plosive (
ḏ or /d/), which evolved into the
alveolar trill (
ṟ or /r/) in different positions. Both /d/ and /r/ are evidenced as distinct phonemes in early epigraphic records. • Tenses: Tenses were structured as "past vs non-past," and gender was categorized as "masculine vs non-masculine." • Demonstratives: Three demonstratives were in use:
ā (distant 'that'),
ī (proximate 'this'), and
ū (intermediate 'yonder'; in Classical Telugu,
ulla). • Non-Palatalized Initials: Non-palatalized initials are identified in words like
kēsiri ("they did"), found in inscriptions up until the 8th century CE. • Word Endings: Words typically ended in vowels, though some had consonant endings with
sonorants like
-y,
-r,
-m,
-n,
-l,
-ḷ,
-ḻ, and
-w. Classical Telugu developed an
epenthetic -u that vowelized the final consonant, a feature that has been partly retained in Modern Telugu. • Place Name Suffixes: Archaic place name suffixes include
-puḻōl,
-ūr,
-paḷḷiya,
-pāḷiyam,
-paṟṟu,
-konḏa,
-pūṇḍi,
-paṭṭaṇa(ṁbu),
pāḻu,
paṟiti, and
pāka(m). • Conjunctive Marker: The conjunctive marker
-um had various structural applications.
Earliest records One of the earliest Telugu words,
nāgabu, found at the
Amaravati Stupa, is dated to around 200 BCE. This word was further analyzed by
Iravatham Mahadevan in his attempts to decipher the
Indus script. Several Telugu words, primarily personal and place names, were identified at
Amaravati,
Nagarjunakonda,
Krishna river basin,
Ballari,
Eluru,
Ongole and
Nellore between 200 BCE and 500 CE. The
Ghantasala Brahmin inscription and the pillar inscription of Vijaya Satakarni at Vijayapuri,
Nagarjunakonda, and other locations date to the first century CE. Additionally, the
Tummalagudem inscription of the
Vishnukundinas dates to the 5th century CE. A number of Telugu words were found in the
Sanskrit and
Prakrit inscriptions of the
Satavahana dynasty,
Vishnukundina dynasty, and
Andhra Ikshvakus. and
Tamil languages.
Post-Ikshvaku period The period from the 4th century CE to 1022 CE marks the second phase of Telugu history, following the
Andhra Ikshvaku period. The first long inscription entirely in Telugu, dated to 575 CE, is attributed to the
Renati Choda king Dhanunjaya and found in the
Kadapa district. An early Telugu label inscription, "tolacuvānḍru" (తొలచువాండ్రు; ), is found on one of the rock-cut caves around the
Keesaragutta temple, 35 kilometers from
Hyderabad. This inscription is dated to the
Vishnukundina period of around 400 CE and is the earliest known short Telugu inscription from the Telangana region. From the 6th century onwards, complete Telugu inscriptions began to appear in districts neighbouring Kadapa such as Prakasam and
Palnadu. The Madras Museum plates of Balliya Choda dated to the mid-ninth century CE, are the earliest copper plate grants in the Telugu language. During this period, Telugu was heavily influenced by Sanskrit and Prakrit, corresponding to the advent of Telugu literature. Initially, Telugu literature appeared in inscriptions and poetry in the courts of rulers, and later in written works, such as
Nannayya's
Andhra Mahabharatam (1022 CE).
Middle Ages The third phase is marked by further stylisation and sophistication of the literary languages. During this period the split of the
Telugu from the
Telugu-Kannada alphabet took place.
Vijayanagara Empire The
Vijayanagara Empire gained dominance from 1336 to the late 17th century, reaching its peak during the rule of
Krishnadevaraya in the 16th century, when Telugu literature experienced what is considered its
Golden Age. a saying that has been widely repeated.
Delhi Sultanate, Qutb Shahi, and Nizam era A distinct dialect developed in present-day
Hyderabad region, due to
Persian and
Arabic influence. This influence began with the establishment of the
Delhi Sultanate rule by the
Tughlaq dynasty in the northern Deccan Plateau during the 14th century. In the latter half of the 17th century, the
Mughal Empire extended further south, culminating in the establishment of the
Hyderabad State by the dynasty of the
Nizam of Hyderabad in 1724. This heralded an era of
Persian influence on the Telugu language, especially Hyderabad State. The effect is also evident in the prose of the early 19th century, as in the
kaifiyats. Since the 1930s, what was considered an "elite" literary form of the Telugu language has now spread to the common people with the introduction of
mass media like movies, television, radio and newspapers. This form of the language is also taught in schools and colleges as a standard.
Post-independence period Telugu is one of the 22
languages with official status in India. The Andhra Pradesh Official Language Act, 1966, declares Telugu the official language of the state that is currently divided into Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It also has official language status in the
Yanam district of the
union territory of
Puducherry. It is the fourth most spoken Indian language in India after
Hindi,
Bengali and
Marathi. It is one of the six
classical languages of India.
Telugu Language Day is celebrated every year on 29 August, the birthday of Telugu poet
Gidugu Venkata Ramamurthy. The fourth
World Telugu Conference was organised in
Tirupati in the last week of December 2012. Issues related to
Telugu language policy were deliberated at length. The American Community Survey has said that data for 2016 which were released in September 2017 showed Telugu is the third most widely spoken Indian language in the US. Hindi tops the list followed by Gujarati, as of the
2010 census. In the Indian subcontinent, a command over the Telugu language, alongside
Sanskrit,
Tamil,
Meitei,
Oriya,
Persian, or
Arabic, is highly appreciated and respected for learning dances (most significantly
Indian Classical Dances) as dancers could have the tools of these languages to go into the primary material texts. == Geographic distribution ==