Alphabet
The Telugu alphabet consist of 60 symbols - 16 vowels, 3 vowel modifiers, and 41 consonants. Sanskrit and Telugu alphabets are similar and exhibit one-one correspondence. Telugu has complete set of letters which follows scientific system to express sounds. Some of them are introduced to express fine shades of difference in sounds.
Telugu has full-zero (anusvāra) ( ం ), half-zero (arthanusvāra or candrabindu) (ఁ) and visarga to convey various shades of nasal sounds. la and La, ra and Ra are differentiated.
Telugu has .CH and .JH which are not represented in Sanskrit, and S, SH, and KSH which are not found in Tamil.
Telugu script can reproduce the full range of Sanskrit phonetics without losing any of the text's originality. Telugu has made its letters expressive of all the sounds and hence it has to deal with significant borrowings from Sanskrit, Tamil and Hindustani.
| Consonants - hallulu (హల్లులు) |
|---|
Telugu Gunintalu ' క కా కి కీ కు కూ కృ కౄ కె కే కై కొ కో కౌ క్ కం కః
ఖ ఖా ఖి ఖీ ఖు ఖూ ఖృ ఖౄ ఖె ఖే ఖై ఖొ ఖో ఖౌ ఖ్ ఖం ఖః
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Famous quotes containing the word alphabet:
“I believe the alphabet is no longer considered an essential piece of equipment for traveling through life. In my day it was the keystone to knowledge. You learned the alphabet as you learned to count to ten, as you learned “Now I lay me” and the Lord’s Prayer and your father’s and mother’s name and address and telephone number, all in case you were lost.”
—Eudora Welty (b. 1909)
“Roger Thornhill: You’re police, aren’t you. Or is it FBI?
Professor: FBI, CIA, O–I—we’re all in the same alphabet soup.”
—Ernest Lehman (b.1920)
“I wonder, Mr. Bone man, what you’re thinking
of your fury now, gone sour as a sinking whale,
crawling up the alphabet on her own bones.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)