A PRIMER OF TELUGU CHARACTERS EDWARD C. HILL MANOHAR PUBLICATIONSEditor's Introduction to the Indological Primers Series One of the obstacles Indologists face, especially those trained outside the South Asian subcontinent, is the use of regional scripts in manuscripts, Students of Sanskrit, Pali, and the Prakrits in the North America and Europe are rarely exposed during their formal education in the classical languages to scripts other than Devanagri. Yet, the manuscript catalogs published by libraries of South Asia contain descriptions of significant texts predominantly or exclusively available in scripts other than Devanagri The Indological Primers Series is intended to provide Indofogists with a working knowledge of the various scripts in which classical South Asian texts are recorded. The object is to facilitate self-instuuction in the scripts. Clearly, facility in reading the rich variety of hands recording manuscripts in any single script will require close work with local scholars anc scribes. Each volume in the series is prepared by a scholar for whom the script is native or thoroughly mastered. The characters are presented in handwriting 10 begin acquaintance with variations within a single person's writing style. The primers contain complete charts of all independent vowels, consonants, vowel markers, consonant-vowel combinations, and conjunet consonants, In addition the volumes include passages of text and roman transliteration for testing and perfecting one’s mastery of the characters. James H. Nye University of Chicago LibraryA Primer in Telugu Characters Edward C. Hill % MANOHAR 1991ISBN 81-85425.39.6 © Author First Published 1991 Published by Ajay Kumar Jain ‘Manohar Publications 216 Ansari Road, Daryaganj New Delhi - 110 002 Prinied at Sunil Printers CB-1067, 75/1 Ajay Palace Naraina, New Delhi-110 028Table of Contents Preface Telugu Characters Vowels Consonants Vowel Signs Consonant-Vowel Combinations Variants of Consonant-Vowel Combinations Conjunct Consonants Variants of Conjunct Consonants for k, m, and r Examples Containing Conjunct Consonants Variants of Conjunct Consonants for y, p. and ¥ Anusvara Numerals Easily Confused Pairs Aids for Reading Words Without Conjuncts Words With Conjuncts Passages for Reading Practice Selections from the Bhagavadgita Brahmasitrasaakarabhasyarambhah u 12 4 16 18Preface ‘The following presentation of the Telugu script gives all of the forms which are en- countered in modern printed texts. In addition, many early variant forms found both in printing and in manuscript are aiso illustrated. The information concerning these earli- er variants as well as information on early conventions governing the representation of Sanskrit in Telugu script has been drawn from two sources: Campbell, A.D. A Grammar of the Teloogoo Language. (Madras, 1816) Brown, C.P. A Grammar of the Telugu Language. Second edition. (Madras, 1857), The presentation which follows is organized thematically rather than pedagogicaily. Therefore the best approach for those with no prior exposure to the script is not to read through From start to finish. This would encumber the beginner with details on variants before mastering the basic forms. Instead the following sequence of study is recommended: 1, Learn the shapes of the vowels (p. 1). 2. Learn the shapes of all the consonants in combination with the short vowel a given in the consonant-vowel chart (pp. 2-3). 3. Learn the forms of the consonants x, s, p, v, and m joined with all the vowels as presented in the consonant-vowel chart (pp. 2-3). 4, Study the words without conjuncts on pages 12 and 13 referring to the transliteration and the consonant-vowel chart when necessary. 5. Study the material on conjunct consonants on page 6 learning thoroughly the Secondary forms of the eight consonants illustrated at the bottom of the page. 6. Read through the information on variants of conjunct consonants (p. 7) 7. Study the examples with conjunct consonants (p. 8). 8. Read the information on anusvara (p. 10). 9. Study the words with conjunct consonants (pp. 14-15). 10. Carefully study the reading passages (pp. 16 and 18). 11, Finally read back through the entire presentation from start to finish paying close attention to information on variant forms. Edward C. Hill Dictionary of American Regional English University of Wisconsin Madison, Wisconsin 53706 ivTHE TELUGU CHARACTERS Vowel Characters: azeles ere vox 4% i> &] < ylaust £ he o| biog Consonants:! lke Fen | Hig T Sh ones c Th TS]j TS ih ge OA Tak + eth s Ele =e Skha En asl + Tih Sid gdh agin ag! pT Sh eS TSioh TY Him TSS s Tair g> TPB ial |g a \3 Iz jo jz] if Wa ja |) [se at joj] ise Combinations of all consonants with all vowels: ZS (Sees es ss ele. eis jr} s/s | S[srls lor] sg] es [a [ete a] ale ja jawlarlaylar|a |e |B jart}a wel fae tte fatale] [igi [fe oli ae TL |S | So7] Bo | So | so |gar}sy [dor |Sy [So [ao Sot |gT™ Kise |e |é |S le larla laria |e |B |e jz Tw [ojo d | wS/adr| wy) ag js |B jot a Hs |My Dd) d |W] sl w [orl a | os |B lot] Tie jeje | s fe larly larle |s |B loys [fo far |e /4p fern jesse cy Jd] Cap | op |B [oare oo = |e [oe [et fof [polar|sy jas] ge |e |S [offs bobbbbbohhpheh bb bh kis bk teal PE BELeuehbpb bab bene bh fl FL 1) FL FR) rd OL} ef pf ve 3] lB ro] rm) A 02} Fy to pen nse y eee ee) ee] Be O8 WEG Boe FO ERE BE B08 Oe ae we deve bf OF a! MSCESESEEE REE EEEELS ERE ER SS RAS CCE CPPCC PROP ERT CP PORE apo a Pq bo2SGREAbSASTIS ESSE ESS ba 3 8 84 2349029328398 2084323 al HOD © OBOE S GR ABABAZOVR@ Aah ou Ww)3 0 CoG 0S SER GaGGR Z00RC daha ByS bbb bb eRERARR ERED DS hbHDS bb 53 © Oo BD ee GLYN 334 Zo IVrunlh vw A il a4 ations. Optional Variants of the Consonant-Vowel Com! The consonant-vowe! combinations given in the chart above are used in modern print- ing and writing. Several of the variants that follow will also be found in modern texts but are, for the most part, characteristic of early printed texts and older manuscripts. The most common set of variants occurs when the vowel & 0 is added to a consonant. It’s usual vowel sign ~* as in 5~* ko also appears as” —-, as exemplified in the chart above by As> mo and G3s~ yo. It also appears as —” G-~, for example: ile yl PoP. gre |B | SoF Rae jhe at [ear [ear [ao ro [Ar | st? ar ve [ar | st a so lat [St [ar jar ho [MT fort fot fw In early texts all consonants may be found in combination with the alternative forms of o: —sor —as+. In modern texts the variant forms are usually restricted to mo, yo, and ho, Examples with variant forms of & 0: orteer | ork ghosana asa jhoda ae ste Byard nedanan | ATE S*5S0 | Brddo vodh: ag Sta was sodarah | WIG W660: Tro: boty ar std) |Std am oeté homahThe next set of variants concerns the addition of the vowel 4 7 to consonants. Instead of the usual vowel sign §, as in & ki, the alternate form ® —z is also used. (Compare O25 y7 in the consonant-vowel chart above.) al eat Ee mi [At | Ao ot ft | & we [et [oS oo an ot In modern texts the variant * —+ is confined to the syllable mi, Examples with variant forms of 8 wminah Sos: | ods stdhu Soo a x hirah _ Ss: toi Yet another way to represent the vowel sign 84 7 is to add the sign § or S~ on the line following the consonant, for example, a8 f7, enS or EXS~ yi. These will only be found in older texts There are also variants for the long and short. Telugu e and o in consonant-vowel combinations. When the forms 6 hd and {5-8 hi are compared to 35» ha and 25> hi, it is evident that the indicator of length is the sign © called pollu. Thus in addition to &Y> nd, the variant form ¢) is also found representing the same syllable in older texts. The pollu is also found in the vowel characters and vowel signs of ¢ and o, Seas, Gs ae The same type of length distinction that is found in the Sanskrit pairs a-d, i-7, w-i, is also found in the Telugu language between e-é and 0-0. The vowel characters and vowel signs of the Telugu short e and o are <), > and 23, —~ . Note the absence of the pollu in these forms, The modern convention is to represent Sanskrit e and o by the long Telugu forms as illustrated above in the chart of consonant-vowel combinations. However, the earlier convention (at least until the middle of the 19th century) was to use the short Telugu forms. Thus 8 for ~@ ke and > for —S, pe, and so on, Just as the vowel sign of the Telugu long £5 3 may be either ~*,—> -~, or > —e , so the vowel sign of the short @& o may be either ~* or — S. Thus the following are all rendered as ko when writ- ing Sanskrit) 57, G9, 54, Bs, The symbol E is often found instead of Sn. Instead of g k] as written in the chart above, s is also to be found.6 Conjunct Consonants -- Le Secondary Forms of the Consonants. When compared with Devanagari, the representation of consonant ciusters in Telugu soript is more straightforward as it has only one ligature, § kya, as exemplified carlier. Elsewhere cach consonant usually has a single secondary form which most often bears a close resemblance to its primary form. The secondary forms are written below, or below and to the right of the consonant which precedes them. The vowel is written attached to the first consonant of a cluster though it is read following the subscribed consonant, for example, eS Jha, & rsi, QD tw The following chart gives the secondary forms of those consonants whose primary and secondary forms are exactly alike or whose secondary forms differ from their primary counter parts only by the omission of the sign “, that is, the secondary form of the vow- © a. = 3 ‘tetha| sso dda, ha Le od 0d OH 85 OR OM OB Ce dha % aay ag ta Aso. 2 re | aed ht consonants have secondary forms which do not resemble their primary forms. rra. La = am a ar ye. | Or $ a a va.Variants Involving Conjunct Consonants. Thi dary form of & k Iso be writ . Th een m of 5 k may also be written as, or «,. Thus 8, § or The secondary form of SS m may also be written as J. Thus >) or ay mma. The secondary form of Gr, while usually written as, may also be found as \_ or § in printed texts. Thus the following variants: petcah | HRT Sa | Sax wa: | dye sraveh | Ge Royse 1) es a ales) apes When & r is the first consonant in a cluster the symbol &— may be used instead. In this case it is written on the line following the second consonant, for example: gethint aft ape sad | at rneo wrgo dargantya atte ES Tanto) BSB Sav The somewhat rare combinatica of § r followed by 2D r may be written in any of three ways: carn nirene fafa aanee | ogy dewer nirctih faite: pwoed: | 9G: aVoe: Here note may be taken of the syllable ér7. Whiie normally written ;3, , it is also writtenSome Examples Containing Conjunct Consonants. bhattah ae BQ | tau a OE iccha. eer aw nispanne Aa dy | atmajab OH eda: chadman | SEL WE asanna. Ta | SSA | citar =| fast _ Bo i vallabha. aaa SOW pange | OT DIS dhvani teat ga utka we eh patnt | ach sa parna | ww wg | prati sate es Vidys far oaTy jyotsna = | Sea ay | sattvarh a oh Loo | tatheagam Tay S05 Ltsctonseh | ere | SusFurther Variants Sayolving Conjunct Consonants. When the vowels @?4, Gu, and @ i follow the secondary form of OSD », that is, S, the secondary form of the vowel may be written attached to , instead of being at- tached to the preceding primary form. aya = aS as nye a ag ay nya q ag a When the vowel &5 0, written as ~” —» or ~ s~, follows the secondary form of 055 ys the of the (>> is omitted and only —» is joined to 8. | nye | ar sty ars ay monyul | Sgr carye Bors, doy aangenya. way SAargss | Cay Ss || adhyadhah FES: wOHTBE: ways: I upadhys yay Soa: eases: | eigyov: Note also the analogous phenomenon when @ u follows a subscribed form of & p or S ve that is, Spy or Sys pw, Spe, or SG> vw10 Anusvira Two conventions are currently used to represent a homorganic nasal preceding a stop consonant in Telugu script. The first is to use the symbol O, called sunna, before a stop in a manner entirely analogous to the use of the Devanagari anusvdra (Consult W.D. Whit- ney, Sanskrit Grammar 73.b.) The second is to write out the particular class-nasal. The sunna convention is the older and perhaps still the most common. The class-nasal con- vention is a {9th century innovation owing to immitation of Devanigari texts and now used mainly in scholarly editions. In the reading passages on pages 16 and 18 the sunna convention is used in the Bhagavadgita and the class-nasal in the Brahmasitrasaikara- bhasyam. In the chart below, the roman transliteration, which shows class nasals, does not strict- ly apply to the Telugu script examples in the fourth column which use sunna. The same relationship holds between the Telugu script version of the Bhagavadgita given here and its transliteration, avguli oe ewe woth manganamh aed dogo do0&So | caficalah wat: Weyor worse: poakti afte Seay S08 tambalarn ara SF dosZwo Toarvo mafjirah mez: Soa: A086: candrah rE yr ods): amibu, | are, weany 029 dogdoh aS: See Bot: havieukin arated SmoySe Souo8en ‘The Telugu Numerals. olijels|4 sfe]7 ela] iss5 0 | ae ae wl el etre | acm The numeral for nine written as €— is sometimes also written as —t. The numeral for five written as 3, sometimes appears as Easily Confused Pairs. When reading printed texts each character can be readily distinguished from any other. In manuscript however, even in carefully written styles, the distinguishing characteristics of certain characters may be obscured. The pairs most easily confused involve the conso- nants c-b and ch-bh. The combinations vi and /i are also often indistinguishable.Words Without Conjuncts: AIDS FOR READING okah nama, dha. netic sidu sarhmohah | augadharh nipurah sukumara eka sodagadha qyareasiga POPES TERS 8 & 88: mao er &e 8% HoNTrsSs Esso ArH: KMS 5s Saigr ADAjhetiti Skrtt bhayarh bahih Jota bhimipalah phalakarm pourajanah va mukhaih hpdayarh hasoh ogy] isot himam citah uparodhanarh cetana bicarh yugerh tathapi Vighatah migha, iyaatqe quate Prat eaas 2 Spe 8HB eav0o ware Ber arate: Soo Poad: as dopo Sydowo Ss: wots Sos too AS07650 Bx 29S0 ooo os: arg14 Words With Conjunets: tarkah | ukta durbedha. agni namaskarah janman natyath istam parisphuta partklegah svapnah geiiga, upasthanarn durgarn | gecchati distys ketajiota kanthah pramatta, niscayah utkhata, suveryarh pattrashmofgetain soo bhofijanarn ae Baeso |} upaptavah sage ASRS: durlabha, oer Bory Gpannasattva| = ITAA 8SQST 0, divya far ads kamayisyate amtrerat sdonsgd trayt ait Gor mlecchah mer: Boy: | ragmi fer oY | *vairam | Sy wDg SSD utsargoh sat adys: anznosh art 4Zs0 garhasthyar smeeet TR 50 kathoragertha wernt Sotongy pratostnen | SERS S95%%: paraskrta Rea Dod kgateiyah afta: Rob: uct ksipati ofearatt ae B58 tikena fter 8g jijasa | trarer Bare pratyutpanna we S855 mahotsavoh nee Larw ds:PASSAGES FOR READING PRACTICE Bhagavad gia: Lis OYES HOES SST cswosgjd:, ardor: Totr Bs SAr8seS Sonos. 48s & Sods sso Syydo Hoydsaar, SI GAwdSotisog wrasr ddddowSS | EBgTo WohyHWsarwrds sx-do Sd SrYTo VBIdHBO 54 Fyn SLT. od tro Sorkgy sdrwssdr oi, cooing S* Swog, WISE HESS: . QRS AST: Tivedg, Sogare, Wo wdo oS ysrtag LH SGHoMSe. 433-35 sare Bagdoosr Sew F srdooys SdodS , B8gO STpPLO TE Ad sossrsgS. Bagg SdSSS LOSS Sdowr, B58Z 92 3 yao 08H S 9592. HERS HST HS odo asrrvys sors, obs BradssFio SE.grsQaget doo. 15.1-2 HZ SIT ODGIT™ Sd. Go STovsdgavd, Gowror abig sya odbgo Ba 4 Ssad. 26 F'3go SHRAR TV MOSS PAD Wares s , 6O9, rrer dg dododErad SO QABOHPd mayors.33 34 35 7 Mahabharata 6.23.1-5 (Bhagavadgit& 1.1-5) dharmakgetre kuruksetre samavet@ yuyutsavah mamakah pandavascaiva kimakurvata sanjaya a@rstva tu pandavanikam vyiidham duryodhanastada acaryamupasangamya raja vacanamabravit pasyaitam panduputtranamacarya mahatim caniim vylidham drupadaputrena tava gisyena dhimata atra éira mahesvasa bhinarjunasama yudhi yuyudhano viratasca drupadasca maharathah dhrstaketuscekitanah kaéir@jagea viryav purujitkuntibhojagea éaibyaéca narapungavah Mahabharata 6.26.33-35 (Bhagavadgita 4. 33-35) SreyandravyamayadyajAajjAanayajfiah parantapa sarvan karmakhilam partha jAane parisamapyate tadviddhi pranipatena paripraénena sevaya upadeksyanti te jiianam jfaninastattvadaréinah yajjfatva na punarmohamevam yasyasi pandava yena bhit@nyagegena draksyasyatmanyatho mayi Mahabharata 6.37.1-2 (Bhagavadgita 15.1-2) Urdhvanillamadhahsakhamasvattham prahuravyayan chandamsi yasya parnani yastam veda sa vedavit adhascordhvam prasrtastasya éakh gunapravrddha vigayapravalan adhasca milanyanusamtatani karmanubandhini manusyaloke18 From the Beginning of the Brahmasiitrasatkarabhasya: 9H) 5 % $9 Gy ob MSI OE Lo oA ones do: ETFS ACHE Aeyrd aro SS Sarr eosT aap osmo sary Tid Hdroaddda Warssose: udg8* 2 Pay dyobmtsS siond dogs eva diy Grom Sais dowry Sgupero raya: dagdsgabeo SANZ Aero 3 etch ays! rSs8 Badso ax Bre 3 ShSs YY TGHSTHTHS SSM OT dg he SSS ssi dgans$ar de He sQetgay wy dood: SHHS RPKH ST MSs ds Bsget acho OSS S40: eh st aviary! athe add Qaws: 264 greg a ersare: do FOSS Gagsoy ays 2d S6Q $odo abd, HSwZssagsrwSasvsst Bd 2s C83 ho ob chdarysgh sd 256540) ag¥eyrsr gs 2d Sg S SydgingdgddrreSarsTo Sgpsodyugmadasmatpratyayagocarayorvisayavisayinostamah prakagavadviruddhasvabhavayoritaretarabhavanupapattau siddhayam taddharmanamapi sutaramitaretarabnavanupapattin ityato ‘smatpratyayagocare visayini cidatmake yugmatpratyayagocarasya visayasya taddharmanam cidhyasah tadviparyayena vigayinastaddharni: bhavitum yuktam ca vigaye 'dhyaso mithyeti tathapyanyonyasminnanyonyatmakata@manyonyadharmanécadhyasyetaretara vivekenatyantaviviktayordharmadharminormi thyajiiananimittah satyanrte mithunikrtyahamidammanedamiti naisargiko ‘yan lokavyavaharah @ha ko 'yamadhyaso nameti uchate smrtirupah paratra piirvadrstavabhasah tam kecidanyatranyadnarmadhyasa iti vadanti kecittu yatra yadadhyasastadvivekagrahanibandhano bhrama iti anye tu yatra yadadhyasastasyaiva viparitadharmatvakalpanana- caksata iti sarvathapi tvanyasyanyadharmavabhasatam na vyabhicarati