SAY ABOUT TELUGU LANGUAGE
By Saevbswaba Shabma Peri, Mabbueg ;
The language about which I am going to speak is called Telugu or Tenugu'
or Ändhrabhäsa. (Please see aginst No. 1 in the Supplement.) In the
Republic of India, next to Hindi, Telugu is the mother tongue of the largest
number of people ; and a considerable number of people of other langugages
in south India and Madhya Pradesh understand it fairly well. As a result of
the Movement for Linguistic States in general and as a result of Past Unto
Death by the late Potti Srirämulu in 1952 in particular, the Telugu speaking
people have got a separate administrative state since the 1st of November,
1956. This State is called Andhra Pradesh of which Hyderabad is capital.
Telugu is one of the sweetest languages. The sweetness of the language is
due to its vowel endings, vowel harmony in words, the pleasant euphonic
grouping of syllables and avoidance of harsh combinations of hard conso¬
nants. Henry Morris, Praising Telugu, writes in his simplified Telugu Gram¬
mar : "Telugu is singularly melodious. It is the sweetest and most musical of
all the Dravidian Tongues and It sounds harmonious even on the lips of the
most illiterate. It has justly been called the Italian of the East and though
Tamil may, perhaps, bc a richer language and more wealthy in classical
literature, Telugu confessedly bears the palm for its exquisite melody and
grace." (Andhra Day Souvenir, 1962, Nov. 1, p. 65).
Although Telugu is a very old language, the literature in it, which has
come down to us, is of the recent origin. The first poet in Telugu literature is
called Nannaya or Nannyabhattu who lived in the early part of 11th Century
A.D. (Please see against No. 2 in the Supplement.) He translated the first
three Parvans of the Mahäbhäratam into Telugu. In his translation work
Nannayabhattu showed how splendidly he could combine the Sanskritic
element with dcM Telugu in order to raise the dignity and beauty of the
latter. His Mahäbhäratam proved to be not only the first and foremost but
also the most magnificent work in Telugu literature. But it must be observed
that a mighty composition like Mahäbhäratam could never have dramatical¬
ly appeared on the literary stage all of a sudden.
Some kind of Telugu literatm-e must have flomrished in the pre-Nannaya age.
Nannaya prepared also a grammar for Telugu language in Sanskrit in Äryä
metre. This grammar is called Sabdänuiäsanam or Ändhradabdacintämani.
(Please see against No. 3 in the Supplement.) It contains altogether 8 8-92,
What the Native Grammarians Say About Telugu Language 385
Äryäs. Thus, Nannaya was not only the first poet but also the first
grammarian of Telugu language.
In the beginning of his grammar, Nannaya gives some information about
the origin and development of Telugu language. He states :
"The people, being proud of their native place, their native dress, and
their mother tongue, being attracted by the charm of compositions in their
mother tongue, prefer different poetic works in vernaculars to that in other
languages." (Please see the Äryä against No. 4 in the Supplement.)
This statement by Nannaya clearly shows that the movement for regional
languages was already started at that time. The people might have been fed
up with Sanskrit and Präkrt languages. Mr. Chairman and respected
scholars! you know very well that the 11th Century was the starting point
towards the development of literature in vernaculars in India. Nannaya says
further :
"The first two languages i. e. Sanskrit and Präkrt (with its variations) are
called ädyaprakrti and prakrti respectively. (Here the word ädyaprakrti is
a karmadhäraya compound and it means the first and the basic. Here the
work prakrti means the basic language. Por which ? For Telugu language.)
This i. e. Telugu language is the vikrti i. e. the derivative of both of them.
(You know well that there arc certain words in Telugu which are similar
either to Sanskrit or Präkrt. Such words are called tatsama. Again, there are
certain words in Telugu which have been derived either from Sanskrit or
Präkrt. Such words are called tadbhava. Thus, Sanskrit and Präkrt have
become the basic languages for Telugu.) This language i. e. Telugu follows
both of them separately. (What Nannaya means by this statement is that a
particular word can be derivative either of Sanskrit or any of the Präkrt
languages. But it cannot be derivative of both Sanskrit and Präkrt
simultaneously.) (Please, see the Äryä against No. 5 in the Supplement.)
Prom this statement doubt may arise in our minds that whether Telugu is
mere a product of Sanskrit and Präkrt languages or has it got its original
form also ? In order to remove this doubt Nannaya states further :
"This i. e. Telugu language is of four kinds: (1) Tajjä i. e. derived either
from Sanskrit or Präkrt; (2) Samä i.e. similar either to Sanskrit or
Präkrt; (3) Desyä i. e. pure Telugu (which is neither similar to Sanskrit or
Präkrt nor derived from either of the two) and which is employed by the
speech-community; (4) Grämyä i. e. the language which is not bound by
the rules of classical grammar. It is also called Apabhramia. (Please look at
the Äryä against No. 6 in the Supplement. In this Äryä, the definition of
the Grämyä language was not given by Nannaya because it was already
given in some other Äryä. Please look at the last päda of Äryä against No.
16 in the Supplement.) 26 Or.-Tag 1973
This classification of Telugu language by Nannaya clearly shows the existen¬
ce of pure Telugu employed by speech-community before it has been
influenced by both Sanskrit and Präkrt. This statement also indicates that
Telugu language has already reached its full-pledged state by the time of
Nannaya by making full use of Sanskrit and Präkrt vocabulary.
Ketana, who lived in 1200 A.D., composed a Telugu grammar called
Ändhrabhäsäbhüsananiu in Telugu verse. (Please see against No. 7 & 8 in the
Supplement.) This is the first grammar work for Telugu in Telugu. In his
work, Ketana expresses the views similar to that of Nannaya. He states:
"Sanskrit is the mother of all languages. (Telugu) has received something
from it. It has got something its own. All that combined together is
popular with the name of Telugu."
(Please look at the Telugu verse against No. 9 in the Supplement.)
But unlike Nannaya, Ketana divides Telugu into five kinds adding to the
above mentioned four kinds one more, namely "Atctca Telugu" i. e. pure
Telugu. He states :
"There are five kinds of (telugu) namely (1) Tatsama; (2) Tadbhava; (3)
Atctca Tenugu (i.e. pure Telugu; (4) Deäya (the words employed by
Ändhras living in other countries) ; (5) Grämyä. I shall give details about each of them separately."
(Please see against No. 10 in the Supplement.)
Here Ketana differentiates desya Telugu from Atctca Telugu. According to
him, dedya Telugu is a language spoken by Ändhras living in different
countries. In such a Telugu certain words of the language of a particular
country in which they live are also mixed. He has given a list of such words.
Such words are never employed by Ändhras living always in Telugu country
only. Then according to him Atctca Telugu means a Telugu spoken by
Ändhras living permanently in Andhra Pradesh only. In such a language,
there is no possibility of mixture of words of other languages. But the latter
grammarians and Bälasarasvati (17th Century AD.) in his work Bdlasarsva-
tiyamu, a commentary in Telugu on Ändhradabdacintämani of Nannaya had
neglected the classification of Telugu into five kinds made by Ketana and
followed the classification of Telugu into four kinds i. e. Tatsama, Tadbhava,
DeSya and Grämyä as made by Nannaya. But Appakavi {17th Century
A.D.), one of the commentators on Ändrhaiabdacintämani, keeping in his
mind the classification made by Ketana, divides Z)e.^2/a Telugu into iuddhän-
dhra, i. e. pure Telugu and anyadeiajändhrai. e. Telugu language employed by
Ändhras living in other countries.
After defining Telugu language, Nannayabhättu proceeds to tell us the
number of phonemes it originally contained and the number of phonemes it
received from Sanskrit along with the tatsama words He states :
What the Native Grammarians Say About Telugu Language 387
"The first language i. e. Sanskrit has fifty phonemes. In Präkrt there are
ten less (It means in Präkrt languages there are only forty phonemes). In
this i. e. in Telugu language, they i. e. phonemes are thirty six in number.
Other phonemes also enter (this language) on account of the employment
of (tatsama) words."
(Please look at the Äryä against No. 11 in the Supplement.)
I have given a list of 50 phonemes in Sanskrit against No. 12. The last
phoneme is the cerebral '1' for which I have given the capital letter 'L'.
Underneath this list I have also given a kärikä in support of it. This kärikä
has been cited by Appakavi (17 Century A.D.) in his work called Appakavi-
yamu and attributed to it Vararuci (for details please refer to Appakäviya-
mu, Vävilla Edition, Madras, 1962: p. 52,25). I have given a list of ten
phonemes which are not used in Präkrt against No. 13 in the Supplement.
In support of this list, Appakavi quoted a kärikä from Hemacandra (ibid. p.
55,6.) which I have given against No. 15. I have given a list of original
Telugu phonemes against No. 14. In this list I have given a semi-circle as a
symbol for half-nasal, and the capital 'L' as a symbol for cerebral T. 'tc' and 'dj' have been given as symbols for dental 'e' and dental 'j' respectively.
Thus, originally there were only 36 phonemes in Telugu. Along with the
tatsama words, 19 foreign phonemes have entered Telugu language. Conse¬
quently, we have 55 phonemes in Telugu. Now the Telugu alphabet contains
55 letters. Out of these 55 phonemes, 50 are similar to that of Sanskrit and
the rest of five are peculiar to Telugu. They are: 1. short 'e'; 2. short 'o'; 3.
half-nasal' ('which will be written as a small semicircle; 4. dental 'te'; and
dental 'dj'. The above mentioned statement of Nannaya, the earliest Telugu
grammarian, indicates that Telugu does not belong to the Aryan group of
languages but it has been much influenced by Sanskrit and Präkrt.
Following the foot-steps of the Mähäbhäsya, Nannaya also states:
"The employment of words in dift'erent meanings is established in the
usage of the speech-community (lit. the establishment is to be seen from
the speech-community). The speech-commimity i. e. the usage of the
speech-community is not different and it is permanent. (It means that the
speech-community is a permanent authority for correct usage.) The
purpose of grammar is only to show the correct usage.
The language which is not bound by the rules of classical grammar is called
Grämyä. It is a corrupt language (apabhramia).
(Please look at the Äryä against No. 16).
Kätyäyana, introducing Pänini's Ästädhyäyi, made a similar statement in
his second Värttika:
"The speech-community employs the words in particular meanings. The
purpose of grammar is to show us the correct usage by employing which
one shall attain the highest good."
(Please see the Värttika against No. 17 in the Supplement.) For details,
consult the Vyäkarana Mähäbhäsya of Patanjali ed. by F. Kielhorn, Vol. I.,
Bombay 1892: p. 8,3.
Mr. Chairman and respected scholars! What I have said so far, can be
summarised in the following few lines :
Telugu language, which has got its original form with its peculiar phone¬
mes, has developed and reached its full-pledged state making abundant use
of Sanskrit and Präkrt vocabulary. Although it has derived sufficient
vocabulary from Sanskrit and Präkrt languages, it does not belong to the
Äryan family of languages. The highly polished language employed by
Nannaya in his translation of the Mähäbhäratam indicates that there might
have been at least a few compositions in Telugu before his period. There
might have been also a longer tradition of the correct usage for the purpose
of poetry and academic discussions among the educated people. Nannaya's
statement that the people being proud of their native place, dress, and
language would like to enjoy poetic compositions in their own mother tongue
indicates that there was a wide spread provincial feeling among the people.
There might have been a strong movement for vernaculars throughout
India.
Supplement 1. Telugu or Tenugu or Ändhrabhäsa 2. Nannaya, Nannayabhattu
3. Ändhrasabdacintämani or Sabdänuääsanam
4. svasthänave^abhä^äbhimätäh santo rasapralubdhadhiyah/
loke bahumanyante vaikrtakävyäni cänyad apahäya //
5. ädyaprakrtih prakrtis cädye esä tayor bhaved vikrtih/
kevalatayänusarpaty ubhe ca yeyain yathäyathrn bhä^ä//
6. tajjä samä ca deäyä grämyä ceyarn caturvidhä bhavati/
prakrtidvayajä tajjä tulyä tu samä pravähini desyä//
7. Ketana
8. Ändhrabhä^äbhü^anam
9. talli samskrtambe yellabhä§alakunu dänivalana konta gänabadiye/
genta täna galige nantayu nekamai
tenugu bäsa näga vinutu kekke //
10. tatsamabu näga dadbhavambana nacoa
tenugu näga mariyu desyamanaga/
grämyabhä^a näga galavaidu teragulu vere vere väni vistarintu //
11. ädyäyäh pancääad varnäh prakrtes tu te daäonäh syuh/
§attrirnäad atra te 'nyo cänupravisanti i^abdayogavaäät //
12. aäiiuürflIeaioaurnh(16 vowels), k kh g gh ii c ch j jh fl t th ddh n t th
d dh n p ph b bh m y r 1 V i§ 9 s h L (34 consonants).
dvividhä akah eco 'nusväro visargah sodasa svaräh /
sparää antasthaLo^mänaä catustrirnäad dhalah smrtäh (Vararuci)
What the Native Grammarians Say About Telugu Language 389
13. The above minus rfjlaiauhh^?
14. a ä i i u Ü e e ai o 5 au rn c (half nasal). (14 vowels).
kgctcjdjtdntdnpbmyrlvshL (22 consonants).
15. rlvarriau hrasvadirghav aij ädyäv anunäsikau /
sa^äv ete dasonäh syuh präkrtokisu sarvadä // (Nemacandra) 16. siddhir lokäd dryä loko 'nanyädM'a' ca nitya' ca /
sarnskärärtho niyamo 'niyamäd grämyain hi yat tv apabhrarnsah //
17. lokato 'rthaprayidcte sabdaprayoge sästrena dharmaniyamah /
Von Uleich Sohneidee, Feeibüeg
(0.0.) Ein aufmerksamer Betrachter der indischen Rehgionsgeschichte
wird immer wieder mit Erstaunen feststellen können, wie zäh hier an
Althergebrachtem festgehalten wird, dies aber eigentlich nur in einer recht
äußerlichen - fast könnte man sagen : willkürlichen - Art, die den jeweihgen Erfordernissen des Tages, dem mit der historischen Entwicklung natürlicher¬
weise sich ergebenden Wandel, durchaus Rechnung trägt und damit beides
zu seinem Recht kommen läßt : den Fortschritt und das Beharrungsvermö¬
gen. Das Ganze wird dann Tradition genannt und kann, wenn es attraktiv
genug ist, auch in die Breite wirken, wodurch der zeitlichen Komponente
eine räumliche hinzugefügt wird.
Der Jagannäth-Kult in Puri, welcher z. Z. vom ,, Orissa Projekt" unter¬
sucht wird, bietet ein interessantes Beispiel dafür; es betrifft die Hauptgott¬
heit und ihren Standort.
(1.0.) Puri heißt im Sanskrit Puru.sottama-Ksetra, und Purusottama
steht darin als Bezeichnung für den Jagannäth, eine primitive, den tribalen
Ursprung offen zur Schau tragende Holzfigur, die zusammen mit dem Bruder
Balaräma und der Schwester Subhadrä das heutige Feld beherrscht. Der
Tempel, der sie beherbergt, steht auf dem NUädri, dem (zumindest heute
kaum noch sichtbaren) Berg in Puri, von dem es im PurMäh, II 13-15; III
71-71, heißt, er gehöre der obersten aller Welten (brahmända) an, der Welt
nämhch, die Sesa als einzige auf der mittleren seiner tausend Hauben trage.
Purusottama ist danach ganz wörtlich zu verstehen als der oberste - im
Sinne von: ganz oben befindliche - Purusa.
Purusottama fungiert aber nicht nur als Bezeichnung des Jagannäth,
sondern auch schon als die seines Vorgängers am Ort*, einer wahrscheinlich
vierarmigen, auf einem Lotos stehenden Nllamädhava-Skulptur aus
schwarz-blauem - im Mähätmya zu Saphir (nüendramani) hochstilisiertem -
Pälastein. Behält man das im Auge, dann kann es kaum zweifelhaft bleiben,
daß die historischen Verbindungshnien dieses Purusottama zum Krsna-
Väsudeva-Kult hinführen, wie er etwa in der BhagavadgTtä propagiert wird.
Auch Krsna wird dort Purusottama genannt, und Mädhava ist ohnehin ein
geläufiger Beiname von ihm. Das Textstück, welches in diesem Zusammen¬
hange interessiert, findet sich Bhg XV 16-20 (= Mbh VI 37, 16-20):
* Die ,, Kultverschiebung" behandelt R. Geib. Die Indradyumna-Legende.
[= Freiburger Beiträge zur Indologie VIII; im Druck]
