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Telugu-Kannada alphabet

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Old kannada Script
Kannada-Telugu script
Copper plates NMND-9.JPG
Copper plate inscriptions in Kannada–Telugu script
Script type
Time period
7th century –14th century[1][2]
Directionleft-to-right Edit this on Wikidata
LanguagesKannada
Telugu
Tulu
Konkani
Sanskrit
Related scripts
Parent systems
Child systems
Kannada script, Telugu script
Sister systems
Pyu
[a] The Semitic origin of the Brahmic scripts is not universally agreed upon.
 This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.
Brahmic scripts
The Brahmic script and its descendants
Northern Brahmic
Southern Brahmic

The Telugu–Kannada alphabet (or Kannada–Telugu script) is a writing system used in southern India. Despite some differences, the scripts used for the Telugu and Kannada languages remain quite similar and highly mutually intelligible.

History[edit]

The Dravidian family comprises about 73 languages including Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and Malayalam. Satavahanas introduced the Brahmi to present-day Telugu and Kannada speaking regions. Bhattiprolu script introduced by the Satavahanas gave rise to the Kadamba script.[5][6][7] During the 5th to 7th centuries CE the early Bādāmi Chālukyās and Early Banavasi Kadambās used an early form of the Kannada script in inscriptions, called the Kadamba script.[8] The Kadamba script evolved into the Telugu-Kannada script, which was used between the 7th and 11th centuries CE.[1]

Kannada became a written language ahead of Telugu. Both Kannada and Telugu produced poetry during the eighth century. Full-fledged literary works in Kannada appeared in the ninth century, two centuries before they became available in Telugu.[9][10][11] The earliest known Telugu inscriptions date to the 6th century CE. Telugu poetry began to appear in the 11th century.[12] Telugu writers waited until the 11th century because of socio-political factors (royal patronage, the influence of Buddhism and Jainism).[13]

Between 1100 CE and 1400 CE the Kannada and Telugu scripts separated from the Telugu-Kannada script. Satavahanas and Chalukyas influenced the similarities between Telugu and Kannada scripts.[14]

Comparison[edit]

Telugu Kannada comparison

The following sections visualize the difference between modern-day Kannada and Telugu styles.

Consonants[edit]

Kannada/Telugu (ISO) IPA Kannada/Telugu (ISO) IPA Kannada/Telugu (ISO) IPA Kannada/Telugu (ISO) IPA Kannada/Telugu (ISO) IPA
ಕ/క (k) /k/ ಖ/ఖ (kh) /kʰ/ ಗ/గ (g) /ɡ/ ಘ/ఘ (gh) /ɡʱ/ ಙ/ఙ (ṅ) /ŋ/
ಚ/చ (c) /tʃ/ ಛ/ఛ (ch) /tʃʰ/ ಜ/జ (j) /dʒ/ ಝ/ఝ (jh) /dʒʱ/ ಞ/ఞ (ñ) /ɲ/
ಟ/ట (ṭ) /ʈ/ ಠ/ఠ (ṭh) /ʈʰ/ ಡ/డ (ḍ) /ɖ/ ಢ/ఢ (ḍh) /ɖʱ/ ಣ/ణ (ṇ) /ɳ/
ತ/త (t) /t/ ಥ/థ (th) /tʰ/ ದ/ద (d) /d/ ಧ/ధ (dh) /dʱ/ ನ/న (n) /n/
ಪ/ప (p) /p/ ಫ/ఫ (ph) /pʰ/ ಬ/బ (b) /b/ ಭ/భ (bh) /bʱ/ ಮ/మ (m) /m/
ಯ/య (y) /j/ ರ/ర (r) /ɾ/ ಲ/ల (l) /l/ ವ/వ (v) /ʋ/ ಳ/ళ (ḷ) /ɭ/
ಶ/శ (ś) /ʃ/ ಷ/ష (ṣ) /ʂ/ ಸ/స (s) /s/ ಹ/హ (h) /h/ ಱ/ఱ (ṟ) /r/

There is another legacy consonant ೞ/ఴ (ḻ) used to represent /ɻ/, but currently not in use.

Vowels[edit]

Independent vowels[edit]

Kannada/Telugu (ISO) IPA Kannada/Telugu (ISO) IPA
ಅ/అ (a) /a/ ಆ/ఆ (ā) /aː/
ಇ/ఇ (i) /i/ ಈ/ఈ (ī) /iː/
ಉ/ఉ (u) /u/ ಊ/ఊ (ū) /uː/
ಋ/ఋ (r̥) /ɾu/ ೠ/ౠ (r̥̄) /ɾuː/
ಌ/ఌ (l̥) /lu/ ೡ/ౡ (l̥̄) /lu:/
ಎ/ఎ (e) /e/ ಏ/ఏ (ē) /eː/
ಒ/ఒ (o) /o/ ಓ/ఓ (ō) /oː/
ಐ/ఐ (ai) /aj/ ಔ/ఔ (au) /aw/

Numerals[edit]

Digit 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Kannada ೦ ೧ ೨ ೩ ೪ ೫ ೬ ೭ ೮ ೯
Telugu ౦ ౧ ౨ ౩ ౪ ౫ ౬ ౭ ౮ ౯

Unicode[edit]

Main articles: Kannada (Unicode block) and Telugu (Unicode block)

Although the alphabets for Kannada and Telugu languages could have been encoded under a single Unicode block with language-specific fonts to differentiate the styles, they were encoded separately by the governments due to socio-political reasons. Both the script variants were added to the Unicode Standard in October, 1991 with the release of version 1.0.

See also[edit]

External links[edit]

Inscriptions in Kannada-Telugu script[edit]

Evolution and Development of Kannada-Telugu script[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Diringer, David (1948). Alphabet a key to the history of mankind. p. 381.
  2. ^ Salomon, Richard (1998). Indian Epigraphy. p. 41.
  3. ^ Handbook of Literacy in Akshara Orthography, R. Malatesha Joshi, Catherine McBride(2019),p.29
  4. ^ Salomon 1999, p. 35
  5. ^ The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Writing Systems by Florian Coulmas, p. 228; Salomon (1998), p. 40.
  6. ^ Handbook of Literacy in Akshara Orthography, R. Malatesha Joshi, Catherine McBride(2019),p.29
  7. ^ Salomon 1999, p. 35
  8. ^ "Epigraphical Studies in India - Sanskrit and Dravidian, Scripts used in India, Scripts Abroad". Retrieved 2013-09-06.
  9. ^ Kumar, R. Krishna (2017-11-25). "Kavirajamarga, a tour with a difference". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  10. ^ "Kavirajamarga", Wikipedia, 2019-01-21, retrieved 2019-01-22
  11. ^ "Aadi Kavi Nannaya's brilliant translation of the Mahabharata". The Hans India. 2014-11-12. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  12. ^ "A sampler of the world's writing systems" (PDF). J. Marshall Unger Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures -The Ohio State University. Retrieved 2013-09-06.
  13. ^ "Origins of Telugu Script". Retrieved 2013-09-03.
  14. ^ "Evolution of Telugu Character Graphs". Retrieved 2013-07-22.
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