Is the Telugu language dying? ^ కోరా.కామ్ లో జరిగిన చర్చ
Sreenivas శ్రీనివాసు
Is the Telugu language dying?
Yes, and just go watch any Telugu movie except for historical-styled movies such as Baahubali 1 and 2 to understand it. These movies are littered with English words that pollute the language and make it look undoubtedly unprofessional. I cannot ever understand why they need to use English words for the most basic and easiest of Telugu words to memorize. People use “time” instead of సమయం (Samayam), and “problem” instead of సమస్య (Samasya). It would be fine if they said these words while speaking English, yet they say they are speaking Telugu and yet it is like 60% English and 40% Telugu. It is different to use English words for new technological and scientific discoveries and different just for simple day-to-day life. One is perfectly understandable, while the other is quite concerning (easy to see which is which).
The problem is the lack of a sense of identity and pride for the Telugu-speaking diaspora (not just limited to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh). Just compare Tamil’s huge sense of identity to Telugu’s non-existent identity. For example, when I go to a Wikipedia page, in the list of languages, I generally always find Tamil. They are really ahead of the game compared to Telugu as they have successfully built up a strong online presence for their language. I have to admit, I wish that Telugu had this identity too. We just say Telugu is the greatest language on Earth yet we never treat or speak it that way. You can tell non-Telugu people that Telugu is so beautiful, yet even if all they know is English, they will easily understand so many of the post-2000’s movies released in Telugu. Speaking English is basically seen as a necessary way to stay relevant and cool in today’s youth.
Yes, I know we could complain all day long that people are destroying Telugu, yet it is completely worthless unless we do something about it. If I, you, or anybody doesn’t make a difference by speaking Telugu with as little as English words as possible, there is no point. Changes are done through action, and not by saying that we need to save Telugu. Why wait until it appears on an “Endangered Languages” list? Do we really just want the language to slowly fade away into history books?
P.S.- Please do not get me wrong. I am not saying English is a bad language. In fact, I like it very much. I’m just saying that there is no point of speaking Telugu when the vocabulary really is just English. It just makes it look like some SOV (Order of Sentence) English dialect with a strong accent.
Telugu is not dying. Just like it was influenced heavily by Prakrit and Sanskrit in ancient times, Telugu is getting influenced hugely by English.
Having said that, the Telugu transcript is dying a slow death. The mindless devotion with which the schools in Telugu speaking states are killing learning of Telugu language, it is causing a lot of harm. If you have not already observed, the effect of this is already visible everywhere. The majority of the graduating Telugu students do not have proficiency in any language. This is due to the neglect shown towards mother tongue which is a gateway to other languages.
The number of people who can read and understand Telugu is already at alarmingly low levels. We can easily understand this from the following
1. The death of print media due to lack of readership. There are only two major Telugu newspapers Eenadu and Andhra Jyothy. The rest are in a sorry state of running with no proper staff or research. That's just newspapers. When it comes to magazines we are a joke. There is only one magazine that is profitable, which is Swathi. It is profitable due to a totally different reason. Compare this situation to earlier times where there used to iconic newspapers and magazines like Andhra Patrika, Andhra Prabha, Chandamama and all. The Telugu editions of Chandamama and India Today were closed a few years back due to lack of readership.
2. The Telugu cinema. Telugu cinema continues to enjoy huge popularity. Because watching the current crop of Telugu movies does not need any expertise in Telugu language. The movie makers also ensure that most of the movies do not have too much Telugu.
3. People who cannot express themselves. When I speak with the generations coming out of colleges, I feel sorry that they cannot express themselves properly using a proper sentence in English or Telugu.
4. Literature. Telugu literature in the last few decades is stuck in two plots. Children who grew up and did not take care of parents. Parents who are busy and not taking care of children. Beyond this genre, it is extremely hard to find any literary work.
5. The Telugu transcript. It might not happen in the next decade or two, but our generation will see it. Due to lack of people who understand Telugu transcript, Telugu newspapers, magazines and books start to publish in English transcript. What does it mean? It is Telugu written using English alphabets.
If we Telugu people have the interest and would like to save our mother tongue. There is still hope. Encourage your children to take up Telugu in their school years. Speak with them in Telugu. Enjoy Telugu rhymes, samethalu, padyalu, stories and movies with them. Get your children to watch classic Telugu movies like Maya Bazaar, Narthanasala, Pathala Bhairavi, Missamma, Gundamma Katha, Jandhyala movies, etc. Cash-rich Telugu associations abroad can conduct competitions to bring out Telugu literature in genres that were not touched before. How about something like next Game of Thrones fantasy franchise coming in Telugu.
Yes,I often feel distraught for the same.
Telugu people are a Dravidian Ethnic group that natively speak Telugu. The majority of the Telugu's resides in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana . The Telugu language is the most spoken language in the south India and it is the third most spoken language in India and the fourth most spoken language in Indian subcontinent following hindi,Bengali and Punjabi.
As far as the statistics for the Telugu speaking people were good, I wonder how many people really speak only Telugu? Any guesses.!! Its hardly less than 20% out of total telugu people.So,Why this situation arises even we born in a Telugu ethnic origin?
I also wondered that most of the telugu speaking people contempting the divinity of the language by mixing English language in between(i.e., Tenglish viz., Telugu+English). This form of code switching is commonly seen in urban and suburban areas. But, nowadays , this is slowly spreading into rural and remote areas through television and word of mouth.
For example,Instead of saying “santhosham” for “Happy” ,most of the people say “chala happy” which literally means “a lot of happiness”.
Similarly, for saying “Dhanyavadamulu” which means “Thank you”, Most of the people say “ chala thanks” which literally means “a lot of thanks”.
Meanwhile, let me share my interaction with a great old man (who was a reputed Telugu pandit) about ruination of Telugu language.He said,”I felt disheartened to see the misusage of Telugu language”.He continued his speech saying that now most of the schools are removing the telugu medium and replaced every subject by English medium which obliquely ruins telugu literature.He dejected by sharing his experience in teaching that even a 10th class student was not even aware of importance of Sandhulu and Samasalu which are key strengths for the formation of Telugu language.
After having a dejected conversation with such a great person,I worried that if this is the case with our current generation,what will happen to the Telugu literature with our future generations.If that is the case to happen,our Telugu literature might go in vain!
P.S:Apologies for any sort mistakes in my writing.Kindly correct me if I am wrong!
Thank you! :)
Yes.
Seeing the question, I guess many Telugus out there might have thought “Okka line aina telugu lo mataldutaanu”. But that sentence has English word “line” in it. Only after a bit of shaking the rusted corners of our brain, we get the word “vaakyamu”.
For example, if someone asks what is your daily routine. Your typical reply would be this:
Morning seven ki lestanu
Brush Chesukuntanu
Tiffin tintanu
Carriage pettukuni College/Office ki veltanu
Madhyanam lunch chestanu
etc
It feels very natural for us to integrate English into the most simple sentences too. In case someone uses Telugu where we generally use English, for example “bhojanam chestanu”, instead of “lunch chestanu”, it sounds really awkward. This usage of English in every nook and corner of the communication led us to ridicule simple translations in Hollywood dubbed movies. We tend to find them funny because nobody talks like that.
I can only see this attitude strengthening everyday thanks to the glorious influence of movies. Rarely are we finding now a days a song with pure Telugu words in it. Poetry, songs and other forms literature and art are facing a continuous onslaught by western language and culture because of our terrible apathy and lack of gratitude towards our mother tongue and mother land. We can respect all languages and cultures, but we shouldn’t be a fool and replace ours.
I just pity those people who earn big, have all the facilities to enjoy, but can’t even taste the sweet bliss of their own mother tongue.
ఆంధ్రత్వం ఆంధ్రభాశాస్చ న అల్పస్య తపః ఫలం
“The language and culture of Andhras cannot be mastered by exercising austerities”
-Appayya Dikshitar, a famous 16th century Sanskrit scholar from Tamil Nadu
We can go on debating the greatness of Telugu quoting various eminent people and world historians. We can’t hold ourselves from erupting in raptures looking at the grandeur of its structure, its various alankaras, samasas, its trademark chandas and the number of games and cultural activities it gave birth to just from the versatility of the language. But it is all in vain until we can even speak simple words and sentences in Telugu.
So, can we prevent our Telugu from dying? May be.
If we can consciously speak at least our daily simple exchanges in Telugu, it will be our first step towards saving our language. And remember, our whole culture is built around our language. Try to perceive the subtle changes in the way you perceive beauty after starting to speak in unpolluted Telugu, and believe me, you will realize that you are a poet at heart, which you inherited from our forefathers.
YES….
Right now telugu is in its most simplified form in today’s youth.
Most people talk tenglish(telugu+english ) that sounds ridiculous,stupid and annoying at the same time
I don’t know why it is so hard to speak two different languages individually.
I don't think Telugu is dying. As Telugu is rich in literature, it will live on permanently on this earth. And for its sweetness, its fame won't fade off.
It's just us who may stop speaking Telugu. With the advent of globalisation, English is creating a threat to all languages. Not specifically to Telugu. And some think that speaking English puts them among class in a society. So they don't speak Telugu.
And also there is a reason for English to enter into daily life Telugu. All the R&D is carrying in English and hence new words for new patents are in English. I feel here, we need to coin new words for them in Telugu and to avoid English usage.
And from the school education itself, teaching medium is English and gradually role of Telugu is also reducing. Thereby not knowing the greatness of Telugu. Then how Telugu language will grow. Any language's greatness can be understood by its rich vocabulary, ease of telling the complex expressions and most importantly literature. Telugu has all these. In late 20th and 21st centuries, writers become quite less in Telugu.
And coming to media, it plays a crucial role in influencing people. None of our media (also Tollywood) shows the programs depicting the greatness of our rulers, writers and telugu language. Movies also got fully commercialised. Most of our actors can't read, write telugu. None one has diction skills like SVR, NTR Sr. etc. Movies on telugu also should come and we Telugu people should receive them with warmth as well.
Our history says we are the first ones who wanted to be uniquely identified as per our language,Telugus (not Madrasi). This had happened before independence but with foresight we postponed our movements for the sake of independence.
Later we achieved our Telugu land. We united on that day on the basis of language. Telugu language has that power to bind us all.
Here I want to say, everyone must know the importance of language. Everyone must know greatness of language. Everyone must know it's history. And everyone must know it is not just a language….. it's our way of life …its our way of expression…. it is our pride…..it is our own identity.
I dont think Telugu is dying but certainly its beauty is getting lost. It may even survive the next hundred years but it may not be in the present form. Lots of telugu alphabets may go extinct(yes, like dinosaurs and many other ancient species), but some other new form may take over which could sound 90% like english, but with a much worse english. People think that by using English words while conversing in Telugu, they are showing off their skill in English and feel as if they are great and modern. But the fact is “NO”. Using pure Telugu is not at all a tough task as Telugu has a vast collection of words which represent almost every English word out there. The problem is that people get used to this Telugu-English mix and dont feel anything, but their kids get worse. It is upto the schools to teach proper Telugu instead of banning it in the name of English or other language. It is a scientific fact that children learn more when they learn more than 1 language. So why not treat Telugu and English(and if possible Hindi as a third language) on equal terms? It will definitely not be a burden on kids.
Yes Telugu is dying due to the commercialisation and rapid development of both states in terms of education and industry sector. Telugu people are feeling shy to represent their mother tongue and instead pretending English as their primary language especially in cities and towns.
We should learn from Tamils how they are protecting their identity and culture in every means. Even in cinemas there are tax exemptions for movies with tamil names.
Should promote the following in order to retain cultural identity
- Libraries with more books on telugu culture and promote them with cultural ambassadors like movie actors, writers and lyricists etc
- Make commercial movies about telugu glory
- Add more stories and chapters in telugu course curriculum
I don’t say it is dying as there is scope to inject some fresh life into it. It is true that an overwhelming majority of the current generation Telugus speak English mixed Telugu. Their Telugu vocabulary is woefully low. Grammar, spelling and usage errors abound even in the newspapers and in the writings of some writers and poets.
I wish something happens and Telugu is saved.
-Vasu-
Thanks for asking this question, yes sadly it is, if we compare the Telugu that our great grandfathers spoke in 1800s to ours today it will sound like another language to you, our language evolved to it’s simplest form. Today we can see in Cities like Hyderabad, people while talking English mix in 25 percent English, film heros, heroines speak English, Even in TV we see everyone speaking English, people think that speaking English is cool and you will look educated. Everyone is sending thier kids to English Medium School, after 30 -40 years, they will remove Telugu school, I was born in Warangal and grew up their till 15 i.e 10 th class now I forgot how to write Telugu, because, in school out of 10 periods, 1 period is dedicated to Telugu, do you think that is enough ?? Ads, flyers are now in English. If you walk on a road you will see more English than Telugu writing wise. Think about it like this if everyone learns to speak English and they are fluent in it and it is the cool thing to do, why wouldn’t they do it? What is the best thing to do you ask? Make schools Telugu Medium and promote telugu.
Obviously, I Say Yes….