Telugu script తెలుగు లిపి |
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Type | |
Languages |
Telugu Sanskrit Gondi language |
Time period
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c. 900BCE–present |
Parent systems
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Proto-Sinaitic alphabet[a]
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Sister systems
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Kannada Sinhala Dhives akuru |
Direction | Left-to-right |
ISO 15924 | Telu, 340 |
Unicode alias
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Telugu |
U+0C00–U+0C7F | |
[a] The Semitic origin of the Brahmic scripts is not universally agreed upon.
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Telugu script (Telugu: తెలుగు లిపి, Telugu lipi), an abugida from the Brahmic family of scripts, is used to write the Telugu language, a Dravidian language spoken in the South Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana as well as several other neighbouring states. The Telugu script is also widely used for writing Sanskrit texts and to some extent the Gondi language. It gained prominence during the Vengi Chalukyas era. It shares many similarities with its sibling Kannada script.
The Brahmi script used by Mauryan kings eventually reached the Krishna River delta and would give rise to the Bhattiprolu script found on an urn purported to contain Lord Buddha's relics.Buddhism spread to east Asia from the nearby ports of Ghantasala and Masulipatnam (ancient Maisolos of Ptolemy and Masalia of Periplus). The Bhattiprolu Brahmi script evolved into the Telugu script by 5th century C.E.
The Muslim historian and scholar Al-Biruni referred to both the Telugu language as well as its script as "Andhri".
Telugu uses eighteen vowels, each of which has both an independent form and a diacritic form used with consonants to create syllables. The language makes a distinction between short and long vowels.