The C.P. Brown Academy offers a series of books and audios you can use to get familiar with the sound of Telugu.
TELUGU VOCABULARY
Language, in a sense, is “man’s culminating cultural instrument.” It is a social institution. It is an expression of human spirit. Every language has its own set of vocabulary. And every word has its own sound. Indeed, words are more than sounds-they emote bhava in the listener. For poets, words are vennelalo adukone andamaina adapillalu– “beauteous belles playing about under the moonlight.”
VAKYANIRMANAM
“Words, by themselves, may mean very little. It is only when they are in a particular order, they emote bhava – feeling. In order to transform the words from a mere sabda to bhava, one needs to arrange them in a particular order. It is this arrangement of words in the required order that is called a vakya, sentence.”
TELUGULO MATLADUKUNDAM
This is the fourth module in the series that is being brought out by CP Brown Academy to facilitate self-learning of Telugu – reading and writing – through Roman script. The first module in the series, Varnamala, taught how to identify and write Telugu alphabet. The second module, Sabdamala, was about Telugu words. In the third module, Vakyanirmanamu, framing of sentences using the learnt words was discussed. Now, we are confronted with the most difficult challenge – that of the practice of talking in Telugu. So, let us practice it, for nothing can ever be learned except by practice.
SUMATI ŚATAKAMU
“For the English, after all, the best literature is the English,” said Walter Bagehot. And the reasons are obvious: the language is easy to understand, manners and mannerisms are familiar, the associations depicted are akin to one’s own, and above all one is quite at home with the scenes. The net result is: delight in reading. An extension of this analogy would mean: for the Telugu, after all, the best literature is the Telugu.
VEMANA ŚATAKAMU
Vemana is one of the most popular and beloved poets in Telugu language. His intellect, simplicity and naturalness of expression, and originality render him special to all the Telugus, rich or poor, literate or illiterate. There is controversy over when and where Vemana lived.
After a lot of research and debate, scholars established that he was born in a farmer’s family and lived in the 17th century-probably born in 1652-and passed away in the early decades of the 18th century, as suggested by the British civil servant and Telugu literary savant, C.P. Brown. He did not disclose his family name. Worshipper of Siva, he must be a jangam (a member of the sudra sect, usually Saivaite, but also largely dissenter of the traditional religion). Many of the poems were supposed to be composed in the latter half of the 17th century. Based on the dialect and idiom used in the verses, it is suggested that Vemana belonged to Gandikota in Kandavolu (present Kurnool) district or Kondavedu in Cuddapah (Kadapa) district in the Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh.
SAMETALU
Adages, aphorisms, maxims and proverbs are short pithy catchy utterances. Alexander Pope’s poetic witticisms, La Rochefocauld’s Maxims are different kinds of sayings. But they are all stylistically crisp and eminently thought provoking.
Proverbs are unique in that they open windows on the culture of a speech community. Regional variations apart, they are understood and appreciated in the larger language community. The sayings are witty, telling and appropriate to the context in conversation or an informal written discourse. These are products of observation and analysis with incisive insights into human nature. And then they are unique to the culture from which they come.