1.1 Telugu Vowels తెలుగు అచ్చులు

Unlike other South Asian languages, Telugu characters are round in shape. If you know how to draw circles, loops, and check marks, it’s easier to learn Telugu script! For instance, the letter ర “ra” is a circle with a check mark on its head. In Telugu script practice, we put high emphasis on making each character look well-rounded in shape, and that shape itself makes it beautiful. I encourage students to begin with the circle and then use other marks. For instance, ర: draw the circle first and then the check mark.

We begin with vowel sounds first. Initially, we emphasize alphabetical order in learning the script.

In Telugu, we have 12 vowel symbols, 3 Sanskrit loan vowel symbols, 23 consonant symbols, and 10 aspirated consonants.

Vowel Sounds

Short and long vowel sounds are important. For instance: అ “a” and ఆ “aa”, ఇ “i” and ఈ “ii”.

Listening Activity 1: Vowel Sounds

Speaking Activity

Please record your voice with the above vowel sounds.

Writing Activity 1

Please write these letters in order:

ఈ, ఏ, ఊ, అ, ఇ, ఒ, ఔ, ఓ, ఎ, ఆ, ఐ.

Writing Activity 2

Practice writing the letters below.

Matching Activity

Vocabulary Practice

Listening Activity 2: Vocabulary

Please listen to this audio for the above words.

Sanskrit Loan Vowel Symbols

• ఋ
  • ఋతువు “Rutuvu” (season)
  • ఋజువు “rujuvu” (proof)
• ఌ “lu”
  • In modern Telugu, this usage is not available, instead, we write a consonant and the use the secondary symbol of u. (We will learn these secondary symbols in part 3.)
• అం
• అః “aha”
  • దుఃఖం “duhkham” (sorrow)