Real Telugu?
Introduction:
Few more examples (sentences):
Here is the core issue. Notice and compare sentences #1 with #3, the replacement of “పొద్దున” with “ఎర్లీ” in this instance. But the “పొద్దు” has at least 10 more related words like పొద్దుతిరుగుడు పువ్వు, పొద్దుపోయినది, పొద్దు గూకులు , అప్పుడు (ఆ+పొద్దు.) (See Telugu Dictionary). Although, the simple replacement does not seem to do much harm, in the long run, you are denying yourself and your children vocabulary of 10 more related words. When we use “early” we don’t usually use the rest of related English vocabulary like “earlier” and “earliest”. The word “early” itself has other subtle meanings that we don’t learn and use. Essentially, in the end, we have denied vocabulary of Telugu to ourselves and did not grasp English either. It’s a Lose-Lose situation.
Modern Telugu movie names like Idiot, Kick, Hero No. 1, Nenu Local, Winner, Rogue, Mister, Fashion Designer s/o Ladies Tailor, Lover Boy indicate the trend.
Conclusion:
Using an English word or other language word when a suitable word in available in Telugu does great harm to Telugu. The more we change the structure of language and replace a valid Telugu word with words from other language, we risk alienating existing “easy Telugu” into something that is hard and confusing.
Since, I started with Potana, let me conclude with that. He writes, in opening stanzas of Bhagavatam (Chapter 1, Verse 20),
So, why is it difficult to follow Potana’s language? We have already alienated ourselves enough from the easy language and need a conscious effort to re-learn.
After reading my earlier note, “Potana - A learning tool”, I received a question, if Potana’s (1450 - 1510) verses in Bhagavatam were written in “pure Telugu”. I think, the question came up because it seems difficult to understand those verses, even for a native Telugu speaker. This is a response on a broader issue and only slightly related to the question above.
The audience for this article is someone who has some level of spoken and reading skill in the Telugu.
Real Telugu?
Telugu has taken various spoken and written forms.Language is something that is understood when spoken and Script is a writing system. Let’s start with an example. Let’s see how similar words are represented across languages and writing systems. They have some what similar meaning.
Real Telugu?
Telugu has taken various spoken and written forms.
- పొద్దున - Telugu word written in Telugu script.
- प्रातःकाल - Sanskrit word written in Devanagari script
- Early morning - English words written in Latin based script (“English”)
- ప్రాతఃకాలం - Telugu word with Sanskrit Origin in Telugu script
- poduna - Telugu word written in Latin based script (“English”). This process is called non-standard / human Trans-literation (See #6) Trans-literation is different from Translation.
- podduna, prAta@hkAlaM- Telugu words transliterated into English script for ease of processing on computers. “ద్దు” is written as “ddu” (2 d’s). RTS is once such scheme. Some other standard schemes exist too.
- pratahkalam- Telugu words with Sanskrit origin written in English script.
- ఎర్లీ మార్నింగ్ - English words written in Telugu script
Few more examples (sentences):
- నేను పొద్దున్నే / వేకువనే నిద్ర లేస్తాను. - Telugu
- నేను ప్రాతఃకాలాన్నే నిద్ర లేస్తాను - Telugu with Sanskrit word mixed in.
- నేను ఎర్లీగా నిద్రలేస్తాను. - Telugu with english word mixed in Telugu script.
- I wake up early. - English written in English script.
- nEnu poddunnE nidra lEstAnu - Telugu transliterated into English script using RTS.
- nenu podunne nidra lestanu - Telugu trans-literated in English script (non-standard)
- नेनु पॊद्दुन्ने निद्र लेस्तानु - Telugu trans-literated in Devanagari script
- nen erly ga lestanu - Shortened English words inserted into Telugu trans-literated script with shortcuts of mobile world.
- I wake up, early in the morning. - English Translation.
Here is the core issue. Notice and compare sentences #1 with #3, the replacement of “పొద్దున” with “ఎర్లీ” in this instance. But the “పొద్దు” has at least 10 more related words like పొద్దుతిరుగుడు పువ్వు, పొద్దుపోయినది, పొద్దు గూకులు , అప్పుడు (ఆ+పొద్దు.) (See Telugu Dictionary). Although, the simple replacement does not seem to do much harm, in the long run, you are denying yourself and your children vocabulary of 10 more related words. When we use “early” we don’t usually use the rest of related English vocabulary like “earlier” and “earliest”. The word “early” itself has other subtle meanings that we don’t learn and use. Essentially, in the end, we have denied vocabulary of Telugu to ourselves and did not grasp English either. It’s a Lose-Lose situation.
Being good in one language, in fact, helps in learning another language better. You will come to appreciate the subtleties and nuances. If you are good at a language, you can communicate ideas better. Also, you can learn from other’s ideas.
Fun in Movies:
Penchant for Language has been used quite often in movies, for fun usually. Two examples.
1. నిశివర్ణోష్ణోదకము (Coffee) Kota Srinivasa Rao likes Telugu and tries his best to use it. We have to observe that above complex word was constructed from words borrowed from Sanskrit (నిశి, వర్ణ, ఉష్ణ, ఉదకము). If there is no suitable word for “coffee” then it’s better to use “కాఫీ”. Historically, Telugu used Sanskrit words and built a large body of vocabulary and literature. Urdu and other languages had some influence on Telugu. Now a days, English has large effect.
2. Kunti Second Son Boon (Bhimavaram) Sutti Veerabhadra Rao is a cook in Jagayya’s house and often mixes Telugu with English. His penchant for English, is a satire on similar people by the, Master of Satire, Director Jandhyala.
Modern Telugu movie names like Idiot, Kick, Hero No. 1, Nenu Local, Winner, Rogue, Mister, Fashion Designer s/o Ladies Tailor, Lover Boy indicate the trend.
Conclusion:
Any language for it’s growth and sustainability blends other language words and invents new words as needed. In English, “Selfie” is one such example. There was no such word 10 years ago. Here is list for 2018 for English. It’s a deliberate attempt to assimilate new words into the language.
Using an English word or other language word when a suitable word in available in Telugu does great harm to Telugu. The more we change the structure of language and replace a valid Telugu word with words from other language, we risk alienating existing “easy Telugu” into something that is hard and confusing.
Since, I started with Potana, let me conclude with that. He writes, in opening stanzas of Bhagavatam (Chapter 1, Verse 20),
కొందఱకుఁ దెనుఁగు గుణమగుఁ
గొందఱకును సంస్కృతంబు గుణమగు రెండుం
గొందఱికి గుణములగు నే
నందఱ మెప్పింతుఁ గృతుల నయ్యై యెడలన్.
Meaning: Some people (కొందఱకు) like (గుణమగు) Telugu (తెనుగు), Some like Sanskrit (సంస్కృతంబు), Some like both (రెండుం). I will try to satisfy (మెప్పింతు) all wherever possible (అయ్యై యెడలన్). The key here is where possible (meaning “as appropriate”).
So, why is it difficult to follow Potana’s language? We have already alienated ourselves enough from the easy language and need a conscious effort to re-learn.
Comments
Post a Comment