For centuries now, the Telugu language has been referred to using a phrase that travels with the language itself. Language students, visitors travelling through Andhra Pradesh, people working with ancient texts − all of these have had some variant of this phrase on their lips: “Telugu is the Italian of the East.” While it is a compliment that can easily slip off the tongue and be nodded at with no real understanding of what it means, if one actually sits down and examines the origin of this phrase, one finds a much more specific and interesting answer than what most people seem to think.
The origins of the phrase are commonly attributed to Niccolò Da Conti, an Italian explorer who visited the southern portion of India in 15th century. He noted the way that Telugu sounded – melodically, with many vowels – and how similar this was to the language with which he had grown up and it struck him. Eventually, as more and more explorers used this phrase, the use of it became both popular and frequent enough that it began to be used without the same thought as the original thought behind it. It is unfortunate that the uniqueness of the sound of the Telugu language should become so diluted.
It Comes Down to Vowels
Many languages aren’t like Italian or Telugu, which each have a distinctive characteristic: almost every word ends in a vowel—which creates an amazing musical sound throughout both languages when they’re combined as sentences, because all of the words have soft endings that flow into the next one. There’s no hard stops or jagged edges due to consonant clusters, and the mouth is always opening so that the sound of the speaker travels well.
This open-syllable phenomenon is something that gives a language its musical quality, and Telugu has an incredible degree of this characteristic present in it. This is not a coincidence; rather, it’s intrinsic to the grammar system used in the language. Telugu classical poetry is developed around this characteristic of language, as well as all of the ancient poets who wrote poems in this style also did it with the sole intent of creating rhythm and flow with no musical accompaniment.
A Language Built for Poetry
Telugu is one of India’s oldest and most diverse literary traditions. It was in the 11th century that Nannayya began translating the Mahabharata into Telugu, producing an entirely new piece of literature, not simply a translation. Additionally, Nannayya’s work was written in an advanced and poetic language. Following him were Tikkana and Errana – also known as Kavitrayam (the three poets of Telugu) – both who lived during the 12th and 13th centuries, when many other European languages were not yet being written down.
The Vijayanagara Empire (15th and early 16th centuries) considered Telugu the language of its court. The emperor Krishnadevaraya was also a skilled poet. He is best known for his long poem Amuktamalyada, which scholars of Telugu literature continue to study today. Besides being an influential poet himself, he was an emperor who supported the development of Telugu literature such that the sounds of poetry, rhythm, and pattern remain evident in people’s everyday use of spoken Telugu.
Not Just Sound, But Structure
In addition to its sound, the grammar of Telugu is also very beautiful and is deserving of consideration. Telugu is an agglutinative language meaning it uses suffixes to create meaning from a base. Thus, one Telugu word may communicate the meaning of an entire English phrase. However due to the vowel ending of the root word and the rhythmic nature of suffixes, even the more complex words in Telugu will feel somewhat fluid as opposed to heavy or cumbersome.
There is also a distinction in the Tamil language between formal, written Tamil and informal every day spoken Tamil. The formality level of the written Tamil (i.e., Grandhika) is similar to that of the Classical Tamil and has a ceremonial quality. While the spoken Tamil (i.e., Vyavaharika) is casual and informal in character. An individual who speaks Tamil will switch from one type of Tamil to the other naturally and effortlessly; much like how an Italian speaker would switch between standard Italian and an Italian dialect without consciously reflecting on the difference.
Why the Label Still Matters
Calling Telugu the Italian of the East is not just flattery. It points to something real about the language, a softness and openness in its sounds that makes it immediately pleasing to the ear even for people hearing it for the first time. There is a reason Telugu film songs have found audiences far outside Andhra Pradesh. There is a reason Carnatic musicians have always valued Telugu lyrics. The language carries melody in its structure.
Italy has roughly sixty million native speakers. Telugu has around eighty five million. It is one of the most spoken languages in the world, and yet outside of India it remains largely unknown. The label, that generous comparison from a fifteenth century Italian traveller, is perhaps the most effective introduction anyone has ever given it.
Some descriptions turn out to be exactly right.
