Intelligibility in the use of Telugu terms and phrases in English
context
Siva Satyanarayana Jagarapu
*
Kasaragod Jayashri Shetty
**
About Author
*
Part time research Scholar in the Department of Linguistics, AndhraUniversity, Assistant Professor in
English,G.V.P.CollegeofDegree&P.G.Courses,SchoolofEngineering,Visakhapatnam,A.P.,Ind ia.
**
Part time research Scholar in the Department of Linguistics, Andhra University, Centre Head in
placements,L.B.College,Visakhapatnam,A.P.,India.
Abstract:
English has been widely used in Andhra Pradesh. The users of the English language
have grown up gradually in this region. It has become the fashion to use English language to
express one’s views and thoughts. Though there are many areas where English is extensively used,
it may not be always possible to communicate everything in the English language. There are some
expressions which require Telugu flavor for understandability and effectiveness. This paper would
bring out such expressions which are used along with English words in various contexts such as
English newspaper, signboards, and wedding cards and so on.
Key words: understandability, effectiveness
Introduction:
Andhra Pradesh is the first state which has been formed in the year 1956 on the basis of linguistic
concerns. The native language of this region is Telugu which belongs to the Dravidian family of
languages. Along with main Telugu language, the other languages such as Urdu, Hindi, Sanskrit,
Kannada is also spoken in this region. English is the second official language in Andhra Pradesh.
Because of globalization and advancement of science and technology, the use of the English
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language has been improved in all the domains. English is widely used in education, commerce,
science and technology, media and in every aspect of life. English medium schools in private as
well as public sector are set up and improve the standards of English language. Every parent wishes
his ward to speak in English because English language has become the element of social status.
Even an illiterate parent proudly says that ‘nenu maa babu ni convent lo join chesanu. Akkda
andaru, bus cleaner kuda English lo ne matladutharu’
1
(I admitted my son in English medium
school where all the people including with bus cleaner speak in English only”). The people are in,
such as a belief that the exposure to the English language would improve the status of the
individual in the society. There is a craze for the use of the English language in urban as well as
rural. There are some peculiar expressions from the parents such as ‘maa babu English news
papere chaduvuthadu’
2
(my son reads only English news paper) which shows that the people are
fascinated to the great language.
Though English language has been extensively used in most of the areas, there are some areas
where the use of English may not be effective in that context. In such contexts where there are no
equivalents for the Telugu words, the use of Telugu term or phrase could make that sentence much
more effective. There is no reason to translate them in an unintelligible manner. Even in some
contexts where there is a scope for translation, the use of Telugu itself gives more effectiveness.
The use of such Telugu expressions along with English has been discussed in this paper.
Methodology: The data have been collected from different social contexts where English is used
as need of communication as well as a symbol of social status. The Hindu news papers in Telugu
region have been selected as a source of study from two articles have been selected. The tradition
of printing wedding cards in bilingual as well as only in the English language has become a fashion
so that two wedding cards which are printed in bilingual have been selected and in the same way
hotel menu has been selected. Along with these three areas one email also has been selected to
1
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discuss on the topic. Telugu terms are identified in these extracts which are italicized. In order to
maintain the difference, the same Italic form has been maintained throughout the paper.
The word ‘Namaste’ is very popular and traditional greeting term in Telugu language. The greeting
is quite frequent whenever people meet in social as well as official gatherings or meetings. The
term Namaste/Namaskarm is an equivalent to the phrases good morning/good afternoon/ good
evening of English. The greetings such as Namaste sir, Namaste one and all, Namaste madam are
quite popular. Even people who are conversant with English also prefer to greet with Namaste or
Namaskaram which gives them homely feeling. It has become more popular in e-mail writing
where many people use Namaste or Namaskaram as a salutation in the place of dear….
Namaste Rajesh!
I am very happy to inform you that…………………………………
3
The use suffix garu is very famous in Telugu tradition after the names of the people and their
professions. The title ‘sir’ can be the equivalent to garu but there is slight variation in using. Sir
can be used before the names of the people and their designations where as garu is used after the
names of the people and their designations.
We cordially invite Prof. Ramakrishna garu. As chief guest ……
4
It's our pleasure to have the gracious presence of Mr. Sambasiva Rao garu………….
5
If the prefix guru is not added in these contexts, it is considered disrespect.
Designing wedding invitation is the tradition in India, which can be distributed to all the near and
dear to invite them to the wedding. Earlier, it was used to be written in the native language so that
all the invitees could easily understand the message conveyed in these invitation cards. Because
of the craze to use English language in all the domains and also to use English as a sign of social
3
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status, the tradition of writing bilingual invitation cards for marriage is started. The majority of the
people, irrespective of their need and educational background, print their wedding invitation cards
in both languages. There is some invitation cards printed only in English.
In the Hindu marriages, the tradition of writing slokas and devotional phrases in Telugu language
in the beginning of the wedding card along with the pictures of their favorite Gods and Goddesses
are considered auspicious. When the wedding invitation card in printed in bilingual, the slokas are
directly written in English script. The wedding card begins with the phrases such as:
Sri Ganeshaya Namah
6
Sri Venkateswaraya Namah
7
The Prefix Sri in the above phrases is generally used in front of the names of the Gods and
Goddesses in Telugu tradition which expresses the honor and respect to the deities. Sri is followed
by the names of the deities and in the end Namah is a suffix conveys the adoration or the respect.
The writing of these slokas varies from person to person based on their belief.
The beginning of some other invitation card in Telugu is worth three words such sreerastu,
subhamastu, and kalyanamastu. It is believed that these three words convey divine blessings to the
newly married couple. The right alternatives cannot be found in English language so that the same
phrases Sreerastu, Subhamastu, Kalyanamastu used in wedding cards which are printed in English
version.
The tradition of writing the phrase Chiranjeevi Laksmi Swoubhagyavathi is popularly known with
it’s shorten form Chi. La. Sow before the name of the bride in Telugu wedding cards. The same
expression can be found in wedding cards which are printed in English such as Chi. La. Sow.
Before the name of the bride and Chi. Before name of the groom. It is the Telugu tradition to bless
6
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the bride and groom with such phrases. The exact tradition may not be there in English so that the
tradition of using the same prefixes in cards follows.
In order to respect the person, every language has its own prefixes. These prefixes are used to
respect the individual. In English language, Mr. is used before the name of the man, irrespective
of the marital status; Miss is used before the name of the woman who is unmarried. Mrs. is used
before the woman who got married. In the same way, in Telugu, chiranjeevi is used before the
names of boys, Sri is used before the name of the man who is married, kumari is used before the
names of girls before their marriage and sreemathi is used before the names of married woman.
The tradition of using these titles before the names of the individual as a sign of respect is also
followed in wedding cards. When the wedding card is printed in English language, it has Telugu
titles in front of the names of the parents of the bride and groom. It is as follows:
Shri Bandaru Venkata Ramarao & Smt. Lakshmi
Solicit your esteemed presence and precious blessings with family and friends on the
auspicious occasion of the wedding of my son
Chi. Sri Sai Krishna
With
Chi. La. Sow. Padmavathi
(Daughter of Shri Kantipudi Pallamraju & Smt. Venkata Lakshmi of Srinagar,
Visakhapatnam)
8
In the above extract, Shri and Smt are used before the names of parents of both the bride and the
groom as a sign of the respect. While adding the titles of respect, there is a slight variation in
Telugu tradition and the English tradition. In English generally these titles are used as “Mr. & Mrs.
Rao cordially invites………..”In which the title of the man comes first, followed by the Woman.
Where as in Telugu tradition, the title of the woman Smt. Comes first and followed by the title of
man as in ‘Smt & Shri Rama Rao cordially invites………”.
8
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Another Telugu flavor in these wedding invitation cards is the word which indicates the time of
the marriage. There are few words, terms like “Sumuhurtham”, “subhamuhurtham” and
subhalagnam. The meaning of the given words is that auspicious time for the wedlock. Though
they are some wedding cards which are printed in English have the phrase ‘Wedding ceremony’
as an alternate form ‘sumuhurtham’, people prefer the Telugu term which could make the sense
and effectiveness of the ceremony.
Under the heading of Subhamuhurtham the date and time of the marriage are written. On these
wedding cards along with the information such as day, date and time, the additional information
such as the horoscope time also is given. In order to give the information such as the day, date and
time they follow English language, but to give the information of the horoscope time they follow
the Telugu language in English verse.
Subhamuhurtham:
On Sunday, 25
th
May, 2013 between 8:00 am to 9:15 am, Mithuna Lagna
9
On Saturday 3
rd
August, 2012, at 4:01 am (early hours of Saturday), Tula Lagna
10
There is an equivalent in English for the phrase Mithuna Lagna as ‘Gemini Ascendant’ and for
Tula Lagan as ‘Libra ascendant’ but the native phrase make the sense more effective.
The Telugu flavor could be found in the famous English newspaper The Hindu. There are some
terms and expressions which are more effective in Telugu rather than English. Though the
alternates are trying to be found in English for many of the incidents other news, there are some
terms which are not effective in English.
Congress candidate for Visakha South Assembly constituency Dronamraju Srinivasa Rao
organised a massive procession consisting of nearly 5,000 party workers and supporters
from Jagadamba junction to the old town. Pulivesham and Kolatam troupes, fancy dress
9
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artistes, drummers and others were part of the procession. Every woman in the rally was
sporting a cap and holding a Congress party flag.
11
(The Hindu May 6, 2014).
In the above paragraph, the highlighted words such as Pulivesham and Kolatam are Telugu terms
of dancing activity. In Telugu Puli means tiger and vesham means an act. The artists are costumed
as tigers and dances for a particular rhythm. It is Andhra traditional dance form. In the same way,
kolatam is a folk dance form and performed with sticks. It is a rural art specially performed during
the village festivities.
Sri Sri Vaibhava Venkateswara Swamy Vari Divyakshetram, located in NGGO’s Colony,
will be performing ‘Pushkara Kalyana Mahotsavam’ from May 3 to 14 in the temple
premises.
Giving details at a press conference on Thursday, temple head priest Seshacharyulu said
daily rituals would commence at 3 a.m. With ‘suprabhatam’. There would be ‘homam’,
special ‘puja’, and ‘go puja’daily. On ‘Vaikuntha Ekadasi’ on May 10, ‘Kalyanam’ would
be performed. On the last day, ‘Sahasra kalasha abhishekam’ would be performed, for
which 1,000 pots filled with water of different rivers were brought, said president of temple
committee T. Niranjan Rao.
12
(The Hindu 2
nd
May, 2014)
The use of the double Sri before the names of the deities is quite common in Telugu tradition.
Almost all the Hindu Gods and Goddesses names are have the prefix Sri. There are some names
which takes three sri’s before their names. It shows the devotional respect of the devotees towards
the God. The English alternate Mr. Is not suitable before the names of these Gods and Goddesses.
The suffix vari after the name of the God is also an honorific term generally used in Telugu
tradition.
11
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th
May,2014p.2Vishakhapatnamedition.
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nd
May,2014p.2Visakhapatnamedition.
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Pushkara Kalyana Mahotsavam is a festival that is performed for every 12 years. In this phrase
pushkara means 12 years, Kalyana means marriage and mahotsavam, means a great celebration.
If it is tried to be translated as Twelve year marriage celebration, it cannot effectively convey the
message as Telugu phraseology conveys.
The other term Suprabatham in this extract means that the prayer made in the early morning hours.
In Hindu tradition, prayers are performed; rituals are observed according to the time of the day. If
the English term for suprabatham were used as early hour’s prayer, it might not be more effective
and understandable to the devotees. Puja is a daily ritual in which the performer gathers different
items such as flowers, holy water, incense sticks, turmeric paste, sandal paste etc, to please the
God or Goddess. Generally English term prayer alternates page, but there is a difference between
prayer and Puja.
In the Hindu tradition, people offer their puja to the cow (govu). The special puja which is offered
to the cow is termed as goo puja. The alternate of this as a prayer to cow make people ambiguous.
Ekadasi means the eleventh day of the Telugu month. Vaikunta is the adobe of Lord Vishnu. On
this day Vaikunta Ekadasi Lord Vishnu is worshipped. Kalyanam is the celebration of the marriage
of God and Goddess where as the Sahasra kalasa abhishekam is the phraseology in which sahasra
means thousand, kalasa means the pot full of holy water and abhishekam conveys the act of
pouring the holy water on the statue of Gods or Goddesses.
The Telugu terms could also be found as the names of various dishes in hotel menus. It is common
that the names of varieties of dishes are written in English verse in star hotels as well as in local
restaurants. Because of the origin and familiarity, the native term is continued as the name of the
food. Along with the names of the other dishes which were familiar and well known, these Telugu
words were also included because of the familiarity. The list of such words which have been
collected from two menu cards are given below:
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Ulava charu, Miriyala charu, Bommidala pulusu, Mutton gongura
13
The name of the dish such as ulava charu which is the famous food in Andhra Pradesh. Ulavalu
(known as Horsegram in English, Kulith in Hindi) are the lentils. Charu is the Andhra soup
prepared with tamarind water, tomatoes, pepper, coriander, garlic and other spices. The
combination of these two Ulavalu (Horsegram) and Charu (Soup) has become the name of the dish
ulava Charu. Miriyala Charu (Andhra Pepper flavored Rasam) is another such recipe which is
famous in Andhra Pradesh.
Bommidala pulusu is one such recipe becomes popular .in this region. Bommadalu is one kind of
fish known as channa marulius. Pulse is curry like strew in Andhra Pradesh. Bommidalu and pulusu
is together became the popular recipe and included in menu as bommidala pulusu.
Motton gongura is another recipe from Andhra Pradesh. It is spicy and famous for the non-
vegetarians. This is the combination of mamsam (motton) and Gongura (red sorrel leaves). Many
five star hotels in Andhra Pradesh take pride in including these items with the original Telugu term
in their menu cards which are printed in English.
Conclusion:
Though the influences of Westernization, Globalization and the Advancement of Science and
Technology spread the extensive use English language in the Telugu speaking region, the presence
of Telugu flavor with some words and phrases creates the homely feel among the people. The use
of these words and Phrases is an intelligibility to get the attention of the reader as well as to make
the sense much more effective and understandable.
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References
[1] Pingali Sailaja, Indian English, Edinburgh University Press, 2009
[2] R. E. Hawkins, Common Indian words in English, Oxford University Press, 1984.
[3] Sankara Narayana, A Telugu, English Dictionary, Harvard University, 1990
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