Telugu/Dialects


Introduction  —  History  —  Dialects  —  Literature



Telugu (తెలుగు telugu, /t̪elugu/) has three main dialects, known as māndalikamu (మాండలికము, /maːŋɖəlɪkəmʊ/) or yās (యాస, /jaːsə/). They are named after the three traditional Telugu regions in South-Eastern India: Telangana, Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema.

The language has many sub-dialects such as the North Coastal dialect (spoken in the Srikakulam, Vijayanagaram and Visakhapatnam districts), Godavari dialect, Gunturu Mandalikamu, Nelluru dialect, Kurnool, Chittoor, Kadapa, Karimnagar, Khammam as well as other dialects. Though the vocabulary does not vary significantly among the dialects of Telugu, differences in pronunciation of certain words, as well as the accent of geographically demarcated populations, demonstrates substantial diversity and richness.