Telugu/Transliteration

Lekhini (లేఖిని lEkhini) & IAST edit

Lekhini is one of the most popular transliterators.

IAST is considered the standard way to transliterate Indian scripts to Roman script, and unlike Lekhini, it uses accents.

Vowels edit

Vowels
Vowel Lekhini Transliteration IPA pronunciation IAST Transliteration
a /a/ a
aa /ɑaː/ ā
e /ɪ/ i
ee /iː/ ī
u /u/ u
uu /uː/ ū
ru /ru/
rruu /ruː/ r̥̄
lu /lu/
Lu /luː/ l̥̄
ai /e/ e
aai /eː/ ē
i /ai/ ai
o /o/ o
Oo /oː/ ō
ow /au/ au
అం um /oː/ aṃ
అః aha- /aha/ aḥ

The macron(the line over the vowels for IAST transliteration) represents a long vowel. This means it is held for twice as long as a short vowel.

The circles under the characters r and l indicate that they are vowels, rather than consonants. However, other than ఋ/r̥, these are not used anymore in Modern Telugu

The dots underneath m and h indicate that they are being used as the accent marks anusvāra(ం) and visarga(ః) respectively.

Consonants edit

Consonants
Consonant Lekhini Transliteration IPA pronunciation IAST Transliteration
ka /ka/ ka
Ka, kha /kʰa/ kha
ga /ɡa/ ga
Ga, gha /ɡʱa/ gha
~ma /ŋa/ ṅa
ca,cha /t͡ʃa/ ca
Ca, Cha /t͡ʃʰa/ cha
ja /d͡ʒa/ ja
Ja /d͡ʒʱa/ jha
~na /ɲa/ ñ
Ta /ʈa/ ṭa
Tha /ʈʰa/ ṭha
Da /ɖa/ ḍa
Dha /ɖʱa/ ḍha
Na /ɳa/ ṇa
ta /ta/ ta
tha /tʰa/ tha
da /da/ da
dha /dʱa/ dha
na /na/ na
pa /pa/ pa
Pa, pha, fa /pʰa/ pha
ba /ba/ ba
Ba, bha /bʱa/ bha
ma /ma/ ma
ya /ja/ ya
ra /ɾa/ ra
la /la/ la
va, wa /ʋa/ va
La, lha /ɭa/ ḷa
Sa /ʃa/ śa
sha /ʂa/ ṣa
sa /sa/ sa
ha /ha/ ha
~ra /ra/ ṟa

The dots below consonants indicate a retroflex consonant(with the tongue curled back into the mouth)

The accents on the various n sounds denote various points of pronunciation.

Bandi Raa is no longer used in modern Telugu.

Telugu Wikipedia edit