Sunday, October 06, 2013

Experts stress need for dictionary on Telangana dialect

Ch Sushil Rao, TNN | Oct 5, 2013, 06.16 AM IST

HYDERABAD: A separate state of Telangana could mean that you may have to learn the nuances of the dialect, even if you hail from the region. A complete, etymological dictionary is therefore the need of the hour, believe academicians.

"There is a need to compile words from the different districts of Telangana. One has to get to the origin of the words per se," said Prof Ghanta Chakrapani, sociologist and professor at the Dr B R Ambedkar Open University. It is not as if a dictionary comprising words used in the Telangana region has not been attempted so far. "I myself compiled hundreds of words," Chakrapani said.

A Telugu writer Dr Nalimela Bhaskar, published a dictionary of Telangana words after extensive research, a couple of years ago. Bhaskar who hails from Karimnagar district compiled as many as 9,000 words spoken in the Telangana dialect which were published in 2003 and 2010. "It was a herculean task. I spent several years of research on it," Bhaskar told TOI. With the Union cabinet clearing the proposal for a separate Telangana, Bhaskar stresses the need for a more comprehensive dictionary.

The Telangana dialect shows marked differences in different districts of the region. Although the Telangana dialect is spoken in Hyderabad, the influence of Urdu, in the city is evident.

Noted linguist and former vice-chancellor of University of Hyderabad Bhadriraju Krishnamurti had classified Telugu into four different categories in the state. The categorisation was done based on the way the language is spoken. The eminent linguist was also instrumental in compiling "A Telugu Dialect Dictionary of Occupational Vocabularies in Andhra Pradesh".

According to Krishnamurti, Srikakulam and Visakhapatnam districts were included in the Purvamandalam category based on the way Telugu was spoken in the region. The districts of Rayalaseema, Nellore and Prakasam districts were listed in the second category called Dakshina Mandalam. In the third category called Uttaramandalam, the districts of Telangana were included. As Mahbubnagar and Khammam districts are geographically close to Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions respectively, the influence of Telugu spoken in those regions would be evident on the dialect in the two districts. East and West Godavari districts, Krishna and Guntur districts were included in the fourth mandalam.

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