Page:2015.396258.Vyasavali.pdf/168

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156
ESSAYS

illustrate what we have just stated regarding the literary tradition and to establish our contention. that the Telugu literature recognised by the Telugu Pandits and the University of Madras does not include even a single book which can be termed 'Popular' in the sense in which that word is used in English.

While 'Literary' English is a living dialect almost identical with ordinary polite speech, 'literary Telugu' is entirely artificial, heard no where, not even among the learned Pandits and only used in books being intelligible only to those that have learnt it, like Sanskrit, for instance, from teachers. An ordinary member of the polite society in England not only writes but also speaks the standard English dialect, which is acquired not through books taught at school but through communication with the other members of the society in daily life. Any Englishman or woman that has something to say to others says it without effort and without self-consciousness, in the natural way; and what is said is readily understood by the other members of the society: it makes no difference at all if what is spoken is written or printed; it is the same language. Comments and explanations may become necessary and sometimes do, not for the interpretation of the language but for the elucidation of unfamiliar ideas and thoughts.