Page:A Grammar of the Telugu language.djvu/39

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ALPHABET.
21

nounced çinna, çeppu, zilugu, zemudu. They in like manner mispronounce Sanscrit words.

The mutation of ça, into tsa is obvious in the verb: where the participle చేయుచు chē-yu-tsu is at pleasure spelt చేస్తు chēstu: wherein the sounds of s and t change places.

The letters ట T, డ D and ణ N are harder and the letters త T ద D and న N are softer than the sound they have in English. Sir William Jones used an accent (t′ t′h d′ d′h n′) to denote these letters. Others have more conveniently placed a dot (ṭ ṭh ḍ ḍh ṇ) under the harder sound.

The nasal sound ఙ​ gna or ng occurs in the common word వాఙ్మూలం vang-mulam a deposition or statement. Like all other nasals it is usually changed into ం as in the word అంగం angam, the body.

The nasal of the second varga or class, is ఞ and never appears alone: being always written under the letter జ J, as in the word జ్ఞాపకం jnāpacam recollection and జ్ఞానం jnānam, knowledge, సంజ్ఞ​ san-jna a sign; which is usually pronounced సౌగ్య​ sau-gya.

The letter య Y is in Telugu and Sanscrit a consonant, and our using it as a vowel in English sometimes misleads us in spelling. It is exemplified in these Telugu words.

చేయుట chē-yu-ta to do. కోయుట​ co-yu-ta to cut, పొయ్యె poyyĕ he went అయ్యా ayyā Sir. In Sanscrit words it has the same sound, as శయ్య​ sayya a couch యోగ్యం y​ōgyam (that is, yōg-yam) fitting; త్యాగం tyāgam