Difference Between Kannada and Telugu

Kannada vs Telugu

Languages in south of India are collectively known as Dravidian languages. Kannada and Telugu are two of the most prominent languages of this group. As far as number of speakers is concerned, Kannada is leaps ahead of Telugu. However, Telugu is no less prominent in south of India. Both the languages arose around the same time and they are believed to have originated from the common Telugu-Kannada script. There are many similarities in these two southern languages because they are spoken in territories that are adjacent, and also because of many similarities in the two cultures, namely Telugu and Kannada. However, there are also differences that will be highlighted in this article.

The state of Andhra Pradesh, as we know today was a homeland of a nomadic tribe called Andhra that finally settled in the area that comprise the modern state. Telugu is the native language of the people of Andhra Pradesh which is one of the Dravidian languages. The most ancient verb words in Telugu such as kottu, nadu, vellu, tittu, ra, etc have resemblance with similar words in ancient Tamil and Kannada languages. The concepts of karta, karma (object of a verb) and the verb itself are in a sequence in Telugu language which is a characteristic of other Dravidian languages. This is however not the case with Sanskrit which is said to be the source of most of the North Indian languages. Prakrut, the royal language of the Satvahana dynasty, is said to be close to Telugu as Telugu contains some of its words. The script of Telugu is Telugu itself that has been derived from ancient Brahmi script. This is the script that is believed to have given rise to the old Telugu-Kannada script from which both Telugu and Kannada separated around 13th century.

Kannada is the language spoken by the people of Karnataka. The alphabets of Kannada script are developed from Chalukya and Kadamba scripts which are believed to have originated from the old Brahmi script. Kannada script bears resemblance to the Telugu script, and the two of them have a common ancestry in the old Telugu-Kannada script. Kannada language is closer to Tamil and Malayalam than Telugu language and script.