Recently we were having a conversation at work about languages. A Tamil friend said to a Telugu colleague "Telugu is derived from Tamil." But, the Telugu friend rejected this immediately and said "Telugu is from Sanskrit and Sanskrit is mother of all languages".
I had some questions for the Telugu friend. Is Sanskrit mother of "all" languages including English, Latin, etc? This is a broad statement to make.
I have the following points for our Telugu friend.
The letters, pronunciation, grammar, and numbers are the basis of any language. If we look at these elements of Telugu language for example, how much does it map to it's (assumed) parent language?
Letters:
తెలుగు - தெலுகு, थेलुगु . What does Telugu resemble with?
As we all know Sanskrit does not have it's own scripts. it borrowed from Devanagiri, Grantha, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada etc. So, how can we say Telugu is derived from Sanskrit.
Grammar:
Let me use few grammar rules for this illustration.
Gender - in some languages the gender is attached to the meaning. தாரம் for example in Tamil is feminine, because the word means wife which has to be feminine.
In some languages like Spanish and French, the gender is attached to the word, not the meaning. For example in Spanish, nouns ending with "o" is generally masculine, and nouns ending with "a" is feminine irrespective of the meaning.
Let us take Sanskrit. Sanskrit is like European languages with respect to the gender; the gender is attached to the word not to the meaning. The word தாரம் in Sanskrit is masculine because of the grammar rule though தாரம் means wife, a feminine. What!
Now come to Telugu. What is the gender attached to? Word or the meaning? If it is derived from Sanskrit, this should match with Sanskrit. Does it?
Similarly there are many other grammar rules in Telugu that does not match with Sanskrit. Hence Sanskrit cannot be the mother of Telugu.
Most sentences in Sanskrit based languages end with है. Is this true in Telugu?
Pronunciation:
Again, if you listen to Telugu, Sanskrit, and Tamil side by side, it will be obvious that the Sanskrit can not be the mother of Telugu.
Numbers
1, 2, 3, 4.... 10, 11, ... 20, 21, 31, 41...
Most of us know that 1.5 is one and half, 2.5 is two and half. What is in Telugu? In Hindi each number has it's own word. Example 1.5 is "daed" in Hindi. Similarly, in most languages 21 is Twenty and one, 31 is Thirty and one. In Hindi each number 21, 22, 31, 32 have it's own names.
How is this in Telugu?
Let us read the numbers in Telugu
Vocabulary
It is true Telugu borrowed many words from Sanskrit. Looks like it borrowed good percentage from Sanskrit, most root words from Tamil, and the remaining it's own. Again it is clear Sanskrit cannot be the mother of Telugu.
Conclusion
Dr. Hart once mentioned that "Kannada and Tamil may have split apart as early as 4000 years ago." Telugu seems older than Kannada. It is also quite possible Telugu existed even before Sanskrit came to India.
Based on the language itself and based on some (unprovable) history, it is very easy to believe Telugu is not from Sanskrit. Based on above understanding I can confidently say Sanskrit can not be the mother of Telugu and that leaves Tamil as it's mother.
I had some questions for the Telugu friend. Is Sanskrit mother of "all" languages including English, Latin, etc? This is a broad statement to make.
I have the following points for our Telugu friend.
The letters, pronunciation, grammar, and numbers are the basis of any language. If we look at these elements of Telugu language for example, how much does it map to it's (assumed) parent language?
Letters:
తెలుగు - தெலுகு, थेलुगु . What does Telugu resemble with?
As we all know Sanskrit does not have it's own scripts. it borrowed from Devanagiri, Grantha, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada etc. So, how can we say Telugu is derived from Sanskrit.
Grammar:
Let me use few grammar rules for this illustration.
Gender - in some languages the gender is attached to the meaning. தாரம் for example in Tamil is feminine, because the word means wife which has to be feminine.
In some languages like Spanish and French, the gender is attached to the word, not the meaning. For example in Spanish, nouns ending with "o" is generally masculine, and nouns ending with "a" is feminine irrespective of the meaning.
Let us take Sanskrit. Sanskrit is like European languages with respect to the gender; the gender is attached to the word not to the meaning. The word தாரம் in Sanskrit is masculine because of the grammar rule though தாரம் means wife, a feminine. What!
Now come to Telugu. What is the gender attached to? Word or the meaning? If it is derived from Sanskrit, this should match with Sanskrit. Does it?
Similarly there are many other grammar rules in Telugu that does not match with Sanskrit. Hence Sanskrit cannot be the mother of Telugu.
Most sentences in Sanskrit based languages end with है. Is this true in Telugu?
Pronunciation:
Again, if you listen to Telugu, Sanskrit, and Tamil side by side, it will be obvious that the Sanskrit can not be the mother of Telugu.
Numbers
1, 2, 3, 4.... 10, 11, ... 20, 21, 31, 41...
Most of us know that 1.5 is one and half, 2.5 is two and half. What is in Telugu? In Hindi each number has it's own word. Example 1.5 is "daed" in Hindi. Similarly, in most languages 21 is Twenty and one, 31 is Thirty and one. In Hindi each number 21, 22, 31, 32 have it's own names.
How is this in Telugu?
Let us read the numbers in Telugu
| Number | Telugu | Hindi | Tamil |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | okatti | aek | oNNu |
| 2 | reNdu | dhO | reNdu |
| 3 | moodu | theen | mooNu |
| 4 | naalugu | chaar | naalu |
| 5 | aidhu | paanch | ainthu |
| 6 | aaRu | chEh | aaRu |
| 7 | aedu | saath | aezhu |
| 8 | eNimithi | oht | ettu |
| 9 | thommidhi | nuv | onpathu |
| 10 | pathi | dhus | paththu |
| 20 | iravai | bees | iruvathu |
| 30 | muppai | theeS | muppahu |
| 40 | nalapai | chaaleeS | naaRpathu |
| 100 | vanthalu | sou | nooRu |
| 1000 | veyyi | aayiram |
Vocabulary
It is true Telugu borrowed many words from Sanskrit. Looks like it borrowed good percentage from Sanskrit, most root words from Tamil, and the remaining it's own. Again it is clear Sanskrit cannot be the mother of Telugu.
Conclusion
Dr. Hart once mentioned that "Kannada and Tamil may have split apart as early as 4000 years ago." Telugu seems older than Kannada. It is also quite possible Telugu existed even before Sanskrit came to India.
Based on the language itself and based on some (unprovable) history, it is very easy to believe Telugu is not from Sanskrit. Based on above understanding I can confidently say Sanskrit can not be the mother of Telugu and that leaves Tamil as it's mother.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzvjPwARO6c the guests in this video say Sanskrit is the youngest language of the Indo-European languages. If that is correct, it is clearly wrong to say Sanskrit is mother of all languages.
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