Telugu Alphabetical Characters and Their Pronunciation

Secondary Symbols for Vowels

Consonants are Combined with these Symbols


Consonants by themselves are not pronounceable. You have to combine a consonant with a vowel to produce the consonant's sound. When you use a vowel in this fashion (i.e., to support the articulation of a consonant), the appearance of the vowel itself changes and these secondary forms of vowels are shown in the table below. In English, we arrange vowels and consonants in linear order.  In Telugu, you modify the shape of a consonant when it combines with a vowel.  The rules of modification are rather regular – with a few minor exceptions. Therefore, it is sufficient to master the "trend" with one consonant and (almost) the same trend continues for all consonants.

In the following table, you can see the new appearance of a vowel when it is used in conjunction with another consonant.

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