Talk:Telugu language

Satavahana coins
The Satavahana coins are inscribed in Prakrit and Tamil, this is the current expert opinion of scholars such as Iravatham Mahadevan and C. Somasundara Rao (A Telugu professor of history and archaeology) (Mahadevan 2020 Early Tamil epigraphy, 2nd edition, p. 237-243, and C. Somasundara Rao 1997, a note on bilingual legends on Satavahana coins pp. 17-21). Sircar outdated conclusions have been thoroughly debunked by the other two references. The script used is Tamil Brahmi and the inscriptions follow Tamil Brahmi grammatical and phonological conventions perfectly (the term 'Dravidian script' is not recognised in mainstream epigraphy). Please read the other two references before making any edits and discuss as appropriate.Metta79 (talk) 12:54, 12 April 2023 (UTC)


 * Carla M. Sinopoli is an anthropologist not an epigraphist. The views of specialists take precedence. Both Iravatham Mahadevan and Harry Falk are world renowned epigraphists (Falk probably the leading expert on ancient Indian scripts), and they both confirm this is Tamil Brahmi:
 * https://www.academia.edu/48899029/_2021_Fr%C3%BChstadien_des_vir%C4%81ma_in_indischen_Schriften


 * Besides Carla does not say anything specific about these specific coins in that text you cite. I will give you the benefit of the doubt, maybe you are genuinely unaware why this is without a doubt a Tamil Brahmi inscription (and was likely used by the Satavahanas for trade purposes, as only Prakrit and Tamil were the administrative languages in use at the time in South India). So I will try and educate you. This article by this user summarises many of the points covered by Mahadevan:
 * https://www.academia.edu/68666480/Tamil_language_in_the_Satavahana_Bilingual_Coins
 * Please read this first. If you still have any doubts I can answer them, and perhaps attach some images from Mahadevan's article. Metta79 (talk) 23:05, 15 April 2023 (UTC)

Appeal for protection of this page from Vandalism.
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Thank You Anandwiki.ind (talk) 15:01, 13 March 2024 (UTC)

Antiquity
It is important to understand that the Rēnāti Chōla inscriptions in Kadapa district (575 CE) are the earliest "long" inscriptions in Telugu, but aren't actually the "first ever writings".

As of now, we have several individual Telugu words dated till 100 CE and many personal and place names in Sanskrit/Prakrit texts till c.200 BCE. All these must be considered for understanding the antiquity of Telugu language.

Besides revered linguistics and academicians like FC Southworth, K Mahadeva Sastri mentioned the dating of Old Telugu as c.200 BCE.

And of course, a language is always older than its writings.

Source: Historical Grammar of Telugu by Korada Mahadeva Sastri; Early Telugu Inscriptions by Budharaju Radhakrishna. Anandwiki.ind (talk) 15:33, 13 March 2024 (UTC)