Telugu alphabet
Meet the Telugu letters, hear their sounds, and see how vowels and consonants fit together. Choose a starting point and keep the charts beside your practice.
Try a practice lesson →Choose Listen beside an available recording. Audio plays only when you ask.
How Telugu letters work
Independent vowels have their own letters. Attached vowel signs combine with consonants: compare క with కా (kaa). Read the whole form, including marks above, below, or beside it.
This beginner set covers 13 vowels and 34 consonants from the course. It is not a complete inventory of every written form.
Telugu vowel chart
| Letter | English sound guide | Reading hint | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| అ | a | Short open a; keep it brief. | Listen |
| ఆ | aa | Long aa, roughly the vowel in father. | Listen |
| ఇ | i | Short i, roughly the vowel in sit. | Listen |
| ఈ | ee | Long ee, roughly the vowel in see. | Listen |
| ఉ | u | Short rounded u; keep it shorter than oo. | Listen |
| ఊ | oo | Long rounded oo, roughly the vowel in moon. | Listen |
| ఋ | r̥ | Vocalic r, commonly read ri in Telugu; mostly in Sanskrit-derived words. | Listen |
| ఎ | e | Short e; keep the sound steady. | Listen |
| ఏ | ae | Long e: hold e without the English ay glide. | Listen |
| ఐ | ai | Glide from a toward i, roughly the vowel in eye. | Listen |
| ఒ | o | Short rounded o; keep the sound steady. | Listen |
| ఓ | oh | Long o: hold o without an English ow glide. | Listen |
| ఔ | au | Glide from a toward u, roughly the vowel in how. | Listen |
Telugu consonant chart
The k family
Five sounds made at the back of the mouth. Compare plain and breathy releases, then the nasal.
| Letter | English sound guide | Reading hint | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| క | ka | k as in skip, without a strong puff. The unmarked letter includes a. | Listen |
| ఖ | kha | k followed by a noticeable puff of air. The unmarked letter includes a. | Listen |
| గ | ga | g as in go, with the voice vibrating. The unmarked letter includes a. | Listen |
| ఘ | gha | Voiced g with a breathy release. The unmarked letter includes a. | Listen |
| ఙ | nga | ng as in sing; uncommon as an independent letter. The unmarked letter includes a. | Listen |
The ch family
Five related sounds near the hard palate. Some have different readings in everyday words.
| Letter | English sound guide | Reading hint | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| చ | cha | ch as in chair; it can be ts-like in some native words. The unmarked letter includes a. | Listen |
| ఛ | chha | ch followed by a noticeable puff of air. The unmarked letter includes a. | Listen |
| జ | ja | j as in jam; it can be dz-like in some native words. The unmarked letter includes a. | Listen |
| ఝ | jha | Voiced j with a breathy release. The unmarked letter includes a. | Listen |
| ఞ | nya | A palatal nasal, roughly ny in canyon; mostly seen in joined letters. The unmarked letter includes a. | Listen |
The curled-tongue family
Curl the tongue tip back for these five sounds. A dot below the Latin letter marks this position.
| Letter | English sound guide | Reading hint | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| ట | ṭa | Curled-tongue ṭ, without a strong puff. The unmarked letter includes a. | Listen |
| ఠ | ṭha | Curled-tongue ṭ with a puff of air. The unmarked letter includes a. | Listen |
| డ | ḍa | Curled-tongue ḍ, with the voice vibrating. The unmarked letter includes a. | Listen |
| ఢ | ḍha | Curled-tongue ḍ with a breathy release. The unmarked letter includes a. | Listen |
| ణ | ṇa | Curled-tongue nasal ṇ. The unmarked letter includes a. | Listen |
The dental family
Touch the upper teeth with the tongue for these five sounds.
| Letter | English sound guide | Reading hint | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| త | ta | Dental t, without a strong puff. The unmarked letter includes a. | Listen |
| థ | tha | Dental t with a puff; not the English th of thin. The unmarked letter includes a. | Listen |
| ద | da | Dental d, with the voice vibrating. The unmarked letter includes a. | Listen |
| ధ | dha | Dental d with a breathy release. The unmarked letter includes a. | Listen |
| న | na | Dental nasal n. The unmarked letter includes a. | Listen |
The lip family
Close both lips for these five sounds. Compare the plain, breathy and nasal sounds.
| Letter | English sound guide | Reading hint | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| ప | pa | p as in spin, without a strong puff. The unmarked letter includes a. | Listen |
| ఫ | pha | p with a puff; this letter can represent f in loanwords. The unmarked letter includes a. | Listen |
| బ | ba | b as in bat, with the voice vibrating. The unmarked letter includes a. | Listen |
| భ | bha | Voiced b with a breathy release. The unmarked letter includes a. | Listen |
| మ | ma | m with both lips closed. The unmarked letter includes a. | Listen |
Gliding and flowing sounds
Four common consonants: y, r, l and v.
| Letter | English sound guide | Reading hint | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| య | ya | y as in yes. The unmarked letter includes a. | Listen |
| ర | ra | A brief tongue-tip tap or trill. The unmarked letter includes a. | Listen |
| ల | la | l with the tongue near the upper teeth. The unmarked letter includes a. | Listen |
| వ | va | A sound between English v and w. The unmarked letter includes a. | Listen |
More consonant sounds
Compare the two sh letters, s, h and the curled-tongue ḷ.
| Letter | English sound guide | Reading hint | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| శ | sha | A sh sound made near the hard palate. The unmarked letter includes a. | Listen |
| ష | ṣa | Curled-tongue sh, written ṣ to distinguish it from శ. The unmarked letter includes a. | Listen |
| స | sa | s as in sun. The unmarked letter includes a. | Listen |
| హ | ha | h as in hat. The unmarked letter includes a. | Listen |
| ళ | ḷa | Curled-tongue ḷ; keep it distinct from ల. The unmarked letter includes a. | Listen |
A small daily reading routine
- Choose a few written forms and compare their English hints.
- Cover the hints and identify the letters in a different order.
- Practise with matching, mixing, flashcards, or a visual quiz.
Next try vowel combinations and beginner words.
Prepared by Learn Akshara from our beginner Telugu curriculum. English spellings are approximate learning aids. Writing-system reference: The Unicode Standard, South Asian Scripts. AI-generated pronunciation is a learning aid, not a guarantee of accuracy. See our audio sources and credits.