Telugu

Letter

ర • ‎(ra)

1. The consonant ra.

Usage notes

• In ancient Telugu, when it was under influence of the Kanarese literature the letter ఱ was used, but it is now obsolete. It is called శకటరేఫము ‎(śakaṭarēphamu), అలఘురేఫము or బండి 'ర' while the ర is called మంచి 'ర' or లఘురేఫము ‎(laghurēphamu). The ర is never used in Sanskrit words. It is said to have been pronounced hard, and to have had the force of two ర sounds; so that in ఱ్ఱ there are supposed to be four R sounds included, which is absurd on the face of it. According to the ancient spelling తరచు ‎(taracu) means to churn, తఱుచు ‎(taṛucu) thick. పెర is a bee hive, పెర other, strange. పెరుగు is curd, పెరుగు ‎(perugu) to curd, పెఱుగు ‎(peṛugu) to grow. వేరు ‎(vēru) means a root, వేఱు ‎(vēṛu) different. మరుగు ‎(marugu) means to hide, మఱుగు ‎(maṛugu) too boil. In modern Telugu the ఱ is unknown and thus both sets of words are spelt alike. The ancient poets distinguished these sounds, never allowing ర to rhyme with ఱ. Modern Telugu poets such as the translator of the Bhagavata disregard this distinction. In recent years attempts have been made to revive the use of this obsolete letter, but without success.

References

“ర” in Charles Philip Brown (1903) A Telugu-English dictionary, Madras: Promoting Christian Knowledge, page 1059