Editing Telugu language (section)

=== Post-independence period ===
Telugu is one of the 22 [[languages with official status in India]].<ref>{{cite web |title=PART A Languages specified in the Eighth Schedule (Scheduled Languages) |url=http://censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Language/Statement1.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029190612/http://censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Language/Statement1.htm |archive-date=29 October 2013}}</ref> The Andhra Pradesh Official Language Act, 1966, declares Telugu the official language of the state that is currently divided into Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rao |first=M. Malleswara |title=Telugu declared official language |newspaper=[[The Hindu]] |date=18 September 2005 |url=http://www.hindu.com/2005/09/18/stories/2005091803740600.htm |access-date=16 July 2007 |archive-date=10 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070810140217/http://www.hindu.com/2005/09/18/stories/2005091803740600.htm }}</ref><ref name="APOnline2">{{cite web|url=http://www.aponline.gov.in/Quick%20links/hist-cult/history_post.html|title=AP Fact File: Post-Independence Era|work=aponline.gov.in|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220113947/http://www.aponline.gov.in/quick%20links/hist-cult/history_post.html|archive-date=20 December 2013}}</ref> It also has official language status in the [[Yanam district]] of the [[union territory]] of [[Puducherry (union territory)|Puducherry]]. It is the fourth most spoken Indian language in India after [[Hindi]], [[Bengali language|Bengali]] and [[Marathi language|Marathi]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jain |first1=Bharti |date=27 June 2018 |title=Hindi mother tongue of 44% in India, Bangla second most-spoken |work=The Economic Times |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/hindi-mother-tongue-of-44-in-india-bangla-second-most-spoken/articleshow/64759135.cms |access-date=27 June 2018}}</ref> It is one of the six [[Classical Languages of India|classical languages of India]].<ref name="antiquity">{{cite web |title=Declaration of Telugu and Kannada as classical languages |url=http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=44340 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216124306/http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=44340 |archive-date=16 December 2008 |access-date=31 October 2008 |work=Press Information Bureau |publisher=Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Government of India}}</ref><ref name="classical">{{cite news |date=1 October 2008 |title=Telugu gets classical status |newspaper=[[The Times of India]] |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Hyderabad/Telugu_gets_classical_status/articleshow/3660521.cms |access-date=1 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081104015938/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Hyderabad/Telugu_gets_classical_status/articleshow/3660521.cms |archive-date=4 November 2008}}</ref>

[[Telugu Language Day]] is celebrated every year on 29 August, the birthday of Telugu poet [[Gidugu Venkata Ramamurthy]].<ref>{{cite news|date=26 August 2010|title=Telugu Language Day on August 29|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/Telugu-Language-Day-on-August-29/article16145571.ece|access-date=4 December 2020|issn=0971-751X|archive-date=22 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022221551/https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/Telugu-Language-Day-on-August-29/article16145571.ece|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Telugu Language Day 2020: 6 Tollywood songs that emphasize the importance of Telugu language|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/telugu/movies/news/telugu-language-day-2020-6-tollywood-songs-that-emphasize-the-importance-of-telugu-language/articleshow/77818454.cms|access-date=4 December 2020|website=The Times of India|language=en|archive-date=15 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415110338/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/telugu/movies/news/telugu-language-day-2020-6-tollywood-songs-that-emphasize-the-importance-of-telugu-language/articleshow/77818454.cms|url-status=live}}</ref> The fourth [[World Telugu Conference]] was organised in [[Tirupati]] in the last week of December 2012. Issues related to [[Telugu language policy]] were deliberated at length.<ref>{{cite web |author=B. Prabhakara Sarma |date=6 December 2012 |title=World Telugu Conference: Then and now |url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/world-telugu-conference-then-and-now/article4167022.ece |access-date=3 February 2013 |work=The Hindu}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=V. |first=Rishi Kumar |date= |title=Tirupathi to host World Telugu Conference |url=http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/states/tirupathi-to-host-world-telugu-conference/article4130001.ece |access-date=3 February 2013 |website=[[Business Line]] |publisher=}}</ref> The American Community Survey has said that data for 2016 which were released in September 2017 showed Telugu is the third most widely spoken Indian language in the US. Hindi tops the list followed by Gujarati, as of the [[2010 United States Census|2010 census]].<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.census.gov/ |title= Language spoken at home by ability to speak english for the population 5 years and over |work= [[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date= 2 December 2017 |archive-date= 27 December 1996 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/19961227012639/https://www.census.gov/ |url-status= live}}  Note: Excluding other languages with many speakers outside India such as Urdu</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Bhattacharya |first=Ananya |date=24 September 2018 |title=America's fastest growing foreign language is from south India |url=https://qz.com/india/1399825/telugu-is-uss-fastest-growing-foreign-language/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220812083339/https://qz.com/india/1399825/telugu-is-uss-fastest-growing-foreign-language/ |archive-date=12 August 2022 |access-date=12 August 2022 |website=Quartz |language=en}}</ref>

In the Indian subcontinent, a command over the Telugu language, alongside [[Sanskrit]], [[Tamil language|Tamil]], [[Meitei language|Meitei]], [[Odia language|Oriya]], [[Persian language in the Indian subcontinent|Persian]], or [[Arabic]], is highly appreciated and respected for learning dances (most significantly [[Indian Classical Dance]]s) as dancers could have the tools of these languages to go into the primary material texts.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Munsi |first1=Urmimala Sarkar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bKepAgAAQBAJ&dq=classical+language+meitei&pg=PT35 |title=Traversing Tradition: Celebrating Dance in India |last2=Burridge |first2=Stephanie |date=2012 |publisher=[[Routledge]], [[Taylor & Francis]] |isbn=978-1-136-70378-2 |location=en |page=35 |language=en |quote=... This means a command of Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Oriya, Meitei, Persian, or Arabic. ...}}</ref>