Editing Telugu language (section)

=== Consonants ===
The table below lists the consonant phonemes of Telugu,<ref name=":0">Krishnamurti (1998), "Telugu". In Steever (ed.), ''The Dravidian Languages''. Routledge. pp. 202–240, 260</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite journal |last1=Bhaskararao |first1=Peri |last2=Ray |first2=Arpita |date=2017 |title=Illustrations of the IPA – Telugu |journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association |volume=47 |issue=2 |pages=231–241 |doi=10.1017/S0025100316000207 |s2cid=232346235}}</ref> along with the symbols used in the transliteration of the Telugu script used here (where different from IPA).

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|+Telugu consonants
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |
! rowspan="2" |[[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! colspan="2" |[[Denti-alveolar consonant|Denti-<br />alveolar]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Retroflex]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Postalveolar consonant|Post-alv.]]/<br />[[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
!<small>plain</small>
!<small>[[sibilant]]</small>
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
|{{IPA link|m}} '''m'''
|{{IPA link|n}} '''n'''
|
|{{IPA link|ɳ}} '''ṇ'''
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan="4" |[[Plosive]]/<br />[[Affricate consonant|Affricate]]
!<small>[[tenuis consonant|unaspirated]]</small>
|{{IPA link|p}} '''p'''
|{{IPA link|t}} '''t''' 
|{{IPA link|t͡s}} '''ts'''
|{{IPA link|ʈ}} '''ṭ'''
|{{IPA link|t͡ʃ}} '''c'''
|{{IPA link|k}} '''k'''
|
|-
!<small>[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]</small>
|{{IPA link|b}} '''b'''
|{{IPA link|d}} '''d''' 
|{{IPA link|d͡z}} '''dz'''
|{{IPA link|ɖ}} '''ḍ'''
|{{IPA link|d͡ʒ}} '''j'''
|{{IPA link|ɡ}} '''g'''
|
|-
!<small>[[aspirated consonant|aspirated]]*</small>
|{{IPA link|pʰ}} '''ph'''
|{{IPA link|tʰ}} '''th'''
|
|{{IPA link|ʈʰ}} '''ṭh'''
|{{IPA link|t͡ʃʰ}} '''ch'''
|{{IPA link|kʰ}} '''kh'''
|
|-
!<small>[[breathy voice]]d*</small>
|{{IPA link|bʱ}} '''bh'''
|{{IPA link|dʱ}} '''dh'''
|
|{{IPA link|ɖʱ}} '''ḍh'''
|{{IPA link|d͡ʒʱ}} '''jh'''
|{{IPA link|ɡʱ}} '''gh'''
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Fricative]]*
|{{IPA link|f}} '''f'''
|
|{{IPA link|s}} '''s'''
|{{IPA link|ʂ}} '''ṣ'''
|{{IPA link|ʃ}} '''ś'''
|
|{{IPA link|h}} '''h'''
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
|{{IPA link|ʋ}} '''v'''
|{{IPA link|l}} '''l'''
|
|{{IPA link|ɭ}} '''ḷ'''
|{{IPA link|j}} '''y'''
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Tap consonant|Tap]]
|
|{{IPA link|ɾ}} '''r'''
|
|
|
|
|
|}

* The aspirated and breathy-voiced consonants occur mostly in Sanskrit and Prakrit loanwords, additionally /tʰ/ is used to substitute /θ/ in English loans, the only aspirate which occurs natively is /dʱ/ which occurs only in a few compound numbers e.g. /pɐddʱenimidi/ "18" likely a result of the proto Dravidian laryngeal */H/<ref name="bhk">{{cite book |title= The Dravidian Languages |last= Krishnamurti |first= Bhadriraju |year= 2003 |publisher= [[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn= 978-0-521-77111-5 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=54fV7Lwu3fMC |access-date= 8 December 2021 |archive-date= 13 October 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221013131939/https://books.google.com/books?id=54fV7Lwu3fMC |url-status= live}}</ref> there is also an unaspirated /pɐddenimidi/ version which is used more commonly. All of the fricatives except for native {{IPA|/s/}} also only occurs in loanwords.<ref name=":1"/>
* Perso-Arabic phonemes like /q, x, ɣ, z/ are substituted with /k, kʰ, ɡ, d͡ʒ/ similar to Hindi.<ref name=":1"/>
* /t͡s, d͡z/ occur only in native words and lack aspirated/breathy forms. Native words with /t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ/ before non front vowels became /t͡s, d͡z/; this change became phonemised after loaning words with /t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ/ from other languages. Intervocalically /d͡z/ can become [z] e.g. [rɐːzu, d͡zoːli, ɡudd͡zu].<ref name=":1"/>
* /ʋ/ can be rounded to a [β̞ʷ] around rounded vowels.<ref name=":1"/>
* The common Proto Dravidian approximant */ɻ/ merged with /ɖ/ in Telugu while it was preserved as /ɽ/ in the other Southern II branch languages.<ref name="bhk"/>
* Many of the old /ɳ/ and /ɭ/ merged with /n/ and /l/.<ref name="bhk"/>

Most consonants contrast in length in word-medial position, meaning that there are long (geminated) and short phonetic renderings of the sounds. A few examples of words that contrast by length of word-medial consonants:<ref name=":1" />

* /ɡɐ'''d'''i/ ''gadi'' (room) – /ɡɐ'''dː'''i/ ''gaddi'' (grass)
* /ɐ'''ʈ'''u/ ''aṭu'' (that side) – /ɐ'''ʈː'''u/ ''aṭṭu'' (pancake)
* /mo'''ɡ'''ɐ/ ''moga'' (male) – /moɡːɐ/ ''mogga'' (bud) 
* /nɐ'''m'''ɐkɐmu/ ''namakamu'' (a vedic hymn) – /nɐ'''mː'''ɐkɐmu/ ''nammakamu'' (belief)
* /kɐ'''n'''u/ ''kanu'' (to give birth to) – /kɐ'''nː'''u/ ''kannu'' (eye)
* /kɐ'''l'''ɐ/ ''kala'' (dream) – /kɐ'''lː'''ɐ/ ''kalla'' (falsehood) 
* /mɐɾi/ ''ma'''r'''i'' (again) – /mɐ'''ɾː'''i/ ''marri'' (banyan tree)

All [[retroflex consonant]]s occur in intervocalic position and when adjacent to a retroflex consonant, for instance. /ʋɐː'''ɳ'''iː/ ''vāṇī'' 'tippet', /kɐ'''ʈɳ'''ɐm/ ''kaṭṇam'' 'dowry', /pɐ'''ɳɖ'''u/ ''paṇḍu'' 'fruit'; /kɐ'''ɭ'''ɐ/ ''kaḷa'' 'art'. With the exception of /ɳ/ and /ɭ/, all occur word-initial in a few words, such as /'''ʈ'''ɐkːu/ ''ṭakku'' 'pretence', /'''ʈ<sup>h</sup>'''iːʋi/ ''ṭhīvi'' 'grandeur', /'''ɖ'''ipːɐ/ ''ḍippā'' 'half of a spherical object', and /'''ʂ'''oːku/ ''ṣōku'' 'fashionable appearance'.<ref name=":1" />

The approximant /j/ occurs in word-initial position only in borrowed words, such as. /'''j'''ɐnɡu/ ''yangu'', from English 'young', /'''j'''ɐʃɐsːu/ ''yaśassu'' from Sanskrit ''yaśas'' /jɐʃɐs/ 'fame'.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}