The present work was submitted as a thesis for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the Venkateswara University, in the year 1964. After registration in the year 1959 it took two years to collect the material and by then my Supervisor Sri B. Lakshmi Narayana Rao, formerly Head of the Department of Telugu, S. V. University-left the University. Dr. Bh. Krishnamurti, who then became a Reader in the University gave some suggestions for recasting the thesis and limiting its scope which have been followed. After sometime Dr. Bh. Krishnamurti also left the University to become the Professor of Linguistics at Osmania University, Hyderabad. But, he continued to guide the research from there periodically. I am thankful to him for his valuable suggestions in the preparation of this work.
I sincerely thank Mr. R. A. Jayanta, M.A., Lecturer in English, Sri Venkateswara University College, Tirupati who read through this manuscript carefully.
My thanks are due to the University Grants Commission for providing me the necessary grants through Sri Venkateswara University, for the publication of this thesis.
My thanks are also due to the Registrar, Sri Venkateswara University who took keen interest in getting this thesis published under the auspices of S. V. University, Tirupati.
In recent times attempts have been made to study the several Indian Languages including Telugu in the light of modern linguistics. This new approach has considerably influenced the study of the structure of Telugu. However, much work is yet to be done in the field of its morphology. The present work is an attempt in this direction. It tries to examine in the light of the principles of Linguistics the traditional grammatical principles of Telugu, with special reference to the Samasa, and to verify their relevance today. Since this mode of investigation is new, the present attempt might be regarded as a pioneering one. And, that is its justification.
I. TRADITIONAL TELUGU GRAMMARS:
There are a number of traditional treatises on the gram-mar of the Telugu language. One of them is 'Andhra Sab-dacintamani' whose authorship is a point of dispute. Many of the traditional Pundits attribute this work to Nannaya who is the first of the Kavitraya, who translated into Telugu the Mahabharata from Sanskrit. Nannaya belongs to the eleventh century. Hence it may be said that ASC belongs to that period.
Another grammar of Telugu is Vikṛtiviveka by Atharvana. Scholars are of different opinion about the date of Atharvana. Vikṛtiviveka is a book of amendments to the principles laid down by Nannaya. Balasaraswati, Appakavi and Ahobala pandita have commented upon the works of both Nannaya and Atharvana. In their commentaries Nannaya's rule and Atharvana's amendments are explained with suitable examples while B.S. and A.K. wrote their commentaries in Telugu, the commentary of Ahobala is in Sanskrit. Only a part of A.K.'s commentary is available and it is mainly in verse. B.S.'s is in simple Telugu prose. By the time these Grammarians attempted their commentaries a vast literature in Telugu was at their disposal and this was to their advantage. They took examples from it to prove or disprove the rules and amendments of Nannaya and Atharvana. Nannaya, Atharvaņa, B. S. and A. B. followed in the main Panini in their treatment of Telugu gram-mar. Ahobala particularly, went to the extent of saying that whatever was not said by him in his treatise could be found in Panini's grammar (Anuktam Anyatograhyam). Atharvaņa devoted a separate Karika to express this view. Whenever a point of dispute arises they illustrate their views with examples from established poets like Tikkana, Potana and others.
Two other important grammars of Telugu are Ketana's Andhrabhasubhusana and Vinnakota Peddana's 'Kavyslan-kara cudamani. Ketana seems to have lived in the thirteenth century. It is interesting to note that he claims to be the first grammarian of Telugu (ABB. verse No. 5). His grammar is in Telugu verse. He illustrates his principles with a few examples but does not give their sources. Ketana and Peddana attempt to give suitable definitions to some important grammatical terms.
The most important grammar is Balavyakarana, justly recognised as the best among the traditional works. Its author is Chinnaya Suri, of the nineteenth century. Unlike his predecessors he studied all the grammatical literature available and then put forth his own views. Sitaramacarya, a contemporary of Suri, wrote another important grammar entitled 'Praudhavyakarana'. This was the result of his discovery that a few usages of the classical authors were beyond the rules laid down by Suri. A more recent work is 'Andhra Bhasanusasana of Malladi Suryanarayana sastri.
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