The Cases

Suffixes Are Glued, Not Fused

57.Telugu is an agglutinative language: it marks grammar by adding suffixes that keep their own shape and can be peeled off again. A Lithuanian ending fuses case and number into one syllable that cannot be divided; a Telugu suffix is a separate piece added to a stem that is still recognisable. The same suffix serves every noun in the language.

పుస్తకం + లో = పుస్తకంలో

pustakaṁ + lō = pustakaṁlō

book + in = in the book

ఇల్లు + కి = ఇంటికి

illu + ki = iṇṭiki

house + to = to the house — the stem changes here; see ¶61

నేను + కు = నాకు

nēnu + ku = nāku

I + to = to me

• [1] The suffixes stack: a plural ending and then a case suffix after it, which a fused declension cannot do (¶63).

The Seven Cases

58.Telugu marks seven cases: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, locative and vocative. Only four of them are a suffix glued to a stem — the nominative adds nothing, the genitive is the bare oblique stem (¶60), and the vocative is a change in the noun's own last vowel (¶70).

The Nominative

59.The nominative is the bare noun, carrying no suffix at all, and it is the form a dictionary cites. A subject stands in it, and so, very often, does an inanimate object (¶64).

అబ్బాయి వస్తున్నాడు.

abbāyi vastunnāḍu.

The boy is coming. — అబ్బాయి is the bare subject

నేను పుస్తకం చదువుతున్నాను.

nēnu pustakaṁ caduvutunnānu.

I am reading a book. — both నేను and పుస్తకం stand bare

The Oblique Stem Is the Genitive

60.Beside its nominative every noun has an oblique stem, and that stem standing alone is the genitive: రాముడి కలం (rāmuḍi kalaṁ), Rama's pen. Every suffix of the other cases is added to it, so the oblique is at once a case of its own and the base the rest are built on.

రాముడి కలం

rāmuḍi kalaṁ

Rama's pen

ఇంటి పేరు

iṇṭi pēru

the name of the house

అతని పేరు

atani pēru

his name

• [1] The written language also has యొక్క (yokka) for the genitive: అతని యొక్క పేరు (atani yokka pēru) beside అతని పేరు (atani pēru), both his name.

The Six Classes of Oblique Stem

61.Nouns fall into six classes by the way the oblique is formed. In the largest it is identical with the nominative; the others add -ి (i), or replace the last syllable with -టి (ṭi) or -తి (ti), or take a separate form before two of the cases.

ఇల్లు → ఇంటి → ఇంటికి

illu → iṇṭi → iṇṭiki

house → of a house → to the house

చేయి → చేతి → చేతిలో

cēyi → cēti → cētilō

hand → of a hand → in the hand

చెట్టు → చెట్టు → చెట్టుకు

ceṭṭu → ceṭṭu → ceṭṭuku

tree → of a tree → to the tree

• [1] Some class B and C stems survive only inside a compound: చంటి బిడ్డ (caṇṭi biḍḍa), infant, keeps the oblique of చన్ను (cannu), and నాగటి కోల (nāgaṭi kōla), plough-shaft, that of నాగలి (nāgali), while the free dative is నాగలికి (nāgaliki).
• [2] Several class B and C nouns are moving into class A: కాలుకు (kāluku) beside కాలికి (kāliki), to a leg.

A Noun in -ం Has Two Obliques

62.A noun ending in -ం (ṁ) takes the nominative unchanged as its genitive, and a second oblique in -ాని (āni)- before the accusative and the dative. పుస్తకం (pustakaṁ) is of a book, but to a book is పుస్తకానికి (pustakāniki).

పుస్తకం అట్ట

pustakaṁ aṭṭa

the cover of the book — genitive

పుస్తకానికి

pustakāniki

to the book — the second oblique

• [1] A stem in -ెం (eṁ) takes -ేని (ēni)- instead: పళ్ళెం (paḷḷeṁ), plate, gives పళ్ళేనికి (paḷḷēniki).

The Oblique in the Plural

63.The plural forms its oblique by changing -లు (lu) to -ల (la) and -ళ్ళు (ḷḷu) to -ళ్ళ (ḷḷa). Case suffixes are added to that, so the plural marker and the case stand one after the other, each keeping its own shape.

పుస్తకాల పేర్లు

pustakāla pērlu

the names of the books

అబ్బాయిలకు

abbāyilaku

to the boys

The Accusative — ని / ను

64.The direct object takes -ని (ni) or -ను (nu). A noun naming an animate being takes it necessarily; with a lifeless thing it is optional, and the bare nominative is the commoner choice.

నేను అబ్బాయిని చూస్తున్నాను.

nēnu abbāyini cūstunnānu.

I see the boy. — animate, so the suffix stands

నేను పుస్తకం చదువుతున్నాను.

nēnu pustakaṁ caduvutunnānu.

I am reading a book. — inanimate, so the noun is bare

కుక్కను

kukkanu

the dog (as object)

The Dative — కి / కు

65.-కి (ki) or -కు (ku) marks the person to whom or for whom, and it is the busiest suffix in the language. Beside the indirect object it does work that English gives to a subject: with it Telugu says that a thing is liked, is needed, or is had.

నాకు పుస్తకం ఇవ్వు.

nāku pustakaṁ ivvu.

Give me the book.

అమ్మాయికి

ammāyiki

to the girl

నాకు తెలుగు వచ్చు.

nāku telugu vaccu.

I know Telugu. — literally: to-me Telugu comes

When It Is -ని and -కి, and When -ను and -కు

66.Both pairs choose by the sound in front of them: -ని (ni) and -కి (ki) follow a stem whose last syllable ends in ఇ (i) or ఈ (ī), and -ను (nu) and -కు (ku) follow every other. The personal pronouns with a one-syllable oblique are the exception — నీకు (nīku) and మీకు (mīku), not నీకి (nīki).

ఇంటికి

iṇṭiki

to the house — oblique in ఇ

అమ్మకు

ammaku

to mother — oblique in అ

• [1] Modern Standard Telugu extends -ని (ni) and -కి (ki) past that condition: అన్నని (annani) and అన్నకి (annaki) alternate freely with అన్నను (annanu) and అన్నకు (annaku).

The Instrumental — తో

67.-తో (tō) covers both what English divides between with the instrument and with the companion: written with a pen and came with a friend take the same suffix. The written language also has -చేత (cēta), which marks the instrument and the agent but not the companion.

కలంతో

kalantō

with a pen

స్నేహితుడితో

snēhituḍitō

with a friend

నాతో

nātō

with me

• [1] A bare -న (na) on the oblique serves as an instrumental in the older language: కర్రన కొట్టాడు (karrana koṭṭāḍu), he struck with a stick.

The Locative — లో, మీద

68.-లో (lō) means in and -మీద (mīda) means on, and neither is a preposition: nothing in Telugu stands before its noun as English in and on do. The older written language marks the same case with -అందు (andu) or a bare -న (na).

ఇంట్లో

iṇṭlō

in the house — ఇంటి + లో, contracted

పుస్తకంలో

pustakaṁlō

in the book

బల్ల మీద

balla mīda

on the table

• [1] ఇంటిలో (iṇṭilō) contracts to ఇంట్లో (iṇṭlō) in speech and in writing alike.
• [2] లో (lō) and మీద (mīda) are postpositions of the second type (¶71), so a further suffix goes on top of them: ఇంట్లోకి (iṇṭlōki), into the house.

The Ablative — నుండి

69.-నుండి (nuṇḍi) — or -నుంచి (nuñci), which is commoner in speech — means from, of place and of time alike. It is added to the oblique stem like the rest: ఇంటి నుండి (iṇṭi nuṇḍi), from the house.

నేను ఇండియా నుండి.

nēnu iṇḍiyā nuṇḍi.

I am from India.

ఇంటి నుండి

iṇṭi nuṇḍi

from the house

మీరు ఎక్కడ నుండి?

mīru ekkaḍa nuṇḍi?

Where are you from?

• [1] Telugu's own grammars give the ablative no case of its own, reckoning it with the instrumental or the locative (¶72).

The Vocative

70.A noun is called by lengthening its final vowel: అక్క (akka) gives అక్కా (akkā), తండ్రి (taṇḍri) gives తండ్రీ (taṇḍrī). A noun in -డు (ḍu) may take -డా (ḍā) instead, and a noun in -ం (ṁ) has no vocative at all.

అమ్మా, నా పుస్తకం ఎక్కడ ఉంది?

ammā, nā pustakaṁ ekkaḍa undi?

Mother, where is my book?

తల్లీ!

tallī!

mother! — an affectionate address, used even to a small girl

• [1] The plural vocative in -లారా (lārā) — అక్కలారా (akkalārā), O sisters — belongs to platform speech and to writing.
• [2] Relatives address each other by the kinship term rather than by name: బావా (bāvā), వదినా (vadinā), తమ్ముడూ (tammuḍū).

The Case Suffixes Are Postpositions

71.What is called a case suffix here is a postposition: a piece that follows the oblique stem where English would put a preposition in front. Some are bound and never stand alone — -ని (ni), -కి (ki), -తో (tō), -నుంచి (nuñci); others are separate words, and a bound one may then be added on top of them.

ఇంట్లోకి రండి.

iṇṭlōki raṇḍi.

Come into the house.

కారు రోడ్డు మీద ఉంది.

kāru rōḍḍu mīda undi.

The car is on the road.

What the Telugu Grammarians Count

72.Telugu's own grammars count the cases on the Sanskrit model and name them by number — ప్రథమా విభక్తి (prathamā vibhakti), the first case, and so on. That scheme does not cut where the European one does: the genitive and the dative fall together under షష్ఠీ (ṣaṣṭhī), the sixth.

• [1] ఏకవచనము (ēkavacanamu) is the singular and బహువచనము (bahuvacanamu) the plural in the same tradition.