Telugu Consonants and Their Five Groups

Telugu consonants, called హల్లులు (hallulu), are arranged in a logical grid.

The five groups

Group	Letters	Place in the mouth
క-వర్గం	క ఖ గ ఘ ఙ	back of the throat
చ-వర్గం	చ ఛ జ ఝ ఞ	palate
ట-వర్గం	ట ఠ డ ఢ ణ	tongue curled back
త-వర్గం	త థ ద ధ న	teeth
ప-వర్గం	ప ఫ బ భ మ	lips

How each row works

Within each row, the letters run in the same pattern:

1. an unvoiced sound (క, ka)
2. the same, with a puff of air (ఖ, kha)
3. a voiced sound (గ, ga)
4. the voiced one with a puff of air (ఘ, gha)
5. a nasal (ఙ, nga)

Other consonants

Letters	Romanised
య ర ల వ	ya, ra, la, va
శ ష స హ	sha, sha, sa, ha
ళ	a retroflex la
క్ష	ksha

Retroflex sounds

The third group, ట ఠ డ ఢ ణ, is made with the tongue curled back. English has nothing exactly like it, so listen carefully. For example, తల (thala, head) uses the tongue at the teeth, while the sound in టీ (tee, tea) is made further back.

Learning order

Dictionaries and school books follow this grid order, so learning it helps you find words quickly.

Practice

• Say each row aloud with the vowel అ.
• Notice how the mouth position moves from the back to the front.

Tips

1. Learn one row at a time.
2. Listen for the puff of air in the second and fourth letters.
3. Use the dictionary to practise recognising letters.

Look up any Telugu word with English Telugu Dictionary →