Counting in Telugu

Language overview

Telugu (తెలుగు), belongs to the Dravidian languages family, and more precisely to its South-Central group. Spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Yanam of India, it is written in the Telugu script, an abugida with 16 vowels, 3 vowel modifiers, and 41 consonants. Telugu counts about 81 million speakers.

Telugu numerals

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Telugu numbering rules

Now that you’ve had a gist of the most useful numbers, let’s move to the writing rules for the tens, the compound numbers, and why not the hundreds, the thousands and beyond (if possible).

• Digits from zero to nine have specific words: సున్న (౦, sunna) [0], ఒకటి (౧, okaṭi) [1], రెండు (౨, reṇḍu) [2], మూడు (౩, mūḍu) [3], నాలుగు (౪, nālugu) [4], అయిదు (౫, ayidu) [5], ఆరు (౬, āru) [6], ఏడు (౭, ēḍu) [7], ఎనిమిది (౮, enimidi) [8], and తొమ్మిది (౯, tommidi) [9].
• Tens have specific names too, but starting with the root of the multiplier digit, except for ten and twenty: పది (౧౦, padi) [10], ఇరవై (౨౦, iravai) [20], ముప్పై (౩౦, muppai) [30], నలభై (౪౦, nalabhai) [40], యాభై (౫౦, yābhai) [50], అరవై (౬౦, aravai) [60], డెబ్బై (౭౦, ḍebbai) [70], ఎనభై (౮౦, enabhai) [80], and తొంభై (౯౦, tombhai) [90].
• Teens are formed starting with the root of the word for ten (ప, pad or pan), followed by the unit with no space, except for eleven and twelve: పదకొండు (౧౧, padakoṇḍu) [11], పన్నెండు (౧౨, panneṇḍu) [12], పదమూడు (౧౩, padamūḍu) [13], పధ్నాలుగు (౧౪, padhnālugu) [14], పదునయిదు (౧౫, padunayidu) [15], పదహారు (౧౬, padahāru) [16], పదిహేడు (౧౭, padihēḍu) [17], పధ్ధెనిమిది (౧౮, padhdhenimidi) [18], and పందొమ్మిది (౧౯, paṅdommidi) [19].
• Compound numbers above twenty-one are formed starting with the ten, then the unit separated with a space (e.g.: ఇరవై ఎనిమిది / iravai enimidi [౨౮ / 28], యాభై ఏడు / yābhai ēḍu [౫౭ / 57]).
• One hundred is వంద (౧౦౦, vanda) [100], and one thousand is వెయ్యి (౧,౦౦౦, veyyi) [1,000].
• The Indian counting system (or more exactly the counting system the Indian subcontinent) groups the decimals by three only up to one thousand, then groups them by two beyond. This notation, coming from the Vedic Numeration System, applies to Telugu. The large numbers are named as follow:
  • లక్ష (lakṣa): 1,00,000 (one hundred thousand, or 10⁵);
  • పది లక్షల (padi lakṣala): 10,00,000 (one million, or 10⁶);
  • కోటి (kōṭi): 1,00,00,000 (ten million, or 10⁷);

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