UPMSP High School Telugu key terms

Telugu prose writing, as opposed to verse. In the syllabus it covers essays, short stories and biographical sketches studied for theme, character and author background rather than metre.

A metrical Telugu verse composed in a prescribed chandassu. Candidates memorise it, explain word meaning, identify rasa and name the figures of speech it contains.

The science of Telugu metre. Each padyam follows a fixed pattern of gaṇas and syllables; candidates must name metres such as utpalamāla, champakamāla, śārdūlam and mattebham.

A group of three syllables classified by their laghu (short) and guru (long) pattern. Three gaṇas make one foot in Telugu metres and determine the metre's name.

The short and long syllable units of Telugu prosody. A laghu counts as one mātra and a guru as two; their sequence inside a gaṇa fixes the metre of a verse.

The prescribed pause or caesura inside a line of a Telugu verse, falling at a fixed syllable position. Breaking yati incorrectly is treated as a metrical fault.

The second-syllable rhyme found in Telugu verse, where the consonant of the second syllable repeats in each line of a stanza. It is a defining feature of classical Telugu poetry.

The aesthetic flavour a poem evokes in the reader, such as śṛṅgāra (love), vīra (heroism), karuṇa (compassion) or hāsya (comedy). Candidates name the dominant rasa and justify it.

A poetic figure that ornaments meaning or sound, for example upamā (simile), rūpaka (metaphor) and atiśayokti (hyperbole). Candidates identify the figure in a given line and explain it.

Simile. Two unlike things are compared openly using words such as 'like' or 'as', and the comparison must state the common quality shared by both.

Metaphor. The compared object is identified with the object of comparison without any word of comparison, so that the two are fused into one image.

The underlying feeling or sense of a passage or verse, stated in the candidate's own words. It is the standard short-answer demand after a padyam or gadyam is read.

The euphonic combination of two adjacent sounds into one form, as when a word-final vowel meets a word-initial vowel. Candidates split a given combined form or join two words correctly.

A vowel sandhi in which a short or long vowel of the same class meets its own class and the result is the corresponding long vowel, as in 'rāma' plus 'ayana' giving 'rāmāyana'.

A sandhi in which a short 'a' or 'ā' is followed by 'i', 'u' or 'ṛ', and the combination yields 'e', 'o' or 'ar' respectively, as in 'rāma' plus 'īśa' giving 'ramēśa'.

A sandhi where a word-final 'a' or 'ā' is followed by 'e' or 'ai', producing 'ai', or by 'o' or 'au', producing 'au', as in 'eka' plus 'ēka' giving 'aikya'.

A sandhi involving a consonant, typically where a word-final 't' or 'n' meets a following sound and changes accordingly, as in 'sat' plus 'janāḥ' becoming 'sajjanāḥ'.

A compound in which two or more words are fused into a single nominal unit. Candidates must split a compound into its component words and name its type.

A compound whose first member qualifies the second, and whose head is the final member, as in 'rāja' plus 'putra' meaning the king's son. The compound behaves as the last word.

A compound joining two or more coordinate words that could be linked by 'and', as in 'rāma' plus 'lakṣmaṇa' giving 'rāmalakṣmaṇulu'. All members carry equal weight.

A compound that names a third entity possessing the combined quality, not either member itself, as in 'dīrgha' plus 'bāhu' meaning the long-armed one, referring to a person.

A compound in which the first member is an adjective describing the second, both referring to the same thing, as in 'nīla' plus 'kamalam' meaning the blue lotus.

A grammatical case ending marking the relation of a noun to the verb, in Telugu usually shown by suffixes such as -nu, -ki, -tō, -ku and -andu. There are eight cases including the vocative.

The semantic role a noun plays in relation to the action of a verb, such as doer, object, instrument, recipient or location. Kāraka differs from mere case ending.

The agent or doer of the action in a sentence, marked in Telugu by the first case ending or by the suffix -ḍu, and controlling agreement on the verb.

The verb of a sentence, which carries tense, person and number. Telugu verbs agree with the subject in person and number and show past, present and future forms.

The root form of a verb from which finite and participial forms are built, as 'cēyu' (to do) yields 'cēsēnu', 'cēstunnāḍu' and 'cēyagalanu'.

The non-detailed supplementary reader of the Telugu course, studied for plot, character and theme. Questions ask for short summaries and character sketches rather than word-by-word explanation.

A character sketch describing a figure's qualities, motives and role in the story, supported by incidents from the text. It is a standard question on both prose and the upavācakam.

A short account of an author's life, period, works and place in Telugu literature, asked alongside the prose lesson the author wrote.

A summary of a passage or text in condensed form, retaining only the central idea and chief supporting points, written in the candidate's own sentences.

Précis writing. A passage is reduced to roughly one-third of its length, keeping the main argument, avoiding examples and using fresh wording without comment.

An essay written to a set word limit on a given topic, organised into introduction, body paragraphs and conclusion, with relevant examples and no digression.

A letter written in the prescribed format, with sender's address, date, salutation, body and closing. Formal and personal letters follow different conventions of address and tone.

Dialogue writing between two or more speakers on a given situation, using natural turn-taking, appropriate address forms and a clear opening and closing.

Translation of a given passage between Telugu and Hindi or English, preserving meaning, tone and register rather than translating word for word.

A synonym, a word of the same or nearly the same meaning as another, such as 'nīru' and 'jalaṃ' for water. Questions ask for equivalents in Telugu or across languages.

An antonym, a word opposite in meaning to another, such as 'satyaṃ' and 'asatyaṃ'. Candidates supply the opposite term for a word taken from the prescribed texts.

An unseen prose passage, not from the prescribed textbook, followed by comprehension questions on its main idea, details, vocabulary and inferred meaning.

An unseen verse, unfamiliar to the candidate, to be read and explained for meaning, rasa and figure of speech using the same skills applied to prescribed poems.