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Telugu language

Telugu is a Dravidian language native to the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where it is also the official language. Spoken by about 96 million people (2022), Telugu is the most widely spoken member of the Dravidian language family, and one of the twenty-two scheduled languages of the Republic of India. It is one of the few languages that has primary official status in more than one Indian state, alongside Hindi and Bengali. Telugu is one of the six languages designated as a classical language by the Government of India. It is the 14th most spoken native language in the world. Modern Standard Telugu is based on the dialect of erstwhile Krishna, Guntur, East Godavari and West Godavari districts of Coastal Andhra.

Telugu is also spoken in the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and the union territories of Puducherry and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It is also spoken by members of the Telugu diaspora spread across countries like United States, Australia, Malaysia, Mauritius, UAE, Saudi Arabia and others. Telugu is the fastest-growing language in the United States. It is also a protected language in South Africa and is offered as an optional third language in schools in KwaZulu-Natal province.

According to Mikhail S. Andronov, Telugu split from the Proto-Dravidian language around 1000 BCE. Earliest inscriptions with Telugu words date back to c. 400 BCE in Bhattiprolu of Andhra Pradesh. Telugu words were also found in the inscriptions of Emperor Ashoka (257 BCE), Satavahanas, and Vishnukundinas. Inscriptions in Old Telugu script were found as far away as Indonesia and Myanmar. Telugu was the court language of various dynasties of South India namely the Eastern Chalukyas, Eastern Gangas, Kakatiyas, Vijayanagara Empire, Qutb Shahis, Madurai Nayaks, Thanjavur Nayaks. Telugu was used officially as a language of bureaucracy outside its homeland even by non-Telugu dynasties like the Thanjavur Marathas in Tamil Nadu.

Telugu has an unbroken, prolific, and diverse literary tradition of over a thousand years. Pavuluri Mallana's Sāra Sangraha Ganitamu (c. 11th century) is the first scientific treatise on mathematics in any Dravidian language. Avadhānaṃ, a literary performance that requires immense memory power and an in-depth knowledge of literature and prosody, originated and was specially cultivated among Telugu poets for over five centuries. Roughly 10,000 pre-colonial inscriptions exist in Telugu.

In the precolonial era, Telugu became the language of high culture across South India. Vijaya Ramaswamy compared it to the overwhelming dominance of French as the cultural language of modern Europe during roughly the same era. Telugu also predominates in the evolution of Carnatic music, one of two main subgenres of Indian classical music and is widely taught in music colleges focusing on Carnatic tradition. Various non-Telugu people over the centuries have remarked on the natural musicality of Telugu speech, referring to it as a mellifluous and euphonious language.

Etymology
Speakers of Telugu refer to it as simply Telugu or Telugoo. Older forms of the name include Teluṅgu and Tenuṅgu. Tenugu is derived from the Proto-Dravidian word *ten ("south") to mean "the people who lived in the south/southern direction" (relative to Sanskrit and Prakrit-speaking peoples). The name Telugu, then, is a result of an "n" to "l" alternation established in Telugu.

The popular belief holds that Telugu is derived from Trilinga of Trilinga Kshetras being the land bounded by the 3 Lingas which is Telugu homeland. P. Chenchiah and Bhujanga Rao note that Atharvana Acharya in the 13th century wrote a grammar of Telugu, calling it the Trilinga Śabdānusāsana (or Trilinga Grammar). However, most scholars note that Atharvana's grammar was titled Atharvana Karikavali.   Appa Kavi in the 17th century explicitly wrote that Telugu was derived from Trilinga. Scholar C. P. Brown made a comment that it was a "strange notion" since the predecessors of Appa Kavi had no knowledge of such a derivation.

George Abraham Grierson and other linguists doubt this derivation, holding rather that Telugu was the older term and Trilinga must be the later Sanskritisation of it. If so the derivation itself must have been quite ancient because Triglyphum, Trilingum and Modogalingam are attested in ancient Greek sources, the last of which can be interpreted as a Telugu rendition of "Trilinga".

History
Telugu, as a Dravidian language, descends from Proto-Dravidian, a proto-language. Linguistic reconstruction suggests that Proto-Dravidian was spoken around the fourth millennium BCE. According to the Russian linguist Mikhail S. Andronov, Proto-Telugu split from the Proto South-Central-Dravidian language around 1000 BCE.

Comparative linguistics confirms that Telugu belongs to the South Dravidian-II (aka South-Central Dravidian) sub-group, which also includes non-literary languages like Gondi, Kuvi, Koya, Pengo, Konda and Manda.

The linguistic history of Telugu is periodised as:

Proto-Telugu (≤ 1000 BCE) > Pre-historic Telugu (c. 600 BCE - 200 BCE) > Old Telugu (200 BCE - 1000 CE) > Middle Telugu (1000 CE - 1600 CE) > Modern Telugu (1600 CE - Now)

Pre-historic Telugu (c. 600 BCE - 200 BCE)
Pre-historic Telugu is identified with the period around 600 BCE or even earlier.

There are competing explanations for the original homeland of Pre-historic Telugu speakers, with some identifying it with the ancient Krishna Godavari Basin and others with the border region of Telugu States and Chhattisgarh.

Pre-historic Telugu, based on analysing its linguistic features can rightly be called as 'one of the most conservative languages of the Dravidian family'.

One such feature is the presence of contrast in plural markers -ḷ and -nkkVḷ (as a combination of -nkk and -Vḷ) which was lost in the earliest versions of many other Dravidian languages.

e.g.: pū-ḷ : flowers, ā-ḷ : 'cows' as being distinct from kolan-kuḷ : 'tanks', ī-gaḷ : 'houseflies' etc.

The nominative markers were -nḏu (masc.sg.p1), -aṁbu (inanimate.sg) which continued to attest in the early inscriptions.

The reconstructed personal pronouns are: *ñān : 'I' (oblique : *ñā), *ñām (& ēm) : 'we'.

The early language displays higher phonemic retention. Some of the characteristic phonemes include the Voiced retroflex approximant ('ḻ' or /ɻ/) and Voiced alveolar plosive ('ḏ' or /d/). The latter developed as Alveolar trill ('ṟ' or /r/) at different positions. Both the alveolars /d/ and /r/ are evidenced as being distinct phonemes through the early epigraphic traces.

Tenses were of the form: "past vs non-past" and the gender being "masculine vs non-masculine".

There were three demonstratives in use: ā: distant 'that', ī: proximate 'this', ū (Classical Telugu: ulla): intermediate 'yonder'.

Non-palatalized initials are identified from the words like: kēsiri ('they did') as found in inscriptions till 8th century CE.

Words were mostly vowel-ending while there were consonant-endings with sonorants like: -y, -r, -m, -n, -l, -ḷ, -ḻ, -w. Classical Telugu, however, has forms with an epenthetic -u which 'vowelises' the final and was widely distributed. In Modern Telugu, the epenthetic -u after sonorants is sometimes deleted when it precedes a consonant-initial, slightly resembling the original situation.

Archaic place name suffixes are also identified, some of them being -puḻōl, -ūr, -paḷḷiya, -pāḷiyam, -paṟṟu, -konḏa, -pūṇḍi, -paṭṭaṇa(ṁbu), pāḻu, paṟiti, pāka(m) etc. Apical displacement was under progress for a set of words. The conjunctive marker -um possessed different structural applications.

Earliest records
Prakrit Inscriptions with several Telugu roots or words dating back to between 400 BCE and 100 BCE have been discovered in Bhattiprolu in Bapatla district of Andhra Pradesh. The English translation of an inscription reads, "gift of the slab by venerable Midikilayakha". The Bhattiprolu stone Buddhist casket in Old Telugu belongs to 3rd century BCE, the Erragudi Asokan Rock Edict in Old Telugu belongs to 257 BCE.

One of the first words in the Telugu language, "nāgabu", was found on a granite pillar in the Amaravati Stupa. It is dated to 2nd century BCE and is probably, the name of a stonemason. Its structural and grammatical analysis played a key role in studying Indus script by Iravatham Mahadevan.

Several personal names and place names traceable to Telugu roots are found in various Sanskrit and Prakrit inscriptions of 2nd and 1st centuries BCE.

The Ghantasala Brahmin inscription and the pillar inscription of Vijaya Satakarni, Vijayapuri, Nagarjunakonda etc., belong to first century CE. Further, Tummalagudem inscription of Vishnukundinas belongs to 5th century CE. Telugu place names in Prakrit inscriptions have been attested from 2nd century CE onwards.

A number of Telugu words were found in the Sanskrit and Prakrit inscriptions of the Satavahana dynasty, Vishnukundina dynasty, and Andhra Ikshvakus. The coin legends of the Satavahanas, in all areas and all periods, used a Prakrit dialect without exception. Some reverse coin legends are in Telugu, and Tamil languages.

According to Telugu lore, its grammar has a prehistoric past. The Sage Kanva was said to be the language's first grammarian. A. Rajeswara Sarma discussed the historicity and content of Kanva's grammar. He cited twenty grammatical aphorisms ascribed to Kanva, and concluded that Kanva wrote an ancient Telugu Grammar which was lost.

Post-Ikshvaku period
The period from 4th century CE to 1022 CE corresponds to the second phase of Telugu history, after the Andhra Ikshvaku period. The first 'long inscription' that is entirely in Telugu is dated to 575 CE in erstwhile Kadapa district and is attributed to the Renati Choda king Dhanunjaya.

On top of one of the rock-cut caves around the Keesaragutta temple, 35 km from Hyderabad, an early Telugu label inscription reading  'tolacuwānḍru' (తొలచువాండ్రు) meaning rock carvers, or quarrymen, can be noticed. On the basis of paleography, the inscription is dated to Vishnukundina period of c.400 CE. It is the earliest known short Telugu inscription from the Telangana region.

Cave inscriptions of Mahendra Pallava in Telugu were attested as belonging to the late 6th century in Tamil Nadu, which mention the words, aṁkkapāsunṟu, aṁkkapāsumbu etc. The nominative markers in these words played a key role in the study of the Indus script by Iravatham Mahadevan.

From the 6th century complete Telugu inscriptions begin to appear in the neighbouring districts of Kadapa, Prakasam and in the Palnadu region. Metrically composed Telugu inscriptions and those with ornamental or literary prose appear from 630 CE. The Madras Museum plates of Balliya-Choda dated to the mid-ninth century CE are the earliest copper plate grants in the Telugu language.

Telugu was more influenced by Sanskrit and Prakrit during this period, which corresponded to the advent of Telugu literature. Telugu literature was initially found in inscriptions and poetry in the courts of the rulers, and later in written works such as Nannayya's Mahabharatam (1022 CE). During the time of Nannayya, the literary language diverged from the popular language. It was also a period of phonetic changes in the spoken language.

Middle Ages
The third phase is marked by further stylisation and sophistication of the literary languages. During this period the split of the Telugu from Telugu-Kannada alphabet took place. Tikkana wrote his works in this script.

Vijayanagara Empire
The Vijayanagara Empire gained dominance from 1336 to the late 17th century, reaching its peak during the rule of Krishnadevaraya in the 16th century, when Telugu literature experienced what is considered its Golden Age.

Delhi Sultanate and Mughal influence
A distinct dialect developed in present-day Hyderabad region, due to Persian/Arabic influence: the Delhi Sultanate of the Tughlaq dynasty was established earlier in the northern Deccan Plateau during the 14th century. In the latter half of the 17th century, the Mughal Empire extended further south, culminating in the establishment of the Hyderabad State by the dynasty of the Nizam of Hyderabad in 1724. This heralded an era of Persian influence on the Telugu language, especially Hyderabad State. The effect is also evident in the prose of the early 19th century, as in the kaifiyats.

In the princely Hyderabad State, the Andhra Mahasabha was started in 1921 with the main intention of promoting Telugu language, literature, its books and historical research led by Madapati Hanumantha Rao (the founder of the Andhra Mahasabha), Komarraju Venkata Lakshmana Rao (Founder of Library Movement in Hyderabad State), Suravaram Pratapa Reddy and others.

Colonial period
The 15th-century Venetian explorer Niccolò de' Conti, who visited the Vijayanagara Empire, found that the words in the Telugu language end with vowels, just like those in Italian, and hence referred to it as "The Italian of the East"; a saying that has been widely repeated.

In the late 19th and the early 20th centuries, the influence of the English language was seen, and modern communication/printing press arose as an effect of British rule, especially in the areas that were part of the Madras Presidency. Literature from this time had a mix of classical and modern traditions and included works by such scholars as Gidugu Venkata Ramamoorty, Kandukuri Veeresalingam, Gurajada Apparao, Gidugu Sitapati and Panuganti Lakshminarasimha Rao.

Since the 1930s, what was considered an "elite" literary form of the Telugu language has now spread to the common people with the introduction of mass media like movies, television, radio and newspapers. This form of the language is also taught in schools and colleges as a standard.

Post-independence period
Telugu is one of the 22 languages with official status in India. The Andhra Pradesh Official Language Act, 1966, declares Telugu the official language of the state that is currently divided into Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It also has official language status in the Yanam district of the union territory of Puducherry. It is the fourth most spoken Indian language in India after Hindi, Bengali and Marathi. It is one of the six classical languages of India.

Telugu Language Day is celebrated every year on 29 August, the birthday of Telugu poet Gidugu Venkata Ramamurthy. The fourth World Telugu Conference was organised in Tirupati in the last week of December 2012. Issues related to Telugu language policy were deliberated at length. The American Community Survey has said that data for 2016 which were released in September 2017 showed Telugu is the third most widely spoken Indian language in the US. Hindi tops the list followed by Gujarati, as of the 2010 census.

In the Indian subcontinent, a command over Telugu language, alongside Sanskrit, Tamil, Meitei, Oriya, Persian, or Arabic, is highly appreciated and respected for learning dances (most significantly Indian Classical Dances) as dancers could have the tools of these languages to go into the primary material texts.

Geographic distribution
Telugu is natively spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and Yanam district of Puducherry. Telugu speakers are also found in the neighbouring states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, some parts of Jharkhand, and the Kharagpur region of West Bengal in India. Many Telugu immigrants are also found in the states of Gujarat, Goa, Bihar, Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan. At 7.2% of the population, Telugu is the fourth-most-spoken native language in India after Hindi, Bengali, and Marathi. In Karnataka, 7.0% of the population speak Telugu, and 5.6% in Tamil Nadu.

There are more than 400,000 Telugu Americans in the United States. , Telugu is the fastest-growing language in the United States, (especially in New Jersey and New York City), with the number of Telugu speakers in the United States increasing by 86% between 2010 and 2017. Minority Telugus are also found in Australia, New Zealand, Bahrain, Canada, Fiji, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Mauritius, Myanmar, Europe (Italy, the United Kingdom), South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United Arab Emirates.

Legal status
Telugu is the official language of the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It is one of the 22 languages under schedule 8 of the constitution of India. It is one of the official languages of the union territories of Puducherry. Telugu is a protected language in South Africa. According to the Constitution of South Africa, the Pan South African Language Board must promote and ensure respect for Telugu along with other languages. The Government of South Africa announced that Telugu will be re-included as an official subject in the South African schools after it was removed from the curriculum in state schools.

In addition, with the creation in October 2004 of a legal status for classical languages by the Government of India on 8 August 2008, Telugu was also given classical language status due to several campaigns.

Epigraphical records
According to the famous Japanese historian Noboru Karashima who served as the president of the Epigraphical Society of India in 1985, there are approximately 10,000 inscriptions which exist in the Telugu language as of the year 1996 making it one of the most densely inscribed languages. Inscriptions in Old Telugu script were found as far away as Indonesia and Myanmar. Telugu inscriptions are found in all the districts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. They are also found in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh. According to recent estimates by ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) the number of inscriptions in the Telugu language goes up to 14,000. Adilabad, Medak, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Ranga Reddy, Hyderabad, Mahbubnagar, Anantapur, Chittoor and Srikakulam produced only a handful of Telugu inscriptions in the Kakatiya era between 1135 CE and 1324 CE.

Telugu region boundaries
Andhra is characterised as having its own mother tongue, and its territory has been equated with the extent of the Telugu language. The equivalence between the Telugu linguistic sphere and the geographical boundaries of Andhra is also brought out in an eleventh-century description of Andhra boundaries. Andhra, according to this text, was bounded in north by Mahendra mountain in the modern Ganjam district in Odisha and to the south by Srikalahasteeswara temple in Tirupati district. However, Andhra extended westwards as far as Srisailam in Nandyal district, about halfway across the modern state. According to other sources in the early sixteenth century, the northern boundary is Simhachalam and the southern limit is Tirumala of the Telugu Nation.

Telugu Place Names
Telugu place names are present all around Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Common suffixes are -ooru, -pudi, -padu, -peta, -pattanam, -wada, -gallu, -cherla, -seema, -gudem, -palle, -palem, -konda, -veedu, -valasa, -pakam, -paka, -prolu, -wolu, -waka, -ili, -kunta, -parru, -villi, -gadda, -kallu, -eru, -varam,-puram,-pedu and -palli. Examples that use this nomenclature are Nellore, Tadepalligudem, Guntur, Chintalapudi, Yerpedu, Narasaraopeta, Sattenapalle, Visakapatnam, Vizianagaram, Ananthagiri, Vijayawada, Vuyyuru, Macherla, Poranki, Ramagundam, Warangal, Mancherial, Peddapalli, Siddipet, Pithapuram, Banswada, and Miryalaguda.

Dialects

There are four regional dialects in Telugu:

 * Western : Telangana
 * Southern: Rayalaseema
 * Central: Coastal Andhra
 * Northern : North Andhra

Colloquially, Telangana, Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra dialects are considered the three Telugu dialects and regions.

Waddar, Chenchu, and Manna-Dora are all closely related to Telugu. Other dialects of Telugu are Berad, Dasari, Dommara, Golari, Kamathi, Komtao, Konda-Reddi, Salewari, Vadaga, Srikakula, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, Rayalaseema, Nellore, Guntur, Vadari Bangalore, and Yanadi.

Phonology

The Roman transliteration used for transcribing the Telugu script is the National Library at Kolkata romanisation.

Telugu words generally end in vowels. In Old Telugu, this was absolute; in the modern language m, n, y, w may end a word. Sanskrit loans have introduced aspirated and murmured consonants as well.

Telugu does not have contrastive stress, and speakers vary on where they perceive stress. Most place it on the penultimate or final syllable, depending on word and vowel length.

Consonants
The table below lists the consonant phonemes of Telugu, along with the symbols used in the transliteration of the Telugu script used here (where different from IPA).

 * The aspirated and breathy-voiced consonants occur mostly in Sanskrit and Prakrit loanwords, additionally /tʰ/ is used to substitute /θ/ in English loans, the only aspirate which occurs natively is /dʱ/ which occurs only in a few compound numbers e.g. /pɐddʱenimidi/ "18" likely a result of the proto Dravidian laryngeal */H/ there is also an unaspirated /pɐddenimidi/ version which is used more commonly. All of the fricatives except for native also only occurs in loanwords.
 * Perso-Arabic phonemes like /q, x, ɣ, z/ are substituted with /k, kʰ, ɡ, d͡ʒ/ similar to Hindi.
 * /t͡s, d͡z/ occurs only in native words and doesn't have aspirated/breathy forms. Native words with /t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ/ before non front vowels became /t͡s, d͡z/, the change became phonemised after loaning words with /t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ/ from other languages. Intervocalically /d͡z/ can become [z] e.g. [rɐːzu, d͡zoːli, ɡudd͡zu].
 * /ʋ/ can be rounded to a [β̞ʷ] around rounded vowels.
 * The common Proto Dravidian approximant */ɻ/ merged with /ɖ/ in Telugu while it was preserved as /ɽ/ in the other Southern II branch languages.
 * Many of the old /ɳ/ and /ɭ/ merged with /n/ and /l/. The Telangana dialect might completely merge /ɳ/ and /ɭ/ with /n/ and /l/.

Most consonants contrast in length in word-medial position, meaning that there are long (geminated) and short phonetic renderings of the sounds. A few examples of words that contrast by length of word-medial consonants:

 * /ɡɐdi/ gadi (room) – /ɡɐdːi/ gaddi (throne)'
 * /ɐʈu/ aṭu (that side) – /ɐʈːu/ aṭṭu (pancake)
 * /moɡɐ/ moga (male) – /moɡːɐ/ mogga (bud)
 * /nɐmɐkɐmu/ namakamu (a vedic hymn) – /nɐmːɐkɐmu/ nammakamu (belief)
 * /kɐnu/ kanu (to give birth to) – /kɐnːu/ kannu (eye)
 * /kɐlɐ/ kala (dream) – /kɐlːɐ/ kalla (falsehood)
 * /mɐɾi/ mari (again) – /mɐɾːi/ marri (banyan tree)

All retroflex consonants occur in intervocalic position and when adjacent to a retroflex consonant, for instance. /ʋɐːɳiː/ vāṇī 'tippet', /kɐʈɳɐm/ kaṭṇam 'dowry', /pɐɳɖu/ paṇḍu 'fruit'; /kɐɭɐ/ kaḷa 'art', /bɐːɭʈi/ bāḷṭi 'bucket' (from Portuguese balde 'bucket'). With the exception of /ɳ/ and /ɭ/, all occur word-initial in a few words, such as /ʈɐkːu/ ṭakku 'pretence', /ʈhiːʋi/ ṭhīvi 'grandeur', /ɖipːɐ/ ḍippā 'half of a spherical object', /ɖɦoːkɐː/ ḍhōkā 'danger', and /ʂoːku/ ṣōku 'fashionable appearance'.

The approximant /j/ occurs in word-initial position only in borrowed words, such as. /jɐnɡu/ yangu, from English 'young', /jɐʃɐsːu/ yaśassu from Sanskrit yaśas /jɐʃɐs/ 'fame'.

Vowels
Vowels in Telugu contrast in length; there are short and long versions of all vowels except for /æ/, which only occurs as long. Long vowels can occur in any position within the word, but native Telugu words do not end in a long vowel. Short vowels occur in all positions of a word, with the exception of /o/, which does not occur word-finally. The vowels of Telugu are illustrated below, along with the Telugu script and romanisation.

Allophones
In most dialects, the vowel only occurs in loan words. In the Guntur dialect, is a frequent allophone of  in certain verbs in the past tense.

Telugu has two diphthongs: ఐ ai and  ఔ au.

Roots alter according to whether the first vowel is tense or lax. Also, if the second vowel is open (i.e., or ), then the first vowel is more open and centralised (e.g.,  'goat', as opposed to  'nail'). Telugu words also have vowels in inflectional suffixes that are harmonised with the vowels of the preceding syllable.

Grammar
The traditional study of Telugu Grammar is known as vyākaraṇam (వ్యాకరణం). The first treatise on Telugu grammar, the Āndhra Śabda Cinṭāmaṇi, was written in Sanskrit by Nannayya, considered the first Telugu poet and translator, in the 12th century CE. This grammar followed patterns described in grammatical treatises such as Aṣṭādhyāyī and Vālmīkivyākaranam, but unlike Pāṇini, Nannayya divided his work into five chapters, covering samjnā, sandhi, ajanta, halanta and kriya.

In the 19th century, Chinnaya Suri wrote a condensed work on Telugu grammar called Bāla Vyākaraṇam, borrowing concepts and ideas from Nannayya's grammar.

Morphosyntax
Relations between participants in an event are coded in Telugu words through suffixation; there are no prefixes or infixes in the language. There are six word classes in Telugu: nominals (proper nouns, pronouns), verbs (actions or events), modifiers (adjectives, quantifiers, numerals), adverbs (modify the way in which actions or events unfold), and clitics.

Telugu nouns are inflected for number (singular, plural), noun class (three classes traditionally termed masculine, feminine, and neuter) and case (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, vocative, instrumental, and locative).

Word order
The basic word order in Telugu is subject-object-verb (SOV).

Noun classes (gender)
As with other Dravidian languages, gender in Telugu follows a semantic system, in the sense that it is mostly the meaning of the word which defines the noun class to which it belongs. There are three noun classes: masculine (human males, he-gender), feminine (human females, she-gender), and neuter (all non-humans, it-gender). The gender of most nouns is encoded through agreement/indexation in pronominal suffixes rather than overtly on the noun.

anna wacc-in-āḍu

older.brother come-past-MASC

The older brother came

amma wacc-in-adi

mother come-past-FEM

Mother came

In terms of the verbal agreement system, genders in marking on the Telugu verb only occur in the third person.

The Telugu gender system is different from Dravidian languages like Tamil given that the Telugu feminine shares indexation morphemes with the masculine plural (-ru) and with the neuter singular (-di). What characterises the three-gender system is then the individual behaviour of the singular-plural pairs of suffixes.

Pronouns
Telugu pronouns include personal pronouns (the persons speaking, the persons spoken to, or the persons or things spoken about); indefinite pronouns; relative pronouns (connecting parts of sentences); and reciprocal or reflexive pronouns (in which the object of a verb is acted on by the verb's subject).

Personal pronouns
In informal Telugu, personal pronouns distinguish masculine from non-masculine.

Demonstratives
There is a wide variety of demonstrative pronouns in Telugu, whose forms depend on both proximity to the speaker and the level of formality. The formal demonstratives may also be used as formal personal pronoun, that is, the polite forms for this woman or this man and that woman or that man can also simply mean she and he in more formal contexts.

In the singular, there are four levels of formality when speaking about males and females, although the most formal/polite form is the same for both human genders. In both singular and plural, Telugu distinguishes two levels of distance from speaker (like in English), basically this and that, and these and those. In the plural, there are no distinctions between formality levels, but once again masculine and feminine forms are the same, while the neuter demonstratives are different.

Case system
The nominative case (karta), the object of a verb (karma), and the verb are somewhat in a sequence in Telugu sentence construction. "Vibhakti" (case of a noun) and "pratyāyamulu" (an affix to roots and words forming derivatives and inflections) depict the ancient nature and progression of the language. The "Vibhaktis" of Telugu language " డు [ɖu], ము [mu], వు [vu], లు [lu]", etc., are different from those in Sanskrit and have been in use for a long time.

Lexicon
Majority of the lexicon in Telugu is inherited from Proto-Dravidian language, a reconstructed hypothetical language of third millennium BCE.

Telugu retained some of the most archaic words, markers and morphemes of the Dravidian origin.

It shares its cognates with its closest South-Dravidian-II languages like Gondi, Kuwi and also with other Dravidian languages like Tamil, Kannada etc.

The lexicon of Classical Telugu works shows a pervasive influence of Sanskrit; there is also evidence suggesting an earlier influence even before Nannaya. During the period 1000–1100 CE, Nannaya's re-writing of the Mahābhārata in Telugu (మహాభారతము) established the liberal borrowing of Sanskrit words.

Literature in acca telugu or jānu telugu (జానుతెలుగు) by poets like Adibhatla Narayana Dasu, Ponneganti Telagana etc. emphasised the importance of native lexicon of Dravidian origin as opposed to the huge borrowings from Sanskrit and Prakrit.

Spoken Telugu preserved most of its Dravidian lexicon intact in various colloquial dialects.

The vocabulary of Telugu, especially in the city of Hyderabad, has borrowings from Persian and Arabic (through Urdu and directly) languages. These words have been modified to fit Telugu phonology. This was due to Turkic rule in these regions, such as the erstwhile kingdoms of Golkonda and Hyderabad (e.g., కబురు, for Urdu,  or జవాబు,  for Urdu , ).

Many words were borrowed from English language in the modern era and few from Portuguese during the colonial era.

Modern Telugu vocabulary can be said to constitute a diglossia because the formal, standardised version of the language is either lexically Sanskrit or heavily influenced by Sanskrit, as taught in schools, and used by the government and Hindu religious institutions.

However, colloquial Telugu is less influenced by Sanskrit and varies depending upon region.

Prakruti and Vikruti
Telugu has many Tatsama words. They are called Prakruti, which are equivalent to Sanskrit words. The equivalent colloquial or Tadbhava words are called Vikruti, which means distorted. However, Prakruti is only used as a medium of instruction in educational institutions, offices etc. For example:

Sample text
The given sample text is Article 1 from the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

English
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Telugu
ప్రతిపత్తిస్వత్వముల విషయమున మానవులెల్లరును జన్మతః స్వతంత్రులును సమానులును నగుదురు. వారు వివేచన-అంతఃకరణ సంపన్నులగుటచే పరస్పరము భ్రాతృభావముతో వర్తింపవలయును.

Romanisation (ISO 15919)
Pratipattisvatvamula viṣayamuna mānavulellarunu janmataḥ svatantrulunu samānulunu naguduru. Vāru vivēcana-antaḥkaraṇa sampannulaguṭacē parasparamu bhrātr̥bhāvamutō vartimpavalayunu.

IPA
/pɾɐt̪ipɐt̪t̪isʋɐt̪ʋɐmulɐ viʂɐjɐmun̪ɐ maːn̪ɐʋulellaɾun̪u d͡ʒɐn̪mɐt̪ɐhɐ sʋɐt̪ɐn̪t̪ɾulun̪u sɐmaːn̪ulun̪u n̪ɐɡud̪uɾu ǁ ʋaːɾu ʋiʋeːt͡ʃɐn̪ɐ ɐn̪t̪ɐkkɐɾɐɳɐ sɐmpɐn̪n̪ulɐɡuʈɐt͡ʃeː pɐɾɐspɐɾɐmu bʱɾaːt̪ɾubʱaːʋɐmut̪oː ʋɐɾt̪impɐʋɐlɐjun̪u ǁ/

Writing system
The Telugu script is an abugida consisting of 60 symbols — 16 vowels, 3 vowel modifiers, and 41 consonants. Telugu has a complete set of letters that follow a system to express sounds. The script is derived from the Brahmi script like those of many other Indian languages. The Telugu script is written from left to right and consists of sequences of simple and complex characters. The script is syllabic in nature—the basic units of writing are syllables. Since the number of possible syllables is very large, syllables are composed of more basic units such as vowels ("acchu" or "swaram") and consonants ("hallu" or "vyanjanam"). Consonants in consonant clusters take shapes that are very different from the shapes they take elsewhere. Consonants are presumed pure consonants, that is, without any vowel sound in them. However, it is traditional to write and read consonants with an implied "a" vowel sound. When consonants combine with other vowel signs, the vowel part is indicated orthographically using signs known as vowel "mātras". The shapes of vowel "mātras" are also very different from the shapes of the corresponding vowels.

Historically, a sentence used to end with either a single bar। ("pūrna virāmam") or a double bar॥ ("dīrgha virāmam"); in handwriting, Telugu words were not separated by spaces. However, in modern times, English punctuation (commas, semicolon, etc.) has virtually replaced the old method of punctuation.

Telugu has full-zero ("anusvāra" or "sunna" ) ( ం ), half-zero ("arthanusvāra" or "candrabindu" or "ara-sunna" ) (ఁ) and visarga ( ః ) to convey various shades of nasal sounds. [la] and [La], [ra] and [Ra] are differentiated.

Telugu has ĉ [t͡s] and ĵ [d͡z], which are not represented in Sanskrit.

(తెలుగు గుణింతాలు)
These are some examples of combining a consonant with different vowels. క కా కి కీ కు కూ కృ కౄ కె కే కై కొ కో కౌ క్ కం కః

ఖ ఖా ఖి ఖీ ఖు ఖూ ఖృ ఖౄ ఖె ఖే ఖై ఖొ ఖో ఖౌ ఖ్ ఖం ఖః

Number system
Telugu has ten digits employed with the Hindu–Arabic numeral system. However, in modern usage, the Arabic numerals have replaced them. Telugu is assigned Unicode codepoints: 0C00-0C7F (3072–3199).

Amaravati Stupa
Amarāvati Stupa is a ruined Buddhist stūpa at the village of Amaravathi, Palnadu district, Andhra Pradesh, India, probably built in phases between the third century BCE and about 250 CE. The word "nagabu" was one of the first Telugu words that was written on the Amaravati Stupa

Early Medieval Telugu Writings Period (500-850 CE)
These writings were mostly written by the Vishnukudinas, Telugu Chodas, and the Chalukyas.

Kallamalla Writing (575 CE)
This is the first writing entirely written in Telugu. It was written by Renati Choda king Dhanunjaya. in 575 CE. It was found on the premises of Chennakesava-Siddeshwara temple at Kalamalla village in Yerraguntla Mandal of the district.

Indravarma Sasanam
This was a writing written by Indra Varma in the 6th century. Indra Varma was a Vishnukudina king in the 6th century.

Janashrayi-Chhandovichiti
The 6th- or 7th-century Sanskrit text Janashrayi-Chhandovichiti (or Janāśraya-chandas) deals with the metres used in Telugu, including some metres that are not found in Sanskrit prosody. This indicates that Telugu poetry existed during or around the 6th century.

Vipparla and Lakshmipuram Writings
Vipparla Inscription of Jayasimha I and the Lakshmipuram inscription of the Mangi yuvaraja were the earliest Telugu inscriptions of Eastern chalukyas found in the 7th century AD.

Addanki Poem
Addanki inscription also known as the Pandaranga inscription belongs to 848AD, excavated near the Thousand Pillar Temple of Addanki. It is testimony to a flourishing Telugu literature much before the available literary texts. Locals believe that this is the first poem ever to be written in Telugu, also called the first Padya Sasanam(Poetic inscription) with (dvipada, with Yati and Prasa; style taruvoja)Staying with the Boya campaign, Pandaranga got victories in all military campaigns of his master Gunaga Vijayaditya III. The inscription spoke about the donation of land by the king to him for his successful military exploits.

Malliya Rechana
Malliya Rechana composed the first Telugu poetic prosody book Kavijanasrayam (pre-Nannayya chandassu). This was a popular one and referred by many poets. There seems to be even an earlier prosody book by Rechana's guru Vaadindra Chudamani which is not available.

Veturi Prabhakara Sastry in 1900s mentioned the existence of Pre-Nannayya Chandassu in Raja Raja Narendra Pattabhisheka Sanchika. Accurate dating of this piece of literature happened after the 1980s discoveries in Karimnagar. Rechana's work is variously dated from 940 CE to 12th and 13th century. Most scholars date him to post-Nannaya period.

Adikavi Pampa
Adikavi Pampa had written a Telugu work named Jinendra Puranam, a Jain work written in 941 CE.

The Pre-Nannaya Period (before 1020 CE)
In the earliest period Telugu literature existed in the form of inscriptions, precisely from 575 CE onward. Metrically composed Telugu inscriptions and those with ornamental or literary prose appear from 630 CE. Most scholars posit that Telugu literature existed prior to Nannaya (11th century), the first known Telugu poet. T. Vijay Kumar notes, "Since no literary texts in Telugu pre-dating 1020 C.E. have so far actually been discovered, the existence of any pre-Nannaya literature remains a matter of speculation and debate."

The Age of the Puranas (1020–1400 CE)
This is the period of Kavitrayam or Trinity of Poets. Nannayya, Tikkana, and Yerrapragada (or Errana) are known as the Kavitrayam.

Nannaya's (Telugu: నన్నయ) Andhra Mahabharatam written in early 11th century is commonly referred to as the first Telugu literary composition (Aadi Kavyam). Although there is evidence of Telugu literature before Nannaya, he is given the epithet Aadi Kavi ("the first poet"). Nannaya Bhattu acknowledged the help extended to him by his friend Narayana Bhattu in his composition in fields like making choices of grammatical forms, metres, form of the book, etc. and compares it to that extended to Arjuna by God Sri Krishna in the Bharata war. Nannaya was the first to establish a formal grammar of written Telugu. This grammar followed the patterns which existed in grammatical treatises like Aṣṭādhyāyī and Vālmīkivyākaranam but unlike Pāṇini, Nannayya divided his work into five chapters, covering samjnā, sandhi, ajanta, halanta and kriya.[14] Nannaya completed the first two chapters and a part of the third chapter of the Mahabharata epic, which is rendered in the Champu style.

Tikkana Somayaji (1205–1288 CE): Nannaya's Andhra Mahabharatam was almost completed by Tikanna Somayaji (Telugu: తిక్కన సోమయాజి) (1205–1288) who wrote chapters 4 to 18.

Yerrapragada: (Telugu: ఎర్రాప్రగడ) who lived in the 14th century, finished the epic by completing the third chapter. He mimics Nannaya's style in the beginning, slowly changes tempo and finishes the chapter in the writing style of Tikkana. These three writers – Nannaya, Tikanna and Yerrapragada – are known as the Kavitraya ("three great poets") of Telugu. Other such translations like Marana's Markandeya Puranam, Ketana's Dasakumara Charita, Yerrapragada's Harivamsam followed. Many scientific works, like Ganitasarasangrahamu by Pavuluri Mallana and Prakirnaganitamu by Eluganti Peddana, were written in the 12th century.

Sumati Satakam, which is a neeti ("moral"), is one of the most famous Telugu Satakams. Satakam is composed of more than a 100 padyalu (poems). According to many literary critics Sumati Satakam was composed by Baddena Bhupaludu (Telugu: బద్దెన భూపాల) (CE 1220–1280). He was also known as Bhadra Bhupala. He was a Chola prince and a vassal under the Kakatiya empress Rani Rudrama Devi, and a pupil of Tikkana. If we assume that the Sumati Satakam was indeed written by Baddena, it would rank as one of the earliest Satakams in Telugu along with the Vrushadhipa Satakam of Palkuriki Somanatha and the Sarveswara Satakam of Yathavakkula Annamayya. The Sumatee Satakam is also one of the earliest Telugu works to be translated into a European language, as C. P. Brown rendered it in English in the 1840s.

Palkuriki Somanatha: Important among his Telugu language writings are the Basava Purana, Panditaradhya charitra, Malamadevipuranamu and Somanatha Stava–in dwipada metre ("couplets"); Anubhavasara, Chennamallu Sisamalu, Vrushadhipa Sataka and Cheturvedasara–in verses; Basavodharana in verses and ragale metre (rhymed couplets in blank verse); and the Basavaragada.

Gona Budda Reddy: His Ranganatha Ramayanam was a pioneering work in the Telugu language on the theme of the Ramayana epic. Most scholars believe he wrote it between 1300 and 1310 A.D., possibly with help from his family. The work has become part of cultural life in Andhra Pradesh and is used in puppet shows.

In the Telugu literature Tikkana was given agraasana (top position) by many famous critics.

Paravastu Chinnayya Soori (1807–1861) is a well-known Telugu writer who dedicated his entire life to the progress and promotion of Telugu language and literature. Sri Chinnayasoori wrote the Bala Vyakaranam in a new style after doing extensive research on Telugu grammar. Other well-known writings by Chinnayasoori are Neethichandrika, Sootandhra Vyaakaranamu, Andhra Dhatumoola, and Neeti Sangrahamu.

Kandukuri Veeresalingam (1848–1919) is generally considered the father of modern Telugu literature. His novel Rajasekhara Charitamu was inspired by the Vicar of Wakefield. His work marked the beginning of a dynamic of socially conscious Telugu literature and its transition to the modern period, which is also part of the wider literary renaissance that took place in Indian culture during this period. Other prominent literary figures from this period are Gurajada Appa Rao, Viswanatha Satyanarayana, Gurram Jashuva, Rayaprolu Subba Rao, Devulapalli Krishnasastri and Srirangam Srinivasa Rao, popularly known as Mahakavi Sri Sri. Sri Sri was instrumental in popularising free verse in spoken Telugu (vaaduka bhasha), as opposed to the pure form of written Telugu used by several poets in his time. Devulapalli Krishnasastri is often referred to as the Shelley of Telugu literature because of his pioneering works in Telugu Romantic poetry.

Viswanatha Satyanarayana won India's national literary honour, the Jnanpith Award for his magnum opus Ramayana Kalpavrukshamu. C. Narayana Reddy won the Jnanpith Award in 1988 for his poetic work, Viswambara. Ravuri Bharadhwaja won the 3rd Jnanpith Award for Telugu literature in 2013 for Paakudu Raallu, a graphic account of life behind the screen in film industry. Kanyasulkam, the first social play in Telugu by Gurajada Appa Rao, was followed by the progressive movement, the free verse movement and the Digambara style of Telugu verse. Other modern Telugu novelists include Unnava Lakshminarayana (Maalapalli), Bulusu Venkateswarulu (Bharatiya Tatva Sastram), Kodavatiganti Kutumba Rao and Buchi Babu.

Telugu support on digital devices
Telugu input, display, and support were initially provided on the Microsoft Windows platform. Subsequently, various browsers, computer applications, operating systems, and user interfaces were localised in Telugu language for Windows and Linux platforms by vendors and free and open-source software volunteers. Telugu-capable smart phones were also introduced by vendors in 2013.

title: Telugu language


text:
Talk:Sacrament

Order of Sacrements
I just changed the order in which the sacraments are listed. Part of the order change is indisputable. However, since modifying the order, I've learned that some Catholic churches have changed the previously established order in which the sacraments are received. I'm now researching this further, but if somebody has good reason to believe one of these orders is preferable, I'm open to it. Please do comment before (or after) reversing it, though, as I'm interested in your sources/reasoning. Jtrnp (talk) 04:19, 17 January 2018 (UTC)

Born Again Christians
I submit that the section on Born Again Christians should be either deleted or greatly revised. A. There is no single "Born Again Christian Church", and, thus, no agreement upon the meaning of sacraments and ordinances. B. As previously noted, many Born Again groups (such as Baptists) would use the term ordinance rather than sacrament - thus rejecting the idea that performing the act imbues the participant with any saving grace. C. There is no agreement on the number of ordinances. D. Finally, and perhaps most critically, the passage is unsourced and seems to represent the ideas of the poster only. Thoughts? Bonbga (talk) 02:36, 19 October 2008 (UTC)

Wider use of sacrament
Update: Need some help, this page keeps reverting back to Christian relevance only. I made the page from a NPOV only to have it changed back. Everyone seems to agree.

141.157.181.139 (talk) 06:47, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

Are we sure sacrament should only refer to Christian rites? I was coming here to see if there was anything about the use of marijuana as a sacrament in the Rastafarian religion. Maybe Sacrament should be desimbiguated, and this aricle made into Sacrament (Christianity) and I could create a Sacrament (Rastafari) article. --SqueakBox 02:51, 16 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Response: Like, go for it, dude. --Midnite Critic 6 July 2005 20:55 (UTC)
 * To do? —Viriditas | Talk 10:36, 8 March 2006 (UTC)

 * Also the use of Ayahuasca in the União do Vegetal is an example of sacraments used in other religions. __meco 17:20, 2 August 2006 (UTC)

Yes I completely agree. I had linked to sacrament from ethnomycology, describing entheogen use in the Eleusinian mysteries in ancient Greece and was quite shocked to find that this article is written purely from a Christian perspective. Perhaps you should link to entheogen instead of sacrament and we'd have the distinction between "entheogens" for those that really work and "sacrament" for religious placebos. :P --Tchoutoye 00:22, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

On the topic of Rastafarian religion: with its Coptic and Baptist background and its firm rootedness in the Old Testament, one could argue that it is still a (heterodox) Christian religion --Tchoutoye 23:47, 28 January 2007 (UTC)

The truth is that sacrament is synonymous with entheogen, and the catholic church has always suppressed this knowledge. 69.4.157.198 (talk) 11:31, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

I took a very rough stab at this simply to have some general discussion here instead of the above comment. Not a bad idea to separate them, I suppose. Wesley

This looks pretty good, and I think it is necessary to have this, since non-Catholics use the term in such a different (symbolizing) way - I would add matter to action in the initial definition, because that's where Orthodox and Catholic theology go - in the Catholoic definition there has to be res ("thing") to have sacramenta -- the holy oil, the blessed water, the bread and wine, and the bodies of the  people (in marriage). I've never quite understood what the res in confession is, in fact. --MichaelTinkler

Orthodox sacramental theology
Would a paragraph trying to explain triune Orthodoxy sacramental theology be appropriate ? I mean, discussing how the sacraments may be divided as to whether they flow from eucharistic grace, baptismal grace, or .. um .. chrismatic grace ?

 * I'm not familiar with these sorts of divisions... still only been Orthodox a few years, and have lots left to learn. I remember that John Wesley talked about different types of grace, so perhaps this idea would apply to more than just Orthodoxy? Wesley 16:54, 21 Jan 2004 (UTC)

Catholics also practice foot-washing, but do not enumerate it on the list of seven sacraments. Does Catholicism hold that the foot-washing rite has some supernatural effect? And what about the Ash Wednesday rite? Michael Hardy 20:13, 23 Dec 2003 (UTC)

 * Two questions in one:
 * a) Foot-washing is done in Maudy Thursday as a significant way to show that the Priest/Bishop is a servant as Christ was. It can only have a supernatural effect as any other liturgical act (say, a simple blessing, or blessing the meals, or...) though its importance is great as a symbol. However, it is not meant to have any effect on those whose feet are washed.
 * b) Ash in Ash Wednesday is similar (now the receiver is properly the receiver of the ashes). It is a showing of penance, and as such it shows the receiver's will to approach God. But there is no divine guarantee that it gives grace.
 * The matter is difficult. In practical terms, the Church (and hence each Christian) could live without Ash and without foot-washing, but it cannot live without the Sacraments, more or less. Also, the Seven sacraments come by Apostolic Tradition while the others are "newer". One could boldly say that God has committed himself to give grace through the Sacraments: i.e. if I properly receive a Sacrament, I receive the grace.
 * As you know, the above does not imply He cannot give it by other means. You are a Mathematician as well.

 * In any case, I wanted to say I like the new first sentence very much. Pfortuny 21:54, 23 Dec 2003 (UTC)

 * Incidentally, I believe the Orthodox also practice foot washing on Holy Thursday, much as you describe it above. As you said, God can bless us in many many ways, but certain sacraments are (nearly?) essential. Wesley 16:54, 21 Jan 2004 (UTC)
 * Yes, many Christian denominations (including Anglicans, Lutherans, and Methodists) also practice foot washing. The catholic church reffers to ashes and such as "sacramentals" but not Sacraments. --Willthacheerleader18 (talk) 23:44, 13 August 2010 (UTC)

Hi, I'm a newcomer, an interested non-expert.

STYLE -- I am noticing spelling slips (e.g. anointing), sentence fragments and nonstandard end punctuation in these two paragraphs, and Greek and Hebrew words represented by Roman type.

REFERENCE -- Deuteronomy 30:23 regarding cinnamon/ calamus/ cannabis. Should that be Exodus 30:23?

CONTENT -- In Exodus 30:23, I am seeing the words "cinnamon" and "calamus" (or "sweet cane" or "aromatic cane") in several major committee translations (ASV, ESV, KJV, NASB, NIV). If this is a mistranslation of cannabis, I would like to see some reliable verifiables. POSSIBLY CONTROVERSIAL -- The article gets us from Christ to cannabis pretty quickly. "The Greek word Christ meaning annointing...for medicinal and psychoactive effects. Cannabis being the most likely...." First, shouldn't Christ be translated "anointed" rather than "anointing"? Would some verification for the translations be appropriate? Second, the article's emphasis on medical/ psychoactive anointing may not represent the accepted understanding of anointings in scripture. This is not intended as a discussion of the historicity of that - merely an observation that it is probably not the majority view in Christian teaching.

An unusual claim needs a lot of support, eh?

SqueakBox's suggestion to split Sacrament (Christianity) and Sacrament (Rastafari) articles (16 Feb 2005) still seems like a great idea. Best wishes, and thanks for your work. Blugue (talk) 20:20, 11 February 2008 (UTC)

Dominical sacraments
I've just created a redlink for dominical sacrament in this article and in article George Wishart. I have no idea whether there's enough to say about the topic to make a full-fledged article; if you think there is, please make an article there. If you're sure there's not, please make a redirect and do whatever fixing needs to be done in whatever target you pick (e.g., if you redirect Dominical sacrament to Sacrament, remember to bold the term, mention it near the top of the page, and remove the link from Sacrament to Dominical sacrament). Thanks. --Quuxplusone 20:24, 31 July 2005 (UTC)

The Intro
It seems a bit strange to begin with the protestant view of sacraments (the exception) and then move on to the rule. It's as bizarre as if the entry for cheese began "some people think cheese is soft, everyone else believes cheese is a dairy product made from milk". The overwhelming majority of xtians fall in to the "Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, the Oriental Orthodox, Assyrian Christians, members of the Anglican, United Methodist, and Old Catholic traditions, the Independent Catholic Churches and Lutherans" category so it just seems bizarre to begin with the "among many protestants" line.

I would make the swap myself but I find wikipedians intimidating.

 * Well, most of us are actually pretty nice guys/girls. I am going to review the article now, it's history, etc., and then may proceed to make the change you suggest.  Also, please, in the future, sign your entries on talk pages.  If you don't have an account/user i.d., it will take about one minute to set one up.  --Midnite Critic 22:01, 15 December 2005 (UTC)

 * Okay, review done. The very first sentence gives the traditional view held by the Christians you mention;  then, the second sentence contrasts this with the view held by "many Protestants."  THEN, we return to a more amplified statement regarding the first sentence.  Thus, IMH (Oriental Orthodox) opinion, the first three paragraphs are quite balanced.  --Midnite Critic 22:05, 15 December 2005 (UTC)

A better definition
I have heard/read on several occasions that a sacrament is a ritual that uses the physical world to reveal something about the spiritual world. I can't lay my hands on a source for that at the moment. I have just always had that in my head as the generally accepted definition. After reading this article and the discussion, it seems like a very good definition to use both because it is more encompassing than the current one--it would even include the marijuana guy's use. Also, this is a general intro to a somewhat complicated subject. IMHO, the current first line does not state something understandable to someone who is not already familiar with theological terminology. Like the earlier poster, I am also too chicken to make the change, especially since there's a discussion going on. DaniU 20:48, 20 December 2005 (UTC)

Why aren't the common Catholic names used if this is a Catholic list?

 * Roman Catholicism is used for the Roman Catholic Church.
 * The Eucharist is used for Holy Eucharist
 * Catholic Marriage is used for Matrimony
 * The Sacrament of Order is used for Holy Orders patsw 03:08, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

As an aside, there's a paragraph under Catholicism that appears to start discussing the Latin words for the sacraments and then sort of loses the thread: "During the Middle Ages, sacraments were recorded in Latin ... the name Joseph would be rendered as Iosephus or Josephus." Currently there are no references to any Latin forms (e.g. Sacri Ordines) so this may be an orphan of an earlier draft. Domhnall (talk) 15:10, 10 March 2017 (UTC)

Marriage came later.
I think the following statement in the article is incorrect:
 * Generally, there are seven sacramental rites used since apostolic times in the Church, though not all of them are accepted as such by all groups. These are: Baptism, Chrismation (or Confirmation), the Eucharist (Communion), The Sacrament of Order (Ordination), Reconciliation of a Penitent, Anointing of the Sick, and Matrimony.

I believe marriage only became a sacrament sometime during the Middle Ages.--24.52.254.62 03:23, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

 * I added the citation from the Council of Trent, that defined marriage as one of the seven sacraments. However, it is worth noting, that the "definition" didn't make Marriage a sacrament, but rather recognized its nature as a sacrament.DaveTroy 16:10, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Aquinas described marriage as a sacrament many years before the Council of Trent;; it was always a tradition of the Church to bless the marriage, I think the sacramental nature goes back to the early Church Fathers A E Francis 02:16, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

Maximum of 6 in a lifetime
I removed the claim about it only being possible to receive 6 of the sacraments in a lifetime, along with the subsequent conjectured (but presented as factual) story about Holy Orders being invented after the institution of priestly celibacy in order to compensate for the denial of one of the sacraments to the clergy.

I doubt many people share the "maximum of 6" misperception; but if it's widespread, perhaps the article should actually include a section debunking it. Ways to receive both Orders and Marriage in a lifetime, of course, abound:

--being widowed, then ordained a priest

--being ordained a priest, then receiving permission to forgo the priestly duties and marry

--marrying, then being ordained a deacon in the modern Latin Church

--marrying, then being ordained a priest in an Eastern Church (or an Orthodox Church; this article isn't just about Catholicism, after all, and even if it were Catholics still recognize Orthodox sacraments to be the very same as theirs)

While we're at it, we should even include "marrying, then receiving permission to be ordained a priest in the Latin Church." Such permission could certainly be given with no problem; there's just a (centuries-old) policy of not doing so.

an aside about names
I changed the name of the Reconiliation to Penance, since that is what the CIC 1983 and the Latin of the Rite is -- Penance, despite that it does include confession, and is popularly known by other names.DaveTroy 16:16, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

I want to change something on the page, but I don't know how to do it....it's about de seven sacraments. They are not in the right order. The right order is:

1- Baptism 2- Reconciliation/Penance/Confession 3- Holy Eucharist (1st communion) 4- Confirmation 5- Marriage (Holy Matrimony) 6- Holy Orders 7- Extreme Unction (Sacrament of the Sick or Anointing of the Sick)

Thank you to the person who will change it!

Confusion between traditional Christianity and Catholicism
This is a predominantly Catholic article, and it shouldn't be. There's a great deal of difference between more "traditional" views, such as those held by the Protestants, Baptists, Pentecostalists (sp?), and Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the like. The differences are confused a lot here, neither are they presented in a clear, unbiased light. There's a lot of bias toward Catholicism here as the foundation for the definitions of the sacraments, but the idea of the sacraments originated with more more traditional, fundamentalist sects, like the Baptists. Long before the Seven Sacraments came around there were only the original two: Communion/Lord's Supper, and Baptism. That ought to be noted here.

In any case, this article needs to be more defined, more clear-cut, with greater clarity between the Protestant view and the Catholic view. Also, there's a lot of needless repetition between paragraphs about the Catholic view as opposed to other views - seriously, it gets quite redundant and could be organized better. I've tried to clear the major "difference" problems in the first few paragraphs, but there's a lot of grammatical stuff as well as quality issues that I haven't touched in the least. ---Randomdej (talk) 02:44, 29 December 2007 (UTC)
 * The Seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church existed long before the Baptists. --Willthacheerleader18 (talk) 23:48, 13 August 2010 (UTC)

Another idea: shouldn't there be two separate places here? Instead of "the Catholic view", there should be Section:Sacrament and Section:Ordinance, because there is a great deal of difference between the two. Randomdej (talk) 16:01, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

Removing irrelevant Egyptian material
I've reverted the addition made today by 77.160.68.32 claiming that the idea of a sacrament originated in Osiris worship. The material that he/she posted makes no demonstrable connection whatever with the subject of this article, which is clearly stated at the top: "This article is about sacraments within Christianity."

I don't enough to say whether the Christian rite was or was not influenced by pre-Christian practices; but without reputable, verifiable sources making the connection, that material belongs somewhere else. Textorus (talk) 02:38, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

WP:Disambiguation pages with links - Church
This sentence "As defined above, an example would be baptism in water, representing (and conveying) the grace of the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Forgiveness of Sins, and membership into the Church" ends with a wikilink to Church. Which would be a more appropriate wikilink: Church (building), Christian Church or Ecclesia (Church)? - DigitalC (talk) 01:55, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

Mormonism?
Why is Mormonism included as a Christian tradition? The past Mormon literature, pretty much all, denies being Christian: in fact, it used to (and still does) offend Mormons to even suggest they might be "Christian", though not all. It's very recent that Mormons at all claim to be in a "Christian" tradition. In scholarly nomenclature Mormonism does not fall within the same definition of "Christian", neither in classical, nor in an offshoot, sense; they hold to none of the Creeds that scholars have used as standards to define a "Christian" tradition (explicitly repudiated by Smith); and they do not use the same definitions for Biblical terms, practically at all, so far as I can find, whereas though other groups might differ on "Sacrament", they don't typically, however, argue over Biblical terms, or a certain core set of terms, whereas Mormons define those completely otherwise or else do not even believe in them. Can someone enlighten me here? (That's not sarcastic, but sincere.) tooMuchData 07:44, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

 * That is where you are wrong. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints considers themselves to be Christian. Mormons believe they are the original form of Christianity. --Willthacheerleader18 (talk) 20:51, 24 May 2011 (UTC)

 * Mhm, and that is where they are wrong. Anyway, the Mormons themselves say (I could quote that from WP, but I don't want to spend the time now) that "in the sense 'Christian' is used by the major Churches calling themselves Christian, we are not Christian". Hence they are not Christian - being newrevelation-adherent polytheists.--77.4.69.221 (talk) 10:53, 6 August 2013 (UTC)

 * Whether the Mormons are wrong or not to call themselves Christians is not the issue being addressed by tooMuchData. He asserts that Mormons do not typically identify themselves as Christian, which is, as Willthacheerleader18 points out is false. Mormonism, from its inception, has claimed to be a Christian religion, so it is not "very recent" that Mormons claim to be in a "'Christian' tradition." I would challenge the assertion that past Mormon literature denies being Christian; evidence of that literature would need to be presented to make it a valid claim. 77.4.69.221 misrepresents the official stance of the Mormon church on their Christianity; the following quote is taken from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints website:
 * "As evidenced by its name, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) identifies itself as devoutly Christian. Though the label “Christian” is often associated with particular creedal claims which the Church does not adopt, Mormons use it to express their belief in the divinity of Jesus Christ."
 * True, the Mormon church does not adopt the creeds that many Christian denominations accept as the definition of Christianity, but they (the Mormons) affirm belief in Jesus Christ as Savior, Redeemer, and God. (See http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/christian)
 * With regard to the final assertion that they are newrevelation-adherent polytheists, I think that is a conversation for another day, and has probably been covered extensively elsewhere within Wikipedia. El piel (talk) 22:43, 11 March 2014 (UTC)

 * I (once called 77.4.) agree that it is - to my knowledge - true that the Mormons identify themselves as Christian. Anyway, if Mormons say that they are not "Christians in the sense the word Christian is used" (which you did not repudiate), that does say something doesn't it? "Language usage is a tyrant", as the proverb goes. A collection of letters or sounds is, as such, void for discussion; the meaning of a word depends on the definition attached.
 * With the thing about "newrevelation-adherent polytheists", I'm sorry if that was offensive - yet it did serve a purpose: I wanted to point out the reason why Christians regularly (as I've seen to be the case) don't classify them as "Christians but in error" (i.e. heretics), but, as it were, one step further: "non-Christian". This is, at any rate, an interesting difference, all the more so as, other than the rather simply question of teachings being heretical, it is not easy to make out. (Hilaire Belloc called even Islam a Christian heresy.) As for "new revelation", that is the obvious case; as for polytheism, I know that Mormons deny the charge; note, in any case, that I'm using the word "polytheist" not in the sense of a sneer but merely as objective description. Does not Mormonism reject the Trinity dogma? We are not, as the Muslims accuse us, polytheists - and that precisely because we believe the Trinity dogma. Rejecting it while still paying the Three Persons divine honors does amount, in the plain sense of the word, to polytheism - unless the one who does so makes clear that with the word "god" he means, when the rubber hits the pavement, not really God at all (as the Arians did, who said that "god", applied to Christ, was a mere honorific for the most godlike creature existing). Also, according to information available to me, Mormons are unclear as to where creatures actually come from, as well (out of nothing?). Suggesting that creatures could have an existence (even unformed) in an origin independent of God (i.e. without ex nihilo creation) seems to be intrinsically deviant from monotheism, as well. --131.159.0.47 (talk) 18:13, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

 * Please see my reply on talk. 00:12, 12 November 2014 (UTC)

Vandalized
It looks like this page was vandalized by someone who has a history of it. It was done by an anonymous IP, but the talk page is filled with vandalism warnings. It looks like he has just been warned, but no one has blocked him for a bit. Any admin who can help me here, please leave me a message on my talk page; it would be greatly appreciated. Shanem201 (talk) 21:00, 12 May 2009 (UTC)

Entheogenic Sacraments
At this time, approximately 1/3 of the text of this article is based upon information submitted by a single anonymous user, with not a single footnote or citation.

I recommend (a) deleting it pending the addition of some footnotes. and (b) when and if restored, it should be limited in volume. The current amount of material on this topic far exceeds its importance. if the mater is sufficiently subject-worthy, it should have its own article with a very short paragraph in this article.

Bonbga (talk) 21:04, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Unless anyone objects, I hereby announce an intention to delete the entire section on "Entheogenic Sacraments" in one week. REASON: It is totally unsourced. If someone provides sources for it in the interim, I will not delete it.

Bonbga (talk) 18:38, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

Well, I did it. I deleted the unsourced material about "entheogenic sacraments". I did it in compliance with the WIKI policy on unsourced material. And in compliance with the header at the top of the "Sacraments" article that says " "This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed."

What happened? Cluebot immediately restored the material. And I got a warning about vandalism. Bonbga (talk) 18:07, 12 August 2009 (UTC)

Anglican section horribly verbose
(and not exactly neutral in tone), esp. in the first paragraph. —Wegesrand (talk) 11:01, 13 February 2012 (UTC)

Anglican Section Rewrites
Second Paragraph: I have removed the "Most anglicans ... seven sacraments" because it is unsourced and in part because as far as I know all such affirmations of this type even when sourced are based on evidence which is statistically inadequate. I have also reworked the rest of the paragraph and provided references.

Third Paragraph: The first sentence contains an apparent non sequitur: how can sacerdotal functions be assigned to a deacon who, by definition, is not a priest? Made the 'ex opere operato' more precise and given sources before balancing it with references to the articles on the reception and use of the sacrament.Jpacobb (talk) 20:12, 21 March 2012 (UTC)

Scope of this article
A recent IP edit removed the section Hinduism on the grounds that this article deals with the Christian sacraments. This may be historically true and on June 1 2008 a section on Egyptian was removed on the same grounds with the comment that the article states that this is about Christian sacraments. This statement has disappeared but is still implicit in the start of the General definitions section. I suggest we need a policy decision and should either rename the page as Sacraments (Christian) with the appropriate redirects and disambiguations or restore the deleted section and do a certain amount of copy editing to bring the first section into line. I personally incline to rename and leave it to interested editors to produce a general "Sacraments" page since the contents of the present one are almost all orientated to Christianity balancing them would be a major task. Jpacobb (talk) 17:31, 5 August 2012 (UTC)
 * I'm surprised we don't have many separate Sacrament articles. I would say, produce a general Sacrament article here that serves as brief summaries of the world's traditions on sacraments (if possible to summarize) or at a minimum as a disambiguation page.  The current system at Sacrament (disambiguation) is a little too focused on Christian sacraments at the neglect of others.  By putting up redlinks (if there aren't already articles, then, eventually there will be a Sacraments (Christianity) (which this should become, which I hope would not end up being a summary/disambig for Catholic/Orthodoxy/protestant sects, etc. and duplicate Sacrament (disambiguation) but actually have better organized content), and additionally Sacraments (Judaism), Sacraments (Hinduism), etc., etc. To boldly delete material without their being an alternative place to put it or to go and put it someplace else, just doesn't seem right. --ColonelHenry (talk) 03:14, 6 August 2012 (UTC)
 * My old standby source, the Encyclopedia of Religion, has two articles in the "Sacraments" mega-article: "An Overview," and "Christian Sacraments." That being the case, I guess I'm not surprised that Christianity might get the biggest percentage of content. That being the case, I can agree that having a main article on Sacraments in the broader sense is reasonable, with Christian sacraments as a perhaps very important spinout. Hinduism as per that article has 18 sacraments, so it should be possible to make at least a reasonably substantive article there. The other faiths given reasonable coverage in that article are Hellenistic religion, Gnosticism, and Hinduism. It also differentiates between repeatable sacraments and "transitional" sacraments, which could probably be included in articles on rites of passage per the various relevant religions. I do note that source has several articles on that last topic, and reviews have indicated that even more would perhaps have been expected. John Carter (talk) 21:43, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

Modern Southern Baptists Do Not Use "Ordinance"
I've never heard the term "Ordinance" to describe the Southern Baptists' versions of the Eucharist. Traditionally, we refer to it as "The Lord's Supper", and the actual bread (little wafers) and wine (grape juice) is, collectively, "The Sacraments". Like all Baptists, the Southern Baptist denomination recognizes but two Sacraments: adult baptism and the Eucharist/Lord's Supper. --99.157.108.186 (talk) 16:17, 21 August 2015 (UTC)

Suggest merge templates
On 5th October 2016, an anonymous IP proposed merging Sacrament and Ordinance (Christianity) by inserting the appropriate templates at the head of the articles, but failed to open a new section giving reasons for the suggestion. Since it seems to have aroused no interest for more than 90 days, I intend to remove the templates unless objections are lodged here before the end of January 2017. For my own part, I would oppose the suggestion mainly on the grounds that the stub Ordinance (Christianity) states there is a clear difference between the meaning of the two terms and the better policy would therefore be to expand the stub rather than mix two different but overlapping concepts in a single article. — Jpacobb (talk) 19:34, 26 January 2017 (UTC)

 * In the absence of any objections, I have removed the templates. — Jpacobb (talk) 18:49, 1 February 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
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Adding ref from a blog
I tried adding the below but was told by the bot that it was unacceptable as it linked to a blog. The blog is directly quoting a secondary source, and I only mention it in order to be accurate in my own source. Anyone suggest a way forward? Thanks. Eteb3 (talk) 14:16, 27 November 2020 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Talk:Sacrament


text:
Battle of Bennington

The Battle of Bennington was a battle of the American Revolutionary War, part of the Saratoga campaign, that took place on August 16, 1777, on a farm in Walloomsac, New York, about 10 mi from its namesake, Bennington, Vermont. A rebel force of 2,000 men, primarily New Hampshire and Massachusetts militiamen, led by General John Stark, and reinforced by Vermont militiamen led by Colonel Seth Warner and members of the Green Mountain Boys, decisively defeated a detachment of General John Burgoyne's army led by Lieutenant Colonel Friedrich Baum, and supported by additional men under Lieutenant Colonel Heinrich von Breymann.

Baum's detachment was a mixed force of 700 men consisting of Hessian troops, Canadians, Loyalists and the Iroquois. He was sent by Burgoyne to raid Bennington in the disputed New Hampshire Grants area for horses, draft animals, provisions, and other supplies. Believing the town to be only lightly defended, Burgoyne and Baum were unaware that Stark and 1,500 militiamen were stationed there. After a rain-caused standoff, Stark's men enveloped Baum's position, taking many prisoners, and killing Baum. Reinforcements for both sides arrived as Stark and his men were mopping up, and the battle restarted, with Warner and Stark driving away Breymann's reinforcements with heavy casualties.

The battle was a major strategic success for the American cause and is considered one of the turning points of the Revolutionary War; it reduced Burgoyne's army in size by almost 1,000 men, led his Native American supporters to largely abandon him, and deprived him of much-needed supplies, such as mounts for his cavalry regiments, draft animals and provisions, all factors that contributed to Burgoyne's eventual defeat at Saratoga. The victory galvanized colonial support for the Patriot cause, and played a key role in bringing France into the war on the rebel side. The battle's anniversary is celebrated in the state of Vermont as Bennington Battle Day.

Background
With the American Revolutionary War two years old, the British changed their plans. Giving up on the rebellious New England colonies, they decided to split the Thirteen Colonies and isolate New England from what the British believed to be the more loyal southern colonies. The British command devised a grand plan to divide the colonies via a three-way pincer movement towards Albany. The western pincer, proceeding eastward from Lake Ontario under the command of Barry St. Leger, was repulsed when the Siege of Fort Stanwix failed, and the southern pincer, which was to progress up the Hudson valley from New York City, never started since General William Howe decided instead to capture Philadelphia.

The northern pincer, proceeding southward from Montreal, enjoyed the most success. After the British victories at Fort Ticonderoga, Hubbardton, and Fort Anne, General John Burgoyne proceeded with the Saratoga campaign, with the goal of capturing Albany and gaining control of the Hudson River Valley, where Burgoyne's force could (as the plan went) meet the other pincers, dividing the colonies in two.

British forces
Burgoyne's progress towards Albany had initially met with some success, including the scattering of Seth Warner's men in the Battle of Hubbardton. However, his advance had slowed to a crawl by late July, due to logistical difficulties, exacerbated by the American destruction of a key road, and the army's supplies began to dwindle. Burgoyne's concern over supplies was magnified in early August when he received word from Howe that he (Howe) was going to Philadelphia, and was not in fact going to advance up the Hudson River valley. In response to a proposal first made on July 22 by the commander of his German troops, Baron Riedesel, Burgoyne sent a detachment of about 800 troops under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Friedrich Baum from Fort Miller on a foraging mission to acquire horses for the German dragoons, draft animals to assist in moving the army, and to harass the enemy. Baum's detachment was primarily made up of dismounted Brunswick Army dragoons of the Prinz Ludwig regiment. Along the way it was joined by local companies of Loyalists, some Canadians and about 100 Iroquois warriors and the Company of Select Marksmen. Baum was originally ordered to proceed to the Connecticut River valley where they believed horses could be procured for the dragoons. However, as Baum was preparing to leave, Burgoyne verbally changed the goal to be a supply depot at Bennington, which was believed to be guarded by the remnants of Warner's brigade, about 400 colonial militia.

American forces
Unknown to Burgoyne, the citizens of the New Hampshire Grants territory (now Vermont, which was then disputed between New York and the Vermont Republic) had appealed to the states of New Hampshire and Massachusetts for protection from the invading army following the British capture of Ticonderoga. New Hampshire responded on July 18 by authorizing John Stark to raise a militia for the defense of the people "or the annoyance of the enemy". Using funds provided by John Langdon, Stark raised 1,500 New Hampshire militiamen in the space of six days, more than 10% of New Hampshire's male population over the age of sixteen. They were first marched to the Fort at Number 4 (modern Charlestown, New Hampshire), then crossed the Connecticut river border into the Grants and stopped at Manchester, where Stark conferred with Warner. While in Manchester, General Benjamin Lincoln, whose promotion in preference to Stark had been the cause for Stark's resignation from the Continental Army, attempted to assert Army authority over Stark and his men. Stark refused, stating that he was solely responsible to the New Hampshire authorities. Stark then went on to Bennington with Warner as a guide, while Warner's men remained in Manchester. Lincoln returned to the American camp at Stillwater, where he and General Philip Schuyler hatched a plan for Lincoln, with 500 men, to join with Stark and Warner in actions to harass Burgoyne's communications and supply lines at Skenesboro. Baum's movements significantly altered these plans.

Prelude
Baum's Germans left Burgoyne's camp at Fort Edward on August 9 and marched to Fort Miller, where they waited until they were joined by the Iroquois and the Company of Select Marksmen. The company marched off toward Bennington on August 11. In minor skirmishes along the way they learned from prisoners taken that a sizable force was in place at Bennington. On August 14 Baum's men encountered a detachment of Stark's men that had been sent out to investigate reports of Indians in the area. Stark's men retreated, destroying a bridge to delay Baum's advance. Stark, on receiving word of the approaching force, sent a request to Manchester for support, and then moved his troops out of Bennington toward Baum's force, setting up a defensive line. Baum sent a message to Burgoyne following the first contact indicating that the American force was larger than expected, but that it was likely to retreat before him. He then advanced a few miles further until he neared Stark's position. He then realized that at least part of his first message was incorrect, so he sent a second message to Burgoyne, requesting reinforcements.

It rained for the next day and a half, preventing battle. During this time, Baum's men constructed a small redoubt at the crest of the hill and hoped that the weather would prevent the Americans from attacking before reinforcements arrived. Stark sent out skirmishers to probe the German lines, and managed to kill thirty Indians in spite of the difficulties of keeping their gunpowder dry. Reinforcements for both sides marched out on the 15th; travel was quite difficult due to the heavy rains. Burgoyne sent 550 men under Heinrich von Breymann, while Warner's company of about 350 Green Mountain Boys came south from Manchester under Lieutenant Samuel Safford's command.

Late on the night of August 15, Stark was awakened by the arrival of Parson Thomas Allen and a band of Massachusetts militiamen from nearby Berkshire County who insisted on joining his force. In response to the minister's fiery threat that his men would never come out again if they were not allowed to participate, Stark is reported to have said, "Would you go now on this dark and rainy night? Go back to your people and tell them to get some rest if they can, and if the Lord gives us sunshine to-morrow and I do not give you fighting enough, I will never call on you to come again." Stark's forces again swelled the next day with the arrival of some Stockbridge Indians, bringing his force (excluding Warner's men) to nearly 2,000 men.

Stark was not the only beneficiary of unexpected reinforcements. Baum's force grew by almost 100 when a group of local Loyalists arrived in his camp on the morning of August 16.

Battle
On the afternoon of August 16, the weather cleared, and Stark ordered his men to be ready to attack. Stark is reputed to have rallied his troops by saying they were here to fight for their "natural born rights as Englishmen" and he added "There are your enemies, the Red Coats and the Tories. They are ours, or this night Molly Stark sleeps a widow." Upon hearing that the militia had melted away into the woods, Baum assumed that the Americans were retreating or redeploying. However, Stark had decided to capitalize on weaknesses in the German's widely distributed position, and had sent sizable flanking parties to either side of his lines. These movements were assisted by a ruse employed by Stark's men that enabled them to get closer safely without alarming the opposing forces. The Germans, most of whom spoke no English, had been told that soldiers with bits of white paper in their hats were Loyalists, and should not be fired on; Stark's men had also heard this and many of them had suitably adorned their hats.

When the fighting broke out around 3:00 PM the German position was immediately surrounded by gunfire, which Stark described as "the hottest engagement I have ever witnessed, resembling a continual clap of thunder." The Loyalists and Indian positions were overrun, causing many of them to flee or surrender. This left Baum and his Brunswick dragoons trapped alone on the high ground. The Germans fought valiantly even after running low on powder and the destruction of their ammunition wagon. In desperation the dragoons led a sabre charge in an attempt to break through the enveloping forces. The charge failed horrendously, resulting in massive German casualties and gaining no ground on the rebels. Baum was mortally wounded in this final charge, and the remaining Germans surrendered.

After the battle ended, while Stark's militiamen were busy disarming the prisoners and looting their supplies, Breymann arrived with his reinforcements. Seeing the Americans in disarray, they immediately pressed their attack. After hastily regrouping, Stark's forces tried to hold their ground against the new German onslaught, but began to fall back. Before their lines collapsed, Warner's men arrived on the scene to reinforce Stark's troops. Pitched battle continued until dark, when both sides disengaged. Breymann began a hasty retreat; he had lost one quarter of his force and all of his artillery pieces.

Aftermath
Total German and British losses at Bennington were recorded at 207 dead and 700 captured; American losses included 30 Americans dead and 40 wounded. The battle was at times particularly brutal when Loyalists met Patriots, as in some cases they came from the same communities. The prisoners, who were first kept in Bennington, were eventually marched to Boston.

Burgoyne's army was readying to cross the Hudson at Fort Edward on August 17 when the first word of the battle arrived. Believing that reinforcements might be necessary, Burgoyne marched the army toward Bennington until further word arrived that Breymann and the remnants of his force were returning. Stragglers continued to arrive throughout the day and night, while word of the disaster spread within the camp.

The effect on Burgoyne's campaign was significant. Not only had he lost nearly 1,000 men, of which half were regulars, but he also lost the crucial Indian support. In a council following the battle, many of the Indians (who had traveled with him from Quebec) decided to go home. This loss severely hampered Burgoyne's reconnaissance efforts in the days to come. The failure to bring in nearby supplies meant that he had to rely on supply lines that were already dangerously long, and that he eventually broke in September. The shortage of supplies was a significant factor in his decision to surrender at Saratoga, following which France entered the war.

American Patriots reacted to news of the battle with optimism. Especially after Burgoyne's Indian screen left him, small groups of local Patriots began to emerge to harass the fringes of British positions. A significant portion of Stark's force returned home and did not again become influential in the campaign until appearing at Saratoga on October 13 to complete the encirclement of Burgoyne's army.

John Stark's reward from the New Hampshire General Assembly for "the Memorable Battle of Bennington" was "a compleat suit of Clothes becoming his Rank". A reward that Stark likely valued the highest was a message of thanks from John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress, which included a commission as "brigadier in the army of the United States".

Order of battle
The battle forces are generally described as in Morrissey. His numbers are generally consistent with other sources on the British units, although there is disagreement across a wide array of sources on the number of troops under Breymann, which are generally listed at either approximately 550 or 650. Morrissey is also incorrect in identifying some of the American units. He identifies William Gregg as having a separate command; Gregg apparently led several companies in Nichols' regiment. Morrissey also failed to include the Massachusetts militia, and misidentified Langdon's company, erroneously believing they may have been from Worcester, Massachusetts. (Militia companies from the Worcester area marched on Bennington, with some companies arriving the day after the battle.) Langdon originally raised his company in 1776, but it did not become a cavalry unit until 1778.

American units

 * New Hampshire Militia
 * Hobart's Regiment of Militia (150)
 * Nichols' Regiment of Militia 550)
 * Stickney's Regiment of Militia (150)
 * Langdon's Company of Light Horse Volunteers (unknown)
 * Other New Hampshire Militia units (1,000)

 * Vermont Militia
 * Herrick's Regiment 300)
 * Other Vermont Militia units (200)

 * Massachusetts Militia
 * Simonds' Regiment of Militia (unknown)

 * Continental Army
 * Warner's Additional Continental Regiment (350)

British units

 * Baum's forces
 * Prince Ludwig's Dragoon Regiment (205)
 * Von Breyman's Grenadier Battalion (24)
 * Von Barner's Light Infantry Battalion (57)
 * Riedesel's Musketeer Regiment, Specht's Musketeer Regiment and Von Rhetz's Musketeer Regiment (37)
 * Pausch's Company of Artillery (13)
 * Queen's Loyal Rangers (150+)
 * Company of Select Marksmen (48)
 * Loyalists irregulars (150+)
 * Canadian irregulars (56)
 * Iroquois warriors (100+)

 * Breymann's forces
 * Von Breyman's Grenadier Battalion (353)
 * Von Barner's Light Infantry Battalion (277)
 * Pausch's Company of Artillery (20)

Commemorations
August 16 is a legal holiday in Vermont, known as Bennington Battle Day. The battlefield, now a New York state historic site, was designated a National Historic Landmark on January 20, 1961, and added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. In the 1870s, the local historic society in Bennington commissioned the design and construction of the Bennington Battle Monument, which was complete in 1889 and dedicated in 1891 with ceremonies attended by President Benjamin Harrison. The Monument, an obelisk 306 ft high, is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Although the monument was not ready in time to mark the centennial of the battle, the 100th anniversary of the battle was marked by speeches attended by President Rutherford B. Hayes.

Every year on Bennington Battle Day there is a firing of the Molly Stark Cannon, the oldest firing cannon in the United States. The cannon was captured at the Battle of Bennington.

title: Battle of Bennington