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With a population of about 5.2 million (1991 Census:
4,280,261), and with Chandrababu Naidu at the
helm of state governance, the city buzzes with activity.
Linguistically, Andhra Pradesh is a Telugu
State, and Telugu, spoken by the majority, is the
state's official language. As it happens with all other
languages, Telugu acquires different intonations in
different regions. Thus, besides the pure Telugu spoken
in places like Vijayawada and Guntur,
there is the coastal Telugu of the coastal region, the
'border' Telugu like that in Nellore which is significantly
influenced by the neighbouring state's language, and
the Telangana Telugu spoken in Hyderabad and surrounding
Telangana region.
In Hyderabad, Urdu enjoys a special prominence.
During the Nizam's rule, Urdu was the language of the
administration, the judiciary and in educational establishments.
As such, many from the earlier generation are well versed
in it. However, more than Urdu, it is the Deccani language
that is the people's language. It is a practical blend
of Hindi, Urdu and other local languages including Marathi
and Kannada, and has a typical Hyderabadi flavour. Just
a sentence or two of Deccani and you know that the person
using it is a Hyderabadi.
As the erstwhile State of Hyderabad also had large
areas where people spoke Kannada and Marathi, these
two languages are spoken by considerable sections of
Hyderabad's population. The other languages widely spoken
here are English, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, etc. The
beauty of the city lies in its unique Deccani zaban,
Telugu hospitality and historic edifices, that represent
the elegance of Hyderabad. It is also reflected in the
typical Hyderabadi tehzeeb (behaviour) and universal
camaraderie. An additional feature of today's Hyderabad
is the fast paced, IT-savvy life style of the modern
generation.
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