Retroflex sounds

[Sudalaimuthu Palaniappan]

In a message dated 98-06-22 11:13:05 EDT, bhk at HD1.VSNL.NET.IN writes:

<< Only _t and .t are derivable in a few cases of
 inflection and derivation by sandhi. What about l,.l, r,.z which also do not
 occur word-initially? There is no way to derive them through sandhi.  >>

According to Tolkappiyam, n2, R, N, and T could result from conjoining
processes.

l + m > n2+m
l+ (k or c or t) > R+(k or c or R)
L + m > N+m
L + (k or or t) > T+(k or c or T)

So among the retroflexes, L cannot occur as a result of sandhi, only as a
result of split of l as discussed by Levitt.

Regards
S. Palaniappan