'R': Vowel or Consonant?

Ramana R. Juvvadi (juvvadi@horizoncomp.com)
Wed, 26 Feb 1997 15:03:19 -0500 (EST)


On Wed, 26 Feb 1997 RAO@FCRFV1.NCIFCRF.GOV wrote:

> vasanta Rtuvu, it is neither vasanta rutuvu nor vasanta rituvu.  But it 
> is vasanta rrtuvu.  This  rr sound is similar to the rr part in guR^R^amu, 

I am curious whether this is your guess or whether it is well documented
elsewhere. Once I had a long talk with VishwanAtha achyuta dEva rAyalu
gAru(s/o
VishwanAtha satyanArAyaNa). He has been doing research on vedas. 
I am not necessarily convinced by all of his arguments but that is a
different topic.

>From what I gathered, the reason for 'R' ans '~l' being vowels has more to 
do with metaphysics than linguistics. I find this as the most convincing
argument. Whichever way one puts it, I can't think of 'R' and 'l' being 
vowels.

Ramana