Observations on Gandhari Orthography and Phonology: ST Clusters and Related Problems

This article re-evaluates the phonological development of Old Indo-Aryan consonant clusters of the shape sibilant + coronal plosive in Gāndhārī and the representation of their outcomes in the Kharoṣṭhī script. In this context it also deals with several developments involving retroflex plosives and their written representation. For the solution of orthographic and phonological problems related to these areas in Gāndhārī, a primary role is given to evidence from those modern Indo-Aryan languages of the far northwest which can be assumed to be the closest living relatives of written Gāndhārī.