Richard Wordingham wrote:

>
> --- In qalam@yahoogroups.com, "Peter T. Daniels" <grammatim@...> wrote:
>
> > That's just a software shortcut -- there's no actual virama when you
> > write a conjunct. But using the conjoined forms is the equivalent of a
> > virama; remember, Tamil is the odd-script-out in South Asia, the only
> > one that's abandoned conjunct forms completely. (Tibetan and Javanese
> > both still use a few of them, and Burmese uses them only in
> > Sanskrit-origin words.)
>
> Tamil has still got the k.sa conjunct. Thai has abandoned conjuncts
> completely. Conjuncts don't straddle syllable borders in Lao or New
> Tai Lue, and it's arguable that the Lao ones are new letters.

Right -- new letters. Call 'em ligatures.

(Most of the Indic scripts have an idiosyncratic ksha that can't be
recognized as a combination of the k and the sh.)
--
Peter T. Daniels grammatim@...