Initial /sp/ vs. /ps/ (Was: Comparison of philosophicallanguages)

James Landau wrote:

> In a message dated 1/23/2003 11:47:00 PM Pacific Standard Time,
> yonjuuni@EARTHLINK.NET writes:
>
>
>
>> > ¿Como el estado actual en español, especialmente?
>>
>> Well, in the vocabulary derived from Latin, you don't have
>> word-initial
>> s-stop clusters, unless there's some e-dropping that I'm unaware of.
>
> "The vocabulary derived from Latin"? You mean Spanish may keep the
> initial s-stop in some words . . . from OTHER languages?
>
>>
>> > I guess you're thinking of affricates when you say that.
>>
>> No.  /ps/ isn't an affricate.  /ts/ may be depending on the
>> language.
>
> The idea I originally had of an affricate (before someone on here a
> month ago wanted to classify /kp/ or /ks/ or something as an
> affricate, I forget who it was) was that it conficted of a dental
> plosive followed by a sibilant. That would give us /tS/ ("ch"), /dZ/
> ("j"), /ts/ or /tz/, and /dz/.
>
>
> > while the fricative-before-stop beginning is confined to the /sk/,
>
>>
>> > /sp/, /st/ group in longtime-English words (although Yiddish and
>> > Italian give us more recent examples with "spiel", "schtick",
>> > "sgraffito" and other /S/ and /z/ words).
>>
>> So, the prohibition on s-stop clusters is no longer active,
>> apparently.
>> :-)
>
> Maybe they'll spread around to other languages. Apparently English's
> most commonly cited example of an initial prohibition, initial /s/ï´Ÿ,
> is no longer active either, now that we have "Sri Lanka".
Except when we pronounce it /S/ whatever symbol represents the English
non-trilled "r". i.e " shri lanka"

I find sounds like /s/, /S/, /tS/, /z/, /Z/, /dZ/ a trilled "r" very
difficult to pronounce. And I trill my r's fine when I speak Spanish.
Are there any languages (nat or con) that have these combinations?

David Barrow