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What kinds of roots did Proto-Dravidian have?

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Thematic map of South Asia showing the distribution of Dravidian languages, with different regions shaded or marked to indicate where specific Dravidian languages and subgroups are spoken. Most languages are concentrated in southern and central India, with some northern outliers in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and eastern India. A key identifies the languages by number and subgroup, and striped areas indicate regions where several subgroups overlap. — Dravidian languages Distribution of Dravidian languages.

In Proto-Dravidian, roots are strictly monosyllabic and consist of a basic set of sounds denoting a general concept. A vowel is essential to every root and may be either long or short, appearing either alone or accompanied by consonants.1

There are eight distinct types of roots in Proto-Dravidian, categorized by their vowel (V) and consonant (C) combinations:
* V
* C₁V
* VC₂
* C₁VC₂
* V:
* C₁V:
* V:C₂
* C₁V:C₂

(In these formulas, V represents a short vowel, V: represents a long vowel, and subscript numbers indicate the position within the root.)1

Because Proto-Dravidian lacks prefixes or infixes, all words must begin with a root. While almost any consonant can occur in the final (C₂) position—with the possible exception of ñ—words do not begin with consonant clusters. Furthermore, alveolars and retroflexes do not occur at the beginning of a root.1