  We prove several combinatorial properties of suffix arrays, including a
characterization of suffix arrays through a bijection with a certain
well-defined class of permutations. Our approach is based on the
characterization of Burrows-Wheeler arrays given in [1], that we apply by
reducing suffix sorting to cyclic shift sorting through the use of an
additional sentinel symbol. We show that the characterization of suffix arrays
for a special case of binary alphabet given in [2] easily follows from our
characterization. Based on our results, we also provide simple proofs for the
enumeration results for suffix arrays, obtained in [3]. Our approach to
characterizing suffix arrays is the first that exploits their relationship with
Burrows-Wheeler permutations.
