Patrick,
As I answered already in another string that /ü/ was part of the
inventory from the start. In a separate posting I have outlined some
descriptions on how /ö/ came about. The process is fundamentally
different from i-umlaut, since vowel harmony per definition extends
much further and occupies the same phonological play ground as german
style i-umlaut. See other posting under same string.
The real reason I write again is to comment on Arnaud's statement
aswell, look below:
--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Patrick Ryan" <proto-language@...>
wrote:
>
> It is precisely Umlaut that is the base of my inquiry.
>
>
> Patrick
>
> >
> > Jouppe,
> >
> > let me ask it another way:
> >
> > in your view were *ö and *ü part of the earliest PU vowel
inventory?
> >
> > Patrick
> > =============
> >
> > PU is "standard" Proto-World
> > and had only *a *i *o *u
> > Arnaud
> >
> > ==========
Are you really saying that "Proto-World" is the basis of your Proto-
Uralic reconstruction here, or is it a marvellous coincidence that
you reconstruct the vowel system identically?
What about internal Uralic evidence?
Jouppe