Introduction to Altaii

Andreas Johansson (on his website) wrote:

>The diphthongs are _ei ai oy uy_. The language is quite tolerant of hiatic
combinations-- the chief exception being that i and y cannot stand after
another vowel.  Where this would occur the first vowel is lost if it is
i,y,e or a -- if it is o or u, a diphthong oy or uy results instead.>

As I read this, the sequences /i,e,y,a/ + /i~y/ > /i y /.
And /u,o/ + /i~y/ > /uy, oy/ (assuming that in case of  /oi, ui/ you have
rounding assimilation > /oy, uy/.

So where do _ei, ai_ come from?   Something omitted here???  And doesn't the
name _Altaii_ violate this rule (or does the morpheme boundary between the
two i's block it)?

If, as I assume, ei ai derive < /e,a/ + /i~y/ (with loss of rounding in case
of /ey, ay/,  then in fact the only non-permitted vowel sequences involve
the two high front vowels /i y/ (??) Thus, "delete the first vowel" gives
ii, yi > i, and iy yy > y.  Or have I missed something?

(BTW, since the vowels /i e a u o/ are given their "classic" values, I'm
assuming /y/ = [high, front, rounded] -- Whatever it represents, maybe you
ought to mention that.)

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