Re: U-umlaut & schwa shifts

John Vertical wrote:
> So here's two sound shift issues I've been thinking about recently.
>
> *The u-umlaut seen in the development of Germanic languages is essentially
> labialization (/i/ -> /y/ etc); is velarization-u-umlaut - where /i/ goes
> to
> /i\/ or /M/ instead, etc - attested anywhere? If yes, is raising (eg. /O
> o/
> -> /o u/) typically involved too?
Caution: I use "y" for IPA [j]

I don't know of any natlangs, but something similar happens to *-iu-, *-iw#
(also *-ui-, *-uy#) in the development of Gwr-- they all > [i\] (that's
barred-i, right?). (That's not umlaut, of course).  But also, when certain
*C1-V1[+str]-C2-V-C3 forms reduce to C1-V1-C2, the lost V2 does affect the
quality of V1, and i/u can > [i\] if V2 was u/i resp.

> *Does anyone have any creativ ideas for sound shifts starting from /@/?
> Mine
> are epenthetic, so deletion would be pointless. Assimilation with the
> following or preceding vowel comes first to my mind, but seems a little
> too
> obvious. I can also think of raising it to /i\/, but is there any
> precedent
> for that?
Yes to your last question; see #4 below.

Proto-Austronesian is reconstructed with *i,a,u, and */@/ which does lots of
odd things; it must have been a very unstable sound.
1- In the basic *CV(N)CV(C) structure--*@ never occurs in a final open
syllable--must be followed by a C. It doesn't occur after initial *w/y-;
seems not to occur (or perhaps very rarely) in *C@(wy)V(C) or in hiatus
*-VV-; and IMO (tho not others' hmph...) it didn't occur before final *-w/-y
either.

2- *@ probably could not carry the stress (in the usual penult syl.); in
Tagalog, where *@ > i, *C@CV( ) > /CiCV(C)/ with final stress.

3- In various subgroups, it can > a, e, i, o, or u; even in rather closely
related langs. it can differ, e.g. Tagalog has /i/, Bisayan /u/;
Proto-Oceanic has *o.

4- In a few languages, it's retained: in Javanese, in both syl.; in Ml. only
in penult (unstressable), but > /a/ in ult.  Some languages have penult
/o,e/ vs. ult. /a/. Where retained, it can be [i\] or [@] or even [V].

5- Another hint at its oddness: in widely separated groups, where retained,
it affects a following medial *C-- usually with gemination or related
phenomena like preglottalization. (Usually in these cases it _can_ carry the
stress.)

6- And it frequently assimilates/harmonizes with the other V of the root
(both historically and, where retained, in present-day speech).

Lotsa fun.

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