Umlaut in Crimean Gothic

[David L. White]

        I suppose it should be noted, though it does not matter a great
deal, that finding /i/-umlaut in Gothic (I have not been paying rapt
attention, but I believe that was what was meant) is not terribly
surprising.  At the time that Gothic is attested, none of the Germanic
languages had /i/-umlaut (save possibly of /e/ to /i/?).  Its absence in
Gothic is thus to be taken largely as an archaism, a matter of time, not
space.  /i/-umlaut seems to have developed independently in the other
Germanic languages, not appearing in Old English till around 700, and is
generally taken to be a result of the strong stress accent typical of
Germanic.  If Gothic had this, and had not lost it, then it is surely
reasonable to suppose that it too would have developed /i/-umlaut,
independently, in time.

Dr. David L. White