Re: [tied] Re: The Birds - etymology found

Ad 1. Greek ph, th, kh were pronounced [pH, tH, kH] in Classical times, but in Byzantine and later Greek they changed into fricatives [f, T, x]. [f] and [T] appear as [f] in Greek words borrowed into Russian (and East Slavic in general) at an early date, e.g. Afiny for Athe:nai [aTini], filosof for philosophos [filosofos], etc. Other languages (following Mediaeval Latin practice) also substitute [f] for Greek "ph" but typically use [t] or [T] for "th". Even Polish differs from Russian in this respect:

 

Russ. Fadiej : Pol. Tadeusz < Thaddeus,

Russ. Fiodor : Polish Teodor < Theodo:ros,

Russ. Fiby : Pol. Teby < The:bai

 

This is because Polish (Catholic) received its loans through Latin (Th pronnounced like T) and Russian (Orthodox) received them from Greek (Th pronnounced fricative)