Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
In the case of Darius, we know how he (or at least, how the Greeks) pronounced his name, because we have it written in contemporary Greek records, and Greek is a phonetic language. In Greek his name is written "Δαρεῖος", where the diphthong "εῖ" is pronounced like "ay" in "hay".
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I know that many Greeks hate to hear English-speaking scholars pronounce Koine. In modern Greek, many of the vowels have become "ee". I believe that the diphthong "εῖ" is one of them. If you asked a modern Greek to pronounce "Δαρεῖος", you might not get "ay".