> In a Latin transcription, the Greek "u psilon" (simple u) may be written as either "u" or "y", without causing ambiguities.
There's no ambiguity if you already know whatever Greek word is at issue. But by that standard, there is also no ambiguity if you represent every Greek word with the spelling "x". If all you know is the transcription, "u" would be expected to correspond to Greek ου. This isn't really an ambiguity, but it will instantly become one if you start using "u" to correspond to υ as well.
> Latin "y" is normally preferable for writing Greek "u psilon", unless the discussion is about older attestations of words (like in Homer) or about the etymology of Greek words, when it is preferable to write "u psilon" as "u"
Well, the timing here is Hippocrates, who appears to be contemporaneous with "Thucydides".
It is an etymological discussion, but writing "muriochane" seems more like an attempt to intentionally obscure the root of "myriad" than an attempt to make it clearer.
There's no ambiguity if you already know whatever Greek word is at issue. But by that standard, there is also no ambiguity if you represent every Greek word with the spelling "x". If all you know is the transcription, "u" would be expected to correspond to Greek ου. This isn't really an ambiguity, but it will instantly become one if you start using "u" to correspond to υ as well.
> Latin "y" is normally preferable for writing Greek "u psilon", unless the discussion is about older attestations of words (like in Homer) or about the etymology of Greek words, when it is preferable to write "u psilon" as "u"
Well, the timing here is Hippocrates, who appears to be contemporaneous with "Thucydides".
It is an etymological discussion, but writing "muriochane" seems more like an attempt to intentionally obscure the root of "myriad" than an attempt to make it clearer.