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ArchivesRe: Leva and Otelia
in reply to a message by nessime
If there is one question for both names Leva and Otelia, then I suppose Russian connection.
Lev is a Russian name, translation of the name Leo, meaning lion.
In Russian, Leva is a diminutive form of Lev. It is spelled Leva, while it is heard Liova.
The name Ophelia is well known as the name of a character in Shakespeare's Hamlet. It is well known in Russia as well. Russians are confused in using words of Greek origin having PH and TH. In both cases, Russians pronounce F and write uniformly F (the distinction in writing was dropped in 1918).
Next, Russians know that some words of Greek origin having F in Russian, in German or French have either F or T sound. As there is no distinction of those cases in Russian, if a Russian wished to give a French or German (or Italian, or Spanish) look of the name Ofelia (Ophelia), it may be confused and may choose the form Otelia.
Lev is a Russian name, translation of the name Leo, meaning lion.
In Russian, Leva is a diminutive form of Lev. It is spelled Leva, while it is heard Liova.
The name Ophelia is well known as the name of a character in Shakespeare's Hamlet. It is well known in Russia as well. Russians are confused in using words of Greek origin having PH and TH. In both cases, Russians pronounce F and write uniformly F (the distinction in writing was dropped in 1918).
Next, Russians know that some words of Greek origin having F in Russian, in German or French have either F or T sound. As there is no distinction of those cases in Russian, if a Russian wished to give a French or German (or Italian, or Spanish) look of the name Ofelia (Ophelia), it may be confused and may choose the form Otelia.
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