Originally posted by Porphyrogenitos
Calgacus (your name wouldn't happen to be McGuigan?), I am not Greek but I have been translating ancient Greek texts for some twenty years now. The Greek letter 'b' is by and large pronounced as as 'v' sound and that is not scholarship but plain grammatical knowledge. The word basileus for example has always been vasileus (king). The ancients, like their modern counterparts use 'mp' for the 'b' sound and this predates Byzantine times (which is my specialization here at university by the way). I have not been teaching for over 20 years at university to NOT be in a position to know these things. The 'b' sounding like a latin 'B' exists in certain cases of words which are or refer to foreigners (non-Hellenes). Your point is taken but in the case of the word 'labe' it is a clear 'v' sound.
Words in English also have varient pronounciations but in the majority of cases stick to their root. Greek is the same. Take the Greek 'X' (chi) which is pronounced as a 'k' sound sometimes, but by and large is a 'chi' sound. Hope this helps clarify. I'm not contesting the occasional 'b' sounding but rather the specific sounding of 'labe'.
PS I wish some of my students had your zeal...oh and if you happen to be one of them then we can discuss this in greater detail.