θέατρον, თეატრი, թատրոն

Greek θέατρον [θéatron] – which, via Old French, has yielded English *theatre* – was originally pronounced with an aspirated initial sound: [t^héatron]. The Romans, who later borrowed the word, came out with the nearest approximation to the original articulation - *theatrum*, - given the lack of a standalone [t^h] sound in Latin. Incidentally, the same direct borrowing in two remote, mutually unrelated languages of the Caucasus - on whose shores Ancient Greeks had left a marked presence - offers live evidence of the original word articulation: Georgian თეატრი [t^heatri] and Armenian թատրոն [t^hatron] both faithfully show the contrast between the initial aspirated [t^h] and the middle non-aspirated [t], reflecting - exactly as in Ancient Greek - the clear distinction between the two sounds in each of the two languages.