Aias or Ajax ? (2)

In article <eP785.1914$_R5.168749@newsall.dti.ne.jp>, 
"Tones" <saitone@onyx.dti.ne.jp> writes:

> Another question I have been worried for a long time is the name of 
> Greek hero, Aias . Why do you call him "Ajax" [eidzaeks] ?

First, though the usual Greek form was "Aias", the only form
found in Latin is "Aiax".  Modern European languages took
a number of familiar Greek names from their forms in Latin.

   (The two words really are different, the first having
   root  "Aiant..."  and the second having root "Aiac..."
   If I read LSJ correctly, there was some Greek author
   who also used the form "Aiax".)

That accounts for the "x".  As I gather the writer already
noticed, the change from "i" to "j" in the spelling corresponds 
to a general (late) change in pronunciation of the Latin "i" when 
used as a consonant. Once like English "y" in "you", it acquired
some kind of fricative component (heard differently now in different 
languages). 

William C. Waterhouse
Penn State