[thaumasiotes]

> though Kubernetes is a more legitimate sounding word

Weird, I feel the opposite way. To me "kubernetes" feels like someone couldn't come up with a name, so they obscured an existing word and hoped no one would notice. It's like calling "tumblr" "a more legitimate-sounding word than 'tumbler'". Why transliterate Greek the normal way when you can do it your own, less accurate way?

> without the (modern) palatalization of C

Huh? You could describe the change in Italian as palatalization; [s] is not a palatal sound at all, and the change in question took place many hundreds of years ago. Modern?