The pronunciation of words spelled with "-ti-" in German seems to be a little complicated. I read in a [book](https://books.google.com/books?id=609tDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT441&lpg=PT441&dq=German+ti+zi+pronunciation&source=bl&ots=aDQ7H3R0kF&sig=41rvokNcj0M774dL18-adLvfmR4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjCp9zS55ffAhWwHTQIHbh5D1wQ6AEwDHoECAMQAQ#v=onepage&q=German%20ti%20zi%20pronunciation&f=false) that "-ti-" is pronounced as "-zi-" (I believe only when a vowel follows) in words like *Aktie* or *Patient,* but that words from French such as *Aristokratie* may have stressed /tiː/ instead.

It seems to me that it would be simpler to just use spellings like *Akzie* and *Pazient* instead. That kind of use of Z has precedent in some other languages, such as Italian ("paziente"). I know that "ce" and "ci" in Latin-based words are often replaced with "ze" and "zi" respectively in German, and I am wondering why the use of the letter Z did not also become usual to represent the same sound in words that have "ti" in Latin. I wonder whether the spelling "ti" has been kept out of some concern that using "zi" would obscure the etymological distinction between words that had *-ci-* and *-ti-* in Latin.  Did any scholars or spelling reformers ever comment on this topic?