2 Breathings
Every Greek word beginning with a vowel (α, ε, η, ι, ο, υ, ω) or ‘rho’ (ρ) has a little mark above it, resembling an inverted comma. This mark is called a ‘breathing’.
A rough breathing indicates a word that should be spoken with an ‘h’ sound (i.e. with a ‘breath’). The Greeks called a rough breathing ‘shaggy’ or ‘hairy’:
ἱππος (hippos = ‘horse’)
ὁπλα (hopla = arms, weapons)
A smooth breathing indicates an absence of an ‘h’ sound. It can be ignored for the purpose of pronunciation, but it should be used when writing. In Greek a smooth breathing was described as ‘bare’ or ‘hairless’:
ἀκουω (akouō = ‘I hear’)
ἐχω (echō = ‘I have’)
Greek words beginning with ‘rho’ or ‘upsilon’ always take a rough breathing. English words beginning ‘rh-’ (‘rhythm’, ‘rhododendron’) and ‘hy-’ (‘hypochondria’, ‘hydroelectric’) tend to derive from Greek words starting with ῥ or ὑ. The breathings on the other vowels can be either smooth or rough:
ῥοδον (rhodon = ‘rose’)
ὑπερ (huper or hyper, ‘over’, ‘beyond’)
Breathings are written to the left of capital letters:
Ἀριστοφανης (Aristophanēs, the Greek comic poet)
Ὁμηρος (Homēros = the poet Homer)
Activity 2 Speaking aloud (2) – breathings
Say the following words aloud, paying close attention to any breathings. Listen to the answer and repeat.
ἀγαθος (‘good’)
Ἀθηναιος (‘Athenian’)
ἐπιστολη (‘letter’)
Ἑκατη (goddess of the underworld)
ἡμερα (‘day’)
ὁδος (‘road’, ‘way’)
ὀρος (‘mountain’)
ῥις (‘nose’)
ὑπνος (‘sleep’)
ὡρα (‘hour’)
Discussion
The words are:
- ἀγαθος (agathos)
- Ἀθηναιος (Athēnaios)
- ἐπιστολη (epistolē)
- Ἑκατη (Hekatē)
- ἡμερα (hēmera)
- ὁδος (hodos)
- ὀρος (oros)
- ῥις (rhis)
- ὑπνος (hupnos)
- ὡρα (hora)
From this point in the course, Greek words will be displayed with breathings.