Is rough vs smooth breathing predictable?

1. What is the difference between rough and smooth breathing?
2. What is a smooth breathing mark?
3. Does Modern Greek have rough breathing?
4. When did Greek lose rough breathing?

What is the difference between rough and smooth breathing?

The rough breathing shows that the vowel is aspirated, i.e. that it is preceded by the sound of h, as ἡ-μέ-ρα, day, υἱ-ος, son, Ἑλ-λη-νι-κός, Greek; the smooth breathing shows that the vowel is not aspirated, as ἄ-γω, I lead, Ἄρ-τε-μις, Artimis, ᾤ-κη-σα, I dwelt.

What is a smooth breathing mark?

Smooth breathing marks simply mean there is no /h/ pronounciation. Exception. The only consonant that takes a breathing mark is the letter rho (ρ). If rho is the first letter of a word then it always has a rough breathing mark.

Does Modern Greek have rough breathing?

Monotonic orthography for Modern Greek uses only two diacritics, the tonos and diaeresis (sometimes used in combination) that have significance in pronunciation. Initial /h/ is no longer pronounced, and so the rough and smooth breathings are no longer necessary.

When did Greek lose rough breathing?

In the monotonic orthography of Modern Greek phonology, in use since 1982, it is not used at all. The absence of an /h/ sound is marked by the smooth breathing.