Why does ῤάρος have a smooth breathing?

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

What is the smooth breathing mark in Greek?

The smooth breathing (Ancient Greek: ψιλὸν πνεῦμα, romanized: psilòn pneûma; Greek: ψιλή psilí; Latin: spīritus lēnis) is a diacritical mark used in polytonic orthography. In Ancient Greek, it marks the absence of the voiceless glottal fricative /h/ from the beginning of a word.

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.

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.

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.