Greek script marks the beginnings and musical “shape” of words with breathings and accents, and it streamlines pronunciation across word-boundaries through elision. At the basic level, mastery of these markings is essential for accurate reading aloud, for distinguishing otherwise similar forms, and for recognizing common printed conventions in Koine editions of the Greek New Testament.

Breathings: Smooth and Rough

Every word beginning with a vowel or diphthong, and every word beginning with ρ, carries a breathing mark. The smooth breathing (᾿) indicates no initial /h/ sound; the rough breathing (῾) signals an initial /h/ sound. When a diphthong begins a word, the breathing is placed over the second vowel (e.g., οἱ, αἱ, εἷς). Initial ρ is always written with a rough breathing (ῥ), and an initial capital Ῥ also takes the rough breathing.

A clear example of the rough breathing on an initial vowel is the phrase Πνεύματος Ἁγίου in Matthew 1:18, where Ἁγίου begins with a rough breathing and is pronounced “hagiou.” Greek: Πνεύματος Ἁγίου· transliteration: Pneumatos Hagiou; English: “of the Holy Spirit” (Matt 1:18). An equally clear example of the smooth breathing is ἀγάπη in 1 Corinthians 13:4, which begins without an /h/ sound. Greek: ἡ ἀγάπη μακροθυμεῖ· transliteration: hē agapē makrothymei; English: “Love is patient” (1 Cor 13:4). Notice that the article ἡ begins with a rough breathing, but the noun ἀγάπη with a smooth breathing; the breathing belongs to each word individually. For the initial rho, observe Ῥωμαῖοι in John 11:48, which must be read with an initial /rh/ sound. Greek: ἐλεύσονται οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι· transliteration: eleusontai hoi Rhōmaioi; English: “the Romans will come” (John 11:48). For a diphthong with breathing on the second element, consider οἱ μαθηταί in Matthew 5:1. Greek: καὶ προσελθόντες οἱ μαθηταί αὐτοῦ· transliteration: kai proselthontes hoi mathētai autou; English: “and his disciples came to him” (Matt 5:1).

Accents: Acute, Grave, and Circumflex

Greek accents mark word-level pitch and, in practice for the student, word identity and syllable stress. There are three signs. The acute (´) may stand on any of the last three syllables (antepenult, penult, ultima) as orthographic rules allow. The grave (`) appears only on the final syllable and commonly replaces a final acute when the word is followed without pause by another word. The circumflex (῀ or ˆ, printed in modern fonts as a tilde-like curve) may stand only over a long vowel or diphthong and only on the last two syllables.

A basic illustration of the acute is the lexical form θεός, accented on the ultima. In connected speech and print, however, the final acute regularly appears as a grave when immediately followed by another word, as in John 1:1: θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. Greek: καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος· transliteration: kai theòs ēn ho logos; English: “and the Word was God” (John 1:1). Here the printed θεὸς shows the grave because it is not at a pause; the lexical accent remains acute. For the circumflex on a long syllable, see Luke 1:40: τὸν οἶκον Ζαχαρίου. Greek: εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸν οἶκον Ζαχαρίου· transliteration: eisēlthen eis ton oîkon Zachariou; English: “she entered the house of Zechariah” (Luke 1:40). The circumflex on οἶ- marks a long diphthong in the penult. For accent position within the last three syllables, consider ἄνθρωπος, accented on the antepenult because the final syllable is short; this conforms to the general limitation that no word is accented further back than the antepenult, and that the antepenult cannot bear an accent if the ultima is long. Greek: πῶς δύναται ἄνθρωπος γεννηθῆναι; transliteration: pōs dynatai anthrōpos gennēthēnai; English: “How can a man be born?” (John 3:4).

A further common circumflex example on the ultima is the name Ἰησοῦς, whose final long syllable bears the circumflex. Greek: καὶ ἐκάλεσεν τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν· transliteration: kai ekalesen to onoma autou Iēsoun; English: “and he called his name Jesus” (Luke 2:21). Although the case ending changes the final vowel quantity in inflection, the accent type and placement remain governed by the standard rules.

Elision: Dropping a Final Vowel Before a Following Vowel

Elision is the omission of a short final vowel (most often α or ο, and the short form of prepositions like κατά, διά, ἀπό, μετά) before a following word that begins with a vowel or diphthong. The dropped vowel is marked by an apostrophe (’), and the two words are pronounced smoothly together. When the following word begins with a rough breathing, certain prepositions show regular consonant assimilation (e.g., τ → θ), which is orthographically reflected in the elided form.

A clear and frequent example is δι’ before a vowel, from διά. In Romans 11:36 we read: ὅτι ἐξ αὐτοῦ καὶ δι’ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτόν. Greek: δι’ αὐτοῦ· transliteration: di’ autou; English: “through him” (Rom 11:36). From ἀπό we find the elided ἀπ’ before a vowel, as in John 8:44: ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς. Greek: ἀνθρωποκτόνος ἦν ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς· transliteration: anthrōpoktonos ēn ap’ archēs; English: “he was a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44). From κατά we meet both the simple elision before a smooth breathing and the assimilated form before a rough breathing. In Acts 2:46 we have κατ’ οἶκον. Greek: κατ’ οἶκον· transliteration: kat’ oikon; English: “from house to house” (Acts 2:46). In the same verse we also see καθ’ ἡμέραν (before a rough breathing), where the τ of κατά becomes θ. Greek: καθ’ ἡμέραν· transliteration: kath’ hēmeran; English: “day by day” (Acts 2:46). Similarly, μετά appears as μετ’ before a smooth-initial vowel and as μεθ’ before a rough-initial vowel; compare μεθ’ ἡμέρας where attested, though the New Testament more often shows non-elided μετὰ with consonant-initial forms. In all such cases the apostrophe signals the dropped vowel, not a pause.

Elision does not change the basic meaning of the preposition or particle; it is a phonetic and orthographic convenience that reflects natural spoken flow. Recognizing elision helps the student parse phrases correctly and read without artificial breaks.

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