Greek > alphabet letters > rho

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LETTER

CAPITAL-small
I.P.A. pronunc.
standard
erasmic
pronounced
as in the word...
(english or other)
letter name
in greek
in english
17) ρ´= 100
P ρ

transliteration: r
[r]
consonant
alveolar trill

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spanish accent
ρo
[ro]
rho
[rschwaυ]
ρητoρικό
[ritori'ko]
rhe'torical
[rı'torıkl]
ρυθμός
[riθ'mos]
rhythm
['rıδm]
ραψωδία
[rapso'δia]
rhapsody
['ræpsschwadı]
SHAPE: During 520-480 a.e.v. the western group of ancient city-states used the R shape which through Southern Italy colonies reached the Etruscans and Romans, ending up at your keyboard!

SOUND: Initially /r/ was accompanied by a /h/ sound. There was a reminiscence of it at the hellenistic use of the daseia breathing mark over all initial rhos! (this was the ONLY consonant to get a breathing mark!) Also, english, french and other european languages, pay 'tribute' to that archaic /h/ by retaining it in their orthography. In the greek context of phonological evolution it became our familiar [r] quite early. (Rolled as in scottish or spanish.)

NAME: ETYMOLOGY: From northsemitic (phoenician): reš or rōš = (the) head.
NAME: SPELLING: The hellenistic orthography was daseiaPOmega perispomene with an omega, pronounced [ro]. The daseia breathing mark reminded the already lost /h/. Today, its simplified orthography is Po.

GRAMMAR: In old greek, when two Rho occurred within a word, the first would get a psile and the second a daseia. I did not remember that, until I found a letter, written by my grandfather, Odysseus Sarris, who was born c.1896. He signed our family name: Σαῤῥῆς.
COMBINATIONS: none
DOUBLED: sometimes double occurrence within a word. <ρρ> was pronounced [rr] till the middle times. Not pronounced as double in modern greek.

MORE GREEK WORDS STARTING WITH RHO
•ρεύμα=current(e.g. of water) rheumatologist
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