ρ

Ρ ρ, ῥῶ, τό, indecl., twentieth (later seventeenth) letter of the Gr. alphabet: as numeral ρʹ = 100, but ͵ρ = 100,000: reckoned as a semivowel by Arist. Po. 1456b28: the name ῥῶ occurs in Ar. Th. 781, Callias ap. Ath. 10.453d, Pl. Cra. 426c, BCH 29.483 (Delos), etc.

ρ

• • IΡ, ρ, ῥῶ, τό, indecl., seventeenth letter of Gr. Alphabet, as numeral ρʹ 100, but ͵ρ 100, 000. Dialectic and other changes:
  • • 1Aeolic, at the end of words ς passed into ρ, as οὗτορ, ἵππορ for οὗτος, ἵππος; cf. Lat. arbor arbos, honor honos.
    • 2in Attic, ρρ replaced the Ionic and old Attic ρς, as ἄρρην, θάρρος for ἄρσην, θάρσος.
    • 3in some words ρ is transposed, as κάρτος Epic for κράτος, ἀταρπός for ἀτραπός, κραδίη for καρδία:—mostly in Poets.
  • IIρ at the beginning of a word was pronounced so as to make a short vowel at the end of the word before long by position, as, ψυχρὴ ὑπὸ ῥιπῆς Il.
  • • 2by reason of this pronunc., ρ was doubled after a prep. or α privat., and after the augment, as ἀπορρίπτω, ἄρρωστος, ἔρριψα.
    • 3if ρ begins a word, it takes the rough breathing, except in Aeolic