Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

smooth breathing

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.03 in modern English

Syllables
smooth breath-ing
IPA
26
Scrabble Score
15
Letters
2
Syllables
12
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The lack of aspiration on a vowel or semivowel in Ancient Greek.

noun

A diacritic (’/◌̓) in Ancient, Medieval and Modern Greek used to indicate this lack of aspiration (or its historical presence), e.g. ἀ, ῤ.

Etymology

Calque of Latin spīritus lēnis, from Ancient Greek ψιλὸν πνεῦμα (psilòn pneûma).

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: ψιλὸν πνεῦμα

Inflected Forms

smooth breathings (plural)

Synonyms

spiritus lenis psili psilon pneuma

Questions

What does smooth breathing mean?
The lack of aspiration on a vowel or semivowel in Ancient Greek.
Where does smooth breathing come from?
It is traced to Ancient Greek.

How to pronounce smooth breathing

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “smooth breathing”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “smooth breathing”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “smooth breathing” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.