oxia

Meaning

Noun

• An Ancient Greek pitch-marking diacritic: ⟨ ´ ⟩; written atop vowel, it denote high pitch on short vowels, and rising pitch on long vowels and diphthong.

Origin

• From the Ancient Greek ὀξεῖα, an elliptical use for ἡ ὀξεῖᾰ προσῳδῐ́ᾱ — (hē, the nominative feminine singular form of , ho, “the”, the definite article) + (okseia, the nominative feminine singular form of , oksus, “sharp”, of sound “shrill”, of tones “high-pitched”) + (prosōdiā, “variation in pitch of the speaking voice”, “pronunciation of a syllable on a certain pitch”, “a mark [i.e., a diacritic] indicating normally unwritten differences of pronunciation, viz. vowel quantity, breathing, and pitch”).