Did ancient Greeks pronounce medial 'h'?

From: Peter Wise (pawise@ix.netcom.com)
Date: Sun Nov 24 1996 - 01:49:03 EST

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Does anyone know if the speakers of ancient Greek pronounced the 'h' sound
in the middle of words-even if they did not indicate it orthographically?
(cf. BHQLEEM and GEENNA, etc.) It seems enigmatic to me that rough
breathings occur only on initial letters. Did Greek have a 'h' sound only
at the beginning of letters? Or are only the initial ones orthographically
represented?

Does anyone have any light to shed on this?

While I am at it, does anyone have any insight on the rationale behind the
development of smooth breathing marks?

Thanks,

Peter Wise

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