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Why doesn't English employ an H in front of the name Ares?

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Why doesn't English employ an H in front of the name Ares?

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4

While watching the movie the Martian, a question arose regarding the name Ares:

Greek Gods were metaphrased into Latin when Romans took over. Ares (from the Greek Άρης) was now named Mars, and so on. And, as such NASA uses the name Ares for their mission to Mars.

They also have a spacecraft named Hermes an import of Ερμής. By this convention, shouldn't it be Hares then instead of Ares, since both start with a vowel, followed by a consonant (character r)?

'A' might be an exception or something, yet, I remembered Hagia Sophia (in Constantinopolis), from the greek Αγιά Σοφία . This follows the same convention as Hermes, rather than that of Ares. Similarly, we have the name Hades.

Why is there variation in this convention?

vowels greek consonants rules

share|improve this question

edited 8 hours ago

gsamaras

asked 8 hours ago

gsamarasgsamaras

26922 silver badges1616 bronze badges

• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Interestingly, Ngrams shows a steadily declining usage of Hares until the two almost converge in present day.
  
  – Cascabel
  8 hours ago
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  5
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @Cascabel That probably represents the dropping of soft Hs in English over time with a concomitant loss in spelling. Or interference from rabbits.
  
  – David M
  8 hours ago
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  2
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @DavidM LOL...I just got the rabbit reference. Almost all hits for "Hares" on Ngrams refer to the Bugs variety of plural Hare.
  
  – Cascabel
  8 hours ago
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  It is quite amusing, but a question about that movie (The Martian) is what brought me to this site almost 4 years ago...
  
  – Cascabel
  8 hours ago
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  2
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  This has nothing to do with English, which took the names more or less directly from Latin. From what I understand, the Greek letter epsilon was adapted from the Phoenician letter he, but used to represent the vowel sound; eta originally indicated the /h/ consonant, but also shifted to represent the vowel. Greek instead uses diacritics to mark /h/ ("rough breathing"). A rough breathing vowel got transliterated with an H into Latin, thus Hera and Hermes and Helios; smooth breathing vowels remained bare, thus Ares and Apollo and Eos.
  
  – choster
  8 hours ago
  
  
  

  
  
  
  

 | 
show 10 more comments

4

While watching the movie the Martian, a question arose regarding the name Ares:

Greek Gods were metaphrased into Latin when Romans took over. Ares (from the Greek Άρης) was now named Mars, and so on. And, as such NASA uses the name Ares for their mission to Mars.

They also have a spacecraft named Hermes an import of Ερμής. By this convention, shouldn't it be Hares then instead of Ares, since both start with a vowel, followed by a consonant (character r)?

'A' might be an exception or something, yet, I remembered Hagia Sophia (in Constantinopolis), from the greek Αγιά Σοφία . This follows the same convention as Hermes, rather than that of Ares. Similarly, we have the name Hades.

Why is there variation in this convention?

vowels greek consonants rules

share|improve this question

edited 8 hours ago

gsamaras

asked 8 hours ago

gsamarasgsamaras

26922 silver badges1616 bronze badges

• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Interestingly, Ngrams shows a steadily declining usage of Hares until the two almost converge in present day.
  
  – Cascabel
  8 hours ago
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  5
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @Cascabel That probably represents the dropping of soft Hs in English over time with a concomitant loss in spelling. Or interference from rabbits.
  
  – David M
  8 hours ago
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  2
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @DavidM LOL...I just got the rabbit reference. Almost all hits for "Hares" on Ngrams refer to the Bugs variety of plural Hare.
  
  – Cascabel
  8 hours ago
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  It is quite amusing, but a question about that movie (The Martian) is what brought me to this site almost 4 years ago...
  
  – Cascabel
  8 hours ago
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  2
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  This has nothing to do with English, which took the names more or less directly from Latin. From what I understand, the Greek letter epsilon was adapted from the Phoenician letter he, but used to represent the vowel sound; eta originally indicated the /h/ consonant, but also shifted to represent the vowel. Greek instead uses diacritics to mark /h/ ("rough breathing"). A rough breathing vowel got transliterated with an H into Latin, thus Hera and Hermes and Helios; smooth breathing vowels remained bare, thus Ares and Apollo and Eos.
  
  – choster
  8 hours ago
  
  
  

  
  
  
  

 | 
show 10 more comments

While watching the movie the Martian, a question arose regarding the name Ares:

Greek Gods were metaphrased into Latin when Romans took over. Ares (from the Greek Άρης) was now named Mars, and so on. And, as such NASA uses the name Ares for their mission to Mars.

They also have a spacecraft named Hermes an import of Ερμής. By this convention, shouldn't it be Hares then instead of Ares, since both start with a vowel, followed by a consonant (character r)?

'A' might be an exception or something, yet, I remembered Hagia Sophia (in Constantinopolis), from the greek Αγιά Σοφία . This follows the same convention as Hermes, rather than that of Ares. Similarly, we have the name Hades.

Why is there variation in this convention?

vowels greek consonants rules

share|improve this question

edited 8 hours ago

gsamaras

asked 8 hours ago

gsamarasgsamaras

26922 silver badges1616 bronze badges

share|improve this question

edited 8 hours ago

gsamaras

asked 8 hours ago

gsamarasgsamaras

26922 silver badges1616 bronze badges

share|improve this question

edited 8 hours ago

gsamaras

asked 8 hours ago

gsamarasgsamaras

26922 silver badges1616 bronze badges

asked 8 hours ago

gsamarasgsamaras

26922 silver badges1616 bronze badges

asked 8 hours ago

gsamarasgsamaras

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2 Answers
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6

Hermes and Ares are reasonable representations in the Latin alphabet of the sounds of the Greek names. The /h/ sound is absent from classical Greek spellings of words which contained it (like Hermes) because the Attic Greek alphabet did not have a distinct character for it—the character ‹H› was used for eta ('long e', contrasting with epsilon, 'short e'). Starting in the Hellenistic period the presence or absence of /h/ was indicated by diacritic marks, the 'rough' and 'smooth breathing' signs.

The /h/ sound was subsequently lost in Greek.

share|improve this answer

edited 4 hours ago

answered 8 hours ago

StoneyBStoneyB

66k44 gold badges122122 silver badges222222 bronze badges

• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  You imply that the ancient Greeks pronounced Ερμής with a leading H, despite the spelling but you don't come out and say it directly. Perhaps you should do that.
  
  – Spencer
  7 hours ago
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Ερμής is mis-spelt in the original posting. In Classical Greek, all vowel-initial words are written with one of the breathing marks, either rough or smooth. so Ερμής should be Ἑρμής
  
  – Colin Fine
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @ColinFine It appears that OP is a (modern) Greek himself, so he naturally employs the modern spelling without the diacritic. ... And I'd be curious to know: did classical orthography employ the diacritics even in inscriptions and non-literary contexts, or were they more like the vowel points in Hebrew?
  
  – StoneyB
  4 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment
 | 

3

I’m afraid you are labouring under a misapprehension. Mars is not the Latin for Ares with an aspirated first letter. It is derived from the Oscan Mavors. He was the god of war, like Ares, but he was also supposed to be the father of Romulus and Remus.

Many of the stories about Ares and other Greek Gods were adopted into the Roman cannon.

But the names were not all the same. So the Roman opposite number to ΕΡΜΗΣ was not HERMES but MERCVRIVS (Mercury) - the V representing a ‘u’ as in put.

Others have already pointed out that the initial epsilon of Greek Ερμης was aspirated: Hence the imported H.

In modern Greek, vowels are not aspirated. So what in ancient Greek would have been Hodos Hermou (οδός Ερμού) or Hermès Street is now pronounced Odhos Ermou with no ‘h’ but an aspirated delta, pronounced as in ‘that’.

share|improve this answer

answered 3 hours ago

TuffyTuffy

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6

Hermes and Ares are reasonable representations in the Latin alphabet of the sounds of the Greek names. The /h/ sound is absent from classical Greek spellings of words which contained it (like Hermes) because the Attic Greek alphabet did not have a distinct character for it—the character ‹H› was used for eta ('long e', contrasting with epsilon, 'short e'). Starting in the Hellenistic period the presence or absence of /h/ was indicated by diacritic marks, the 'rough' and 'smooth breathing' signs.

The /h/ sound was subsequently lost in Greek.

share|improve this answer

edited 4 hours ago

answered 8 hours ago

StoneyBStoneyB

66k44 gold badges122122 silver badges222222 bronze badges

• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  You imply that the ancient Greeks pronounced Ερμής with a leading H, despite the spelling but you don't come out and say it directly. Perhaps you should do that.
  
  – Spencer
  7 hours ago
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Ερμής is mis-spelt in the original posting. In Classical Greek, all vowel-initial words are written with one of the breathing marks, either rough or smooth. so Ερμής should be Ἑρμής
  
  – Colin Fine
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @ColinFine It appears that OP is a (modern) Greek himself, so he naturally employs the modern spelling without the diacritic. ... And I'd be curious to know: did classical orthography employ the diacritics even in inscriptions and non-literary contexts, or were they more like the vowel points in Hebrew?
  
  – StoneyB
  4 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment
 | 

6

Hermes and Ares are reasonable representations in the Latin alphabet of the sounds of the Greek names. The /h/ sound is absent from classical Greek spellings of words which contained it (like Hermes) because the Attic Greek alphabet did not have a distinct character for it—the character ‹H› was used for eta ('long e', contrasting with epsilon, 'short e'). Starting in the Hellenistic period the presence or absence of /h/ was indicated by diacritic marks, the 'rough' and 'smooth breathing' signs.

The /h/ sound was subsequently lost in Greek.

share|improve this answer

edited 4 hours ago

answered 8 hours ago

StoneyBStoneyB

66k44 gold badges122122 silver badges222222 bronze badges

• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  You imply that the ancient Greeks pronounced Ερμής with a leading H, despite the spelling but you don't come out and say it directly. Perhaps you should do that.
  
  – Spencer
  7 hours ago
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Ερμής is mis-spelt in the original posting. In Classical Greek, all vowel-initial words are written with one of the breathing marks, either rough or smooth. so Ερμής should be Ἑρμής
  
  – Colin Fine
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @ColinFine It appears that OP is a (modern) Greek himself, so he naturally employs the modern spelling without the diacritic. ... And I'd be curious to know: did classical orthography employ the diacritics even in inscriptions and non-literary contexts, or were they more like the vowel points in Hebrew?
  
  – StoneyB
  4 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment
 | 

Hermes and Ares are reasonable representations in the Latin alphabet of the sounds of the Greek names. The /h/ sound is absent from classical Greek spellings of words which contained it (like Hermes) because the Attic Greek alphabet did not have a distinct character for it—the character ‹H› was used for eta ('long e', contrasting with epsilon, 'short e'). Starting in the Hellenistic period the presence or absence of /h/ was indicated by diacritic marks, the 'rough' and 'smooth breathing' signs.

The /h/ sound was subsequently lost in Greek.

share|improve this answer

edited 4 hours ago

answered 8 hours ago

StoneyBStoneyB

66k44 gold badges122122 silver badges222222 bronze badges

share|improve this answer

edited 4 hours ago

answered 8 hours ago

StoneyBStoneyB

66k44 gold badges122122 silver badges222222 bronze badges

answered 8 hours ago

StoneyBStoneyB

66k44 gold badges122122 silver badges222222 bronze badges

answered 8 hours ago

StoneyBStoneyB

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3

I’m afraid you are labouring under a misapprehension. Mars is not the Latin for Ares with an aspirated first letter. It is derived from the Oscan Mavors. He was the god of war, like Ares, but he was also supposed to be the father of Romulus and Remus.

Many of the stories about Ares and other Greek Gods were adopted into the Roman cannon.

But the names were not all the same. So the Roman opposite number to ΕΡΜΗΣ was not HERMES but MERCVRIVS (Mercury) - the V representing a ‘u’ as in put.

Others have already pointed out that the initial epsilon of Greek Ερμης was aspirated: Hence the imported H.

In modern Greek, vowels are not aspirated. So what in ancient Greek would have been Hodos Hermou (οδός Ερμού) or Hermès Street is now pronounced Odhos Ermou with no ‘h’ but an aspirated delta, pronounced as in ‘that’.

share|improve this answer

answered 3 hours ago

TuffyTuffy

5,39011 gold badge77 silver badges2525 bronze badges

add a comment
 | 

3

I’m afraid you are labouring under a misapprehension. Mars is not the Latin for Ares with an aspirated first letter. It is derived from the Oscan Mavors. He was the god of war, like Ares, but he was also supposed to be the father of Romulus and Remus.

Many of the stories about Ares and other Greek Gods were adopted into the Roman cannon.

But the names were not all the same. So the Roman opposite number to ΕΡΜΗΣ was not HERMES but MERCVRIVS (Mercury) - the V representing a ‘u’ as in put.

Others have already pointed out that the initial epsilon of Greek Ερμης was aspirated: Hence the imported H.

In modern Greek, vowels are not aspirated. So what in ancient Greek would have been Hodos Hermou (οδός Ερμού) or Hermès Street is now pronounced Odhos Ermou with no ‘h’ but an aspirated delta, pronounced as in ‘that’.

share|improve this answer

answered 3 hours ago

TuffyTuffy

5,39011 gold badge77 silver badges2525 bronze badges

add a comment
 | 

I’m afraid you are labouring under a misapprehension. Mars is not the Latin for Ares with an aspirated first letter. It is derived from the Oscan Mavors. He was the god of war, like Ares, but he was also supposed to be the father of Romulus and Remus.

Many of the stories about Ares and other Greek Gods were adopted into the Roman cannon.

But the names were not all the same. So the Roman opposite number to ΕΡΜΗΣ was not HERMES but MERCVRIVS (Mercury) - the V representing a ‘u’ as in put.

Others have already pointed out that the initial epsilon of Greek Ερμης was aspirated: Hence the imported H.

In modern Greek, vowels are not aspirated. So what in ancient Greek would have been Hodos Hermou (οδός Ερμού) or Hermès Street is now pronounced Odhos Ermou with no ‘h’ but an aspirated delta, pronounced as in ‘that’.

share|improve this answer

answered 3 hours ago

TuffyTuffy

5,39011 gold badge77 silver badges2525 bronze badges

share|improve this answer

answered 3 hours ago

TuffyTuffy

5,39011 gold badge77 silver badges2525 bronze badges

answered 3 hours ago

TuffyTuffy

5,39011 gold badge77 silver badges2525 bronze badges

answered 3 hours ago

TuffyTuffy

5,39011 gold badge77 silver badges2525 bronze badges