Combining Greek Koronis

It marks crasis: two adjacent Greek words fused into one.

In κἀγώ, the mark shows καὶ ἐγώ (“and I”) joined at the vowel boundary. Crasis happens when the ending vowel of one word meets the starting vowel of the next.

Other examples are τὸ ὄνομα → τοὔνομα (“the name”) and τὰ αὐτά → ταὐτά (“the same things”). An apostrophe marks elision, where a vowel is dropped; a koronis marks this blending.

Why does the raised comma look like breathing?

The raised comma shares its shape with smooth breathing.

Inside a word, the combining mark signals crasis; over an initial vowel, a mark with the same shape usually indicates smooth breathing. A separate editorial coronis ⸎ appears in Greek manuscript margins.

A fourth-century BCE papyrus manuscript is among the early examples of that editorial sign. Its marginal forms vary before the first century BCE and grow more regular in the first century BCE; it marks the end of a work or section.

How do I type the combining Greek koronis?

Type the Greek base letter before its combining mark.

Combining marks follow a base character in text. If the mark floats or lands on the wrong vowel, try a font and editor with polytonic Greek support.

Unicode preserves this raised-comma form for compatibility and recommends the generic combining comma above for general use. A fallback or text normalizer can substitute that character while leaving a similar-looking mark on screen.