  Yes, phonetically the acute and circumflex became the same. And yes, the grave never was different. It marked an absence of acute. It showed where an acute existed 'ideally', but where it was/could be ignored because of context. Think of it as marking an acute that should be ignored because of context.  I hope so, because pronouncing a Koine sentence is a lot more rhythmic and smoother this way. Did the grave originally indicate a lower pitch or did it always denote the absence of pitch/accent?  Yes, phonetically the acute and circumflex became the same. And yes, the grave never was different. It marked an absence of acute. It showed where an acute existed 'ideally', but where it was/could be ignored because of context. Think of it as marking an acute that should be ignored because of context.  I hope so, because pronouncing a Koine sentence is a lot more rhythmic and smoother this way. Did the grave originally indicate a lower pitch or did it always denote the absence of pitch/accent?  