Shva
ְ‎
IPA	Modern Hebrew: /e/ ([e̞]),Ø
	Biblical Hebrew:/a/,/i/
Transliteration	e,'(apostrophe),nothing
English example	men, menorah
Example
The word shva inHebrew. The first vowel (underShin, marked with red) is itself a shva.
OtherNiqqud
Shva · Hiriq · Tzere · Segol · Patach · Kamatz · Holam · Dagesh · Mappiq · Shuruk · Kubutz · Rafe · Sin/Shin Dot

Shva or, inBiblical Hebrew,shĕwa (Hebrew:שְׁוָא) is aHebrewniqqudvowel sign written as two vertical dots ( ְ‎ ) beneath a letter. It indicates either thephoneme/ə/^{[citation needed]}(shva na', mobile shva) or the complete absence of a vowel (/Ø/) (shva naḥ, resting shva).

It is transliterated as⟨e⟩,⟨ĕ⟩,⟨ə⟩,⟨'⟩ (apostrophe), or nothing. Note that use of⟨ə⟩ for shva is questionable: transliteratingModern Hebrew shva naḥ with⟨ə⟩ is misleading, since it is never actually pronounced[ə] – amid central vowel (IPA[ə]) does not exist in Modern Hebrew. The vowel[ə] was pronounced as a full vowel in earlier Hebrew varieties such asTiberian vocalization, where it was phonetically usually identical toshort [a], inPalestinian vocalization appears as short [e] or [i], and inBabylonian vocalization as [a]. In early Greek and Latin transliterations of Hebrew such as theHexapla, it appears as [ε] and [e], respectively.^[1]

A shva sign in combination with thevowel diacriticspatáḥ,segól, andqamatz produces aḥatáf: a diacritic for atnuʿá ḥatufá (a 'reduced vowel' – lit. 'abducted vowel'). In Tiberian Hebrew, these were pronounced identical to the short vowels [a], [ɛ], and [ɔ].^[2]

In Modern Hebrew, shva is either pronounced/e/ or is mute (Ø), regardless of its traditional classification asshva nach (שְׁוָא נָח) orshva na (שְׁוָא נָע), see following table for examples. The Israeli standard for its transliteration^[3] is⟨e⟩ only for a pronounced shva na (i.e., one which is pronounced/e/), and no representation in transliteration if the shva is mute.

In Modern Hebrew, a shva is pronounced/e/ under the following conditions:^[4]

^ One exception to rule 2 seems to beמְלַאי/mlaj/ 'inventory' (although according to theNew User-Friendly Hebrew-English Dictionary (Arie Comey, Naomi Tsur; Achiasaf, 2006), the word is instead pronounced/meˈlai/); the absence of a vowel after theמ‎ (/m/) might be attributable to the highsonority of the subsequentliquidל‎ (/l/), compare withמְלִית (/meˈlit/, not/*mlit/) 'filling' (in cuisine).

^ Exceptions to rule 6 includeפְּסַנְתְּרָן (/psantˈran/, not*/psanteˈran/ – 'pianist'),אַנְגְּלִית (/aŋˈɡlit/, not*/aŋɡeˈlit/ – 'English'),נַשְׁפְּרִיץ^[5] (/naʃˈprit͡s/, not*/naʃpeˈrit͡s/ – 'we will sprinkle'), severalinflections ofquinqueliteral roots – e.g.:סִנְכְּרֵן^[6] (/sinˈkren/, not*/sinkeˈren/ – 'he synchronized');חִנְטְרֵשׁ^[7] (/χinˈtreʃ/, not*/χinteˈreʃ/ – 'he did stupid things');הִתְפְלַרְטֵט^[8] (/hitflarˈtet/, not*/hitfelartet/ – 'he had a flirt') – as well as other, more recentloanwords, e.g.מַנְטְרַה (/ˈmantra/, not*/mantera/ – 'mantra').

In earlier forms of Hebrew, shva na and nach were phonologically and phonetically distinguishable, but the two variants resulting from Modern Hebrew phonology no longer conform to the traditional classification, e.g. while the (first)shva nach in the phraseסִפְרֵי תורה ('books of the Law') is correctly pronounced in Modern Hebrew/sifreitorah/ with theפ‎ (or /f/ sound) being mute, theshva na inזְמַן ('time') in Modern Hebrew is often pronounced as a muteShva (/zman/). In religious contexts, however, scrupulous readers of theprayers and scriptures do still differentiate properly betweenShva Nach andShva Na (e.g.zĕman).

In traditional Hebrew grammar, a shva is categorized according to several attributes of its grammatical context. The three categories of shva relevant to theprescriptive grammar of Modern Hebrew areshva naʻ (שווא נע),shva naḥ (שווא נח) and the less commonshva meraḥef (שווא מרחף). When discussing Tiberian pronunciation, some shvas are classified asshva gaʻya (שווא געיה). The following table summarizes four distinguishing attributes which determine these categories:

• Does the shva supersede a vowel or no vowel in the word'snon-inflected form?
• Is the preceding letterpointed with a "short" or a "long" niqqud variant?
• Is the following letter, whenבג״ד כפ״ת, pointed with adagesh qal or not?
• Is the letter pointed with shvaassigned to the preceding or following syllable?

To help illustrate the first criterion (existence or non-existence of a vowel in the word's noninflected form), the location of the shva (i.e., the place within the word where the lack of vowel is indicated by it) is marked within thephonemic transcription with an orangelinguistic zero:Ø; if existing, the corresponding vowel in the basic (non inflected) form of the example is also marked in orange.

In most cases, traditional Hebrew grammar considersshva naʻ "mobile shva" to supersede a vowel that exists in the basic form of a word but was reduced due toinflection ordeclension. Additionally, any shva marked under an initial letter is classified shva naʻ.

Identifying a shva as shva naʻ is relevant to the application ofniqqud in Tiberian Hebrew, e.g., aבג״ד כפ״ת letter following a letter marked with a shva naʻ may not be marked with adagesh qal; the vowel preceding a letter marked with a shva naʻ must be represented by the "long" niqqud variant for that vowel: qamats and not pataḥ,tsere and notsegol, etc.^[↑]. Furthermore, in the standardsyllabification, the letter under which a shva naʻ is marked is grouped with the following syllable.

TheAcademy of the Hebrew Language's transliteration guidelines^[3] specify that shva naʻ should be transliterated only if pronounced inModern Hebrew, in which case⟨e⟩ be used for general purposes and⟨ĕ⟩ for precise transliteration. Shva naʻ is sometimes transliterated⟨ə⟩. However, this symbol is misleading since it is commonly used in linguistics to denote the vowelschwa, which does not exist in Modern Hebrew.

A shva naʻ can be identified with the following criteria:

1. When marked under the first letter of a word, as inמְרַחֵף,לְפָנָי, andשְׁמַע,
2. When marked under the first of two identical letters,
3. When it's the second of two shvas marked under two consecutive letters (except when marked under the last letter of a word), as inרַעְמְסֵסramʻasēs(Exo. 12:37) andוישְׁמְעוwišmaʻu(Gen. 3:8),
4. When the letter before the one under which it is marked is marked with a "long" niqqud variant,^[↑], such as the long vowel of eitheryod orḥiriq, as inיְחִֽידְֿךָ(Gen. 22:2) (yiḥiḏaḵā), or the long vowel ofwāw orḥolam, as in the wordsהוֹלְכִֿים,יוֹדְֿעִים andמוֹכְֿרִים (holaḵim,yodaʻim andmoḵarim) andשֹׁפְטִים וְשֹׁטְרִים(Deut. 16:18),"šofaṭim wašoṭarim."
5. When marked under a letter with adagesh ḥazaq (historically an indicator ofgemination), asמִפְּנֵיכֶם(Lev. 18:24) andמִקְּדָֿשׁ(Exo. 15:17).^[9]: 31

For a more detailed account, seeTiberian vocalization § Vowel diacritics

Traditional Hebrew grammar defines shva naḥ, or shva quiescens, as indicating the absence of a vowel. In Modern Hebrew, some shvas classified as shva naḥ are nonetheless pronounced/e/ (e.g. the shva under the seconddalet in the wordשָׁדַדְתְּ –/ʃaˈdadet/ – "you (f.) robbed"; seetable above).

In a few cases, a shva not conforming to the criteria listedabove is classified as shva naḥ. This offers no conclusive indication as to its pronunciation in Modern Hebrew; it is, however, relevant to the application of standardniqqud, e.g.: aבג״ד כפ״ת letter following a letter marked with a shva nacḥ must be marked with adagesh qal (Modern Hebrewphonology sometimes disagrees with thislinguistic prescription, as inלְפַסְפֵס – "to miss" – in which the secondpe lacks a dagesh qal although preceded by a shva naḥ), or: the vowel prior to a letter marked with a shva naḥ must be represented by the "short" niqqud-variant for that vowel:pataḥ and notqamats,segol and nottsere etc.^[↑]. Furthermore, in standardsyllabification, the letter under which a shva naḥ is marked is grouped with the preceding syllable.

TheAcademy of the Hebrew Language's transliteration guidelines^[3] specify that shva naḥ should not be represented in transliteration.

"Shva meraḥef" is the grammatical designation of a shva which does not comply with all criteria characterizing a shva naʻ (specifically, one marked under a letter following a letter marked with a "short", not a "long", niqqud-variant^[↑]), but which does, like a shva na’, supersede a vowel (or a shva na’) that exists in the primary form of a word but not after this word underwentinflection ordeclension.

The classification of a shva asshva meraḥef is relevant to the application of standardniqqud, e.g.: aבג״ד כפ״ת letter following a letter marked with a shva meraḥef should not be marked with adagesh qal. The vowel preceding this letter could be represented by theshort niqqud-variant for that vowel.^[↑] This sometimes, but not always, reflects pronunciation in Modern Hebrew; e.g.מַלְכֵי ('kings of') is commonly pronounced in accordance with the standard form,/malˈχej/ (with no dagesh qal in the letterkaf), whereasכַּלְבֵי ('dogs of'), whose standard pronunciation is/kalˈvej/, is commonly pronounced/kalˈbej/ (as if there were a dagesh qal in the letterbet). In standardsyllabification, the letter under which a shva meraḥef is marked is grouped with the preceding syllable.

Shva gaʻya designates a shva marked under a letter that is also marked with thecantillation markgaʻya (גַּעְיָה lit. 'bleating' or 'bellowing'),^{[9]: 22–23} ormeteg, e.g. the shva under the letterbet in the wordבְּהוֹנוֹת "toes" would normally be classified a shva naʻ and be transliterated⟨e⟩:behonót (or according to the precise standard,^[3]⟨ĕ⟩:bĕhonót). However, if marked with the gaʻya cantillation mark,, this shva is classified as shva gaʻya, and the transliteration believed to reflect its historical pronunciation would bebohonót. This"strict application" is found inYemenite Hebrew.

Withinniqqud, voweldiacritics are sorted into three groups:big,small andfleeting orfurtive (t'nuot g'dolotתנועות גדולות,t'nuot k'tanotתנועות קטנות andt'nuot chatufotתנועות חטופות), sometimes also referred to aslong,short andvery short orultrashort. This grouping might have correlated to differentvowel lengths in earlier forms of Hebrew (seeTiberian vocalization → Vowels; spoken Israeli Hebrew however does not distinguish between different vowel lengths, thus this orthographic differentiation is not manifest in speech).

The vowel diacritics classified aschatufot ('fleeting') all share the common feature of being adigraph of asmall vowel diacritic (Patach,Segol orKamatz Katan) plus a shva sign. Similarly, their names are derived from the respectivesmall vowel diacritic's name plus theadjunctchataf:chataf patach,chataf segol andchataf kamatz.

As with a shva na, standard (prescribed)syllabification determines that letterspointed with afleeting vowel diacritic be considered part of the subsequentsyllable, even if in modern Hebrew pronunciation this diacritic represents a full-fledged syllable, thus e.g. thephonologically trisyllabic wordהֶעֱמִיד ('he placed upright'), pronouncedHebrew pronunciation:[/he.eˈmid/], shouldstandardly be syllabified into only two syllables,הֶ—עֱמִיד (he'emid).

Name	Symbol	Israeli Hebrew
		IPA	Transliteration	English approximate
Reduced Segol (ẖatáf segól)		[e̞]	e	men
Reduced Patach ("ẖatáf patáẖ")		[ä]	a	spa
Reduced Kamatz ("ẖatáf kamáts")		[o̞]	o	cone
Reduced Hiriq ("ẖatáf ẖiríq") – not in current use, appears rarely[10] in theAleppo Codex[11]		[i]	i	it

As of 2016, a separate Unicode symbol for the sheva na has been proposed but not implemented.^[12][13]

• Niqqudot
• Mid central vowel
• Tiberian vocalization
• Arabic diacritics#Sukūn

^↑ Long and short niqqud-variants represent identical spoken vowels in Modern Hebrew; the orthographic distinction is, however, still observed in standard spelling.

•  Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, §10

• Niqqud

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