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Shva


Shva or, in Biblical Hebrew, shĕwa (Hebrew: שְׁוָא‎) is a Hebrew niqqud vowel sign written as two vertical dots (ְ  ) beneath a letter. In Modern Hebrew, it indicates either the phoneme /e/ or the complete absence of a vowel (Ø), whereas in Hebrew prescriptive linguistics, six grammatical entities are differentiated: the resting Shva (naḥ / נָח‎), such as in the words שִׁמְעִי(II Sam. 16:5) and כַּרְמִי(Josh. 7:1); the mobile Shva (naʿ / נָע‎), such as the Shva which appears at the beginning of words, which renders the vowel a mobile vowel, as in the Hebrew word "floating" (meraḥef / מְרַחֵף‎), or as in לְפָנָי‎ (lefanai) or שְׁמַע‎ (shemaʿ) (Deut. 6:4); or whenever a diacritical vertical line known as a Ga'ya / גַּעְיָה‎ (lit. "bleating" or "bellowing") appears next to a Shva. For example, in the words הַֽמְקַנֵּ֥א אַתָּ֖ה לִ֑י(Num. 11:29), the Shva beneath the Hebrew character mim becomes a mobile Shva because of the Ga'ya (small vertical line) beneath the Hebrew character he. In all these cases the Shva gives an audible sound to the letter, as in a short "a" or short "e", and is not mute. Likewise, whenever a Shva appears in the middle of a word and the letter has a diacritical point within it (dagesh), as in the pe of מִפְּנֵיכֶם(Lev. 18:24), or in the qoph of מִקְּדָֿשׁ(Exo. 15:17), they too will become a mobile Shva (na / נָע‎), as will a word that has two Shvas written one after the other, as in the word רַעְמְסֵס(Exo. 12:37), or in the word וישְׁמְעו(Gen. 3:8), etc. the first Shva is resting (mute), while the second Shva is a mobile Shva. Another instance of where the Shva becomes mobile is when it comes directly after a long vowel sound, such as the long vowel of either yod or ḥiríq, as in יְחִֽידְֿךָ(Gen. 22:2), giving it the sound of yeḥīdhəkha, etc., or as in the long vowel of waw or ḥolam, as in the words הוֹלְכִֿים‎, יוֹדְֿעִים‎ and מוֹכְֿרִים‎, etc. (hōləkhīm, yōdəʻīm and mōkhərīm), or as in the verse שֹׁפְטִים וְשֹׁטְרִים תִּתֶּן לְךָ(Deut. 16:18), "shōfəṭīm wa-shōṭərīm titen ləkha."


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