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."