Shva

Shva
ְ
IPA	/e/, Ø
Transliteration	e, nothing
English example	men
Example
The word shva in Hebrew. The first vowel (marked with red) is a shva itself.
Other Niqqud
Shva · Hiriq · Zeire · Segol · Patach · Kamatz · Holam · Dagesh · Mappiq · Shuruk · Kubutz · Rafe · Sin/Shin Dot

Shva (Hebrew: שְׁוָא‎) is a Hebrew niqqud vowel sign represented by two vertical dots "ְ" underneath a letter. In Modern Hebrew, it indicates either the phoneme /e/ or the complete absence of a vowel (Ø), whereas in Hebrew prescriptive linguistics, four grammatical entities are differentiated: resting (naḥ / נָח), moving (na / נָע), floating (meraḥef / מְרַחֵף) and "bleating" or "bellowing" (ga'ya / גַּעְיָה). In earlier forms of Hebrew, these entities were phonologically and phonetically distinguishable, but the two variants resulting from Modern Hebrew phonology no longer conform to the traditional classification, e.g. the (first) Shva Nach in the word קִמַּטְתְ (fem. "you crumpled") is pronounced /e/ (/kiˈmatet/) instead of being mute, whereas the Shva Na in זְמַן ("time") is mute (/zman/).

A shva sign in combination with the vowel diacritics patáẖ, segól and kamáts katán produces a "ẖatáf": a diacritic for a "tnuʿá ẖatufá" (a "fleeting" or "furtive" vowel).

Pronunciation in Modern Hebrew

In Modern Hebrew, shva is pronounced either /e/ or Ø, regardless of its traditional classification as shva naḥ (שְׁוָא נָח) or shva na (שְׁוָא נָע), see following table for examples. It is transliterated as ə, e, ', or nothing (however, transliterating modern Hebrew shva with ə or ' might be misleading, since it is never actually pronounced [ə] – the vowel [ə] does not exist in modern Hebrew).

In Modern Hebrew, a shva is pronounced /e/ under the following conditions:^[1]

Traditional Classification

In traditional Hebrew grammar, shvas are in most cases classified as either "shva na" (Heb. שווא נע) or as "shva naḥ" (Heb. שווא נח); in a few cases as "shva meraḥef" (Heb. שווא מרחף), and when discussing Tiberian pronunciation (ca. from the 8^th until the 15^th century) some shvas are classified as "shva ga'ya" (Heb. שווא געיה).

The following table summarizes the distinguishing characteristics of shva na, "shva naḥ" and "shva meraḥef", the three categories of shva relevant to standard grammar of Modern Hebrew. The "location" of the shva, i.e., the place within the word where the lack of vowel is indicated by it, is marked within the phonemic transcription with an orange linguistic zero: Ø; if existing, the corresponding vowel in the basic (non inflected) form of the example is also marked in orange.

Shva Na

In most cases, traditional Hebrew grammar considers shva na to be an entity that supersedes a vowel that exists in the basic form of a word but not after this word underwent inflection or declension. Additionally, any shva marked under an initial letter is classified shva na.

Merely identifying a given shva as being a "shva na" offers no indication as to its pronunciation in Modern Hebrew; it is however relevant to the application of standard niqqud, e.g.: a בג״ד כפ״ת letter following a letter marked with a shva na may not be marked with a dagesh qal, or: the vowel preceding a letter marked with a shva na must be represented by the "long" niqqud-variant for that vowel: qamats and not pataḥ, tsere and not segol etc.^[2]. Furthermore, in standard syllabification, the letter under which a shva na is marked is grouped with the following syllable.

The Academy of the Hebrew Language's transliteration guidelines^[3] specify that shva na should be transliterated only if pronounced in Modern Hebrew, in which case "e" be used for general purposes and "ĕ" for precise transliteration. Generally shva na is sometimes transliterated "ə"; concerning Modern Hebrew pronunciation however this symbol is misleading, since it is commonly used in linguistics to denote the vowel Schwa, which does not exist in Modern Hebrew.

A shva na can be identified as such by means of the following criteria:

1. when marked under the first letter of a word,
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),
4. when the letter before the one under which it is marked is marked with a "long" niqqud-variant,^[2]
5. when marked under a letter with a dagesh ḥazaq (historically an indicator of gemination).

For a more detailed account, see Tiberian vocalization → Vowels.

Shva Naḥ

Traditional Hebrew grammar defines shva naḥ 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 second dalet in the word שָׁדַדְתְּ – /ʃaˈdadet/ – "you (f.) robbed"; see table above).

In all but a small number of cases, a shva not conforming to the criteria listed above is classified shva naḥ. This offers no conclusive indication as to its pronunciation in Modern Hebrew; it is however relevant to the application of standard niqqud, e.g.: a בג״ד כפ״ת letter following a letter marked with a shva naḥ must be marked with a dagesh qal, or: the vowel preceding a letter marked with a shva naḥ must be represented by the "short" niqqud-variant for that vowel: pataḥ and not qamats, segol and not tsere etc.^[2]. Furthermore, in standard syllabification, the letter under which a shva naḥ is marked is grouped with the preceding syllable.

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

Shva Meraḥef

"Shva meraḥef" is the grammatical designation of a shva which does not comply with all criteria characterizing a shva na (specifically, one marked under a letter following a letter marked with a "short", not a "long", niqqud-variant^[2]), but which does, like a shva na, supersede a vowel (or a shva na) that exists in the basic form of a word but not after this word underwent inflection or declension.

The classification of a shva as "shva meraḥef" is relevant to the application of standard niqqud, e.g.: a בג״ד כפ״ת letter following a letter marked with a shva meraḥef should not be marked with a dagesh qal, although the vowel preceding this letter could be represented by the "short" niqqud-variant for that vowel.^[2] This reflects sometimes, but not always, 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 letter kaf), whereas כַּלְבֵי ("dogs of"), whose standard pronunciation is /kalˈvej/, is commonly pronounced /kalˈbej/ (as if there were a dagesh qal in the letter bet). In standard syllabification, the letter under which a shva meraḥef is marked is grouped with the preceding syllable.

Shva Ga'ya

"Shva Ga'ya" designates a shva marked under a letter that is also marked with the cantillation mark "ga'ya", or "meteg", e.g. the shva under the letter bet in the word בְּהוֹנוֹת ("toes") would normally be classified a shva na and be transliterated "e": "behonót" (or according to the precise standard^[3], "ĕ": "bĕhonót"), however, if marked with the ga'ya cantillation mark, , this shva is classified as shva ga'ya, and the transliteration reflecting its historical pronunciation would be "bohonót".

Tnuʿá ẖatufá ("fleeting" or "furtive" vowel)

Within niqqud, vowel diacritics are sorted into three groups: "big", "small" and "fleeting" or "furtive" ("tnuʿót gdolót" – "גדולות", "tnuʿót ktanót" – "קטנות" and "tnuʿót ẖatufót" "חטופות"), sometimes also referred to as "long", "short" and "very short" or "ultrashort". This grouping might have correlated to different vowel lengths in earlier forms of Hebrew (see Tiberian 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 as "ẖatufót" ("fleeting") all share the common feature of being a digraph of a "small vowel" diacritic (patáẖ, segól or kamáts katán) plus a shva sign. Similarly, their names are derived from the respective "small vowel" diacritic's name plus the adjunct "ẖatáf": "ẖatáf patáẖ", "ẖatáf segól" and "ẖatáf kamáts".

As with a shva na, standard (prescribed) syllabification determines that letters pointed with a "fleeting vowel" diacritic be considered part of the subsequent syllable, even if in modern Hebrew pronunciation this diacritic represents a full-fledged syllable, thus e.g. the phonologically trisyllabic word "הֶעֱמִיד" ("he placed upright"), pronounced /he.eˈmid/, should standardly be syllabified into only two syllables, "הֶ—עֱמִיד" ("he—ĕmíd").

Name	Symbol	Israeli Hebrew
		IPA	Transliteration	English example
Shva		[e] or Ø	apostrophe, e, or nothing	men, licked
Reduced Segol ("ẖatáf segól")		[e]	e	men
Reduced Patach ("ẖatáf patáẖ")		[a]	a	cup
Reduced Kamatz ("ẖatáf kamáts")		[o]	o	dork
Reduced Hiriq ("ẖatáf ẖiríq") – not in current use, appears rarely in the Aleppo Codex[4]		[i]	i	it

Comparison table

Unicode encoding

See also

• Niqqud
• Tiberian vocalization
• schwa

References

1. ^ "Characterization and Evaluation of Speech-Reading Support Systems for Hard-of-Hearing Students in the Class" by Becky Schocken; Faculty of Management, Tel-Aviv University, Department of Management and Economics, The Open University of Israel
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} Long and short niqqud-variants represent identical spoken vowels in Modern Hebrew; the orthographic distinction is, however, still observed in standard spelling
3. ^ ^{a b c} Transliteration guidelines from 2006 (p. 4)
4. ^ hagigim.com
   מלכיםא יז יא. "לקחי־נא"
   

   תהילים יד א : "השחיתו","התעיבו"
   

   תהילים נג ב: "השחיתו", "והתעיבו"

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