Shva

Shva or, in Biblical Hebrew, shĕwa (Hebrew: .mw-parser-output .script-hebrew,.mw-parser-output .script-Hebr{font-size:1.15em;font-family:'Ezra SIL','Ezra SIL SR','Keter Aram Tsova','Taamey Ashkenaz','Taamey David CLM','Taamey Frank CLM','Frank Ruehl CLM','Keter YG','Shofar','David CLM','Hadasim CLM','Simple CLM','Nachlieli','SBL BibLit','SBL Hebrew',Cardo,Alef,'Noto Serif Hebrew','Noto Sans Hebrew','David Libre',David,'Times New Roman',Gisha,Arial,FreeSerif,FreeSans}שְׁוָא) is a Hebrew niqqud vowel sign written as two vertical dots ( ְ ) beneath a letter. It indicates either the phoneme /ə/ (shva na', mobile shva) or the complete absence of a vowel (Ø) (shva nach, resting shva). Shva or, in Biblical Hebrew, shĕwa (Hebrew: .mw-parser-output .script-hebrew,.mw-parser-output .script-Hebr{font-size:1.15em;font-family:'Ezra SIL','Ezra SIL SR','Keter Aram Tsova','Taamey Ashkenaz','Taamey David CLM','Taamey Frank CLM','Frank Ruehl CLM','Keter YG','Shofar','David CLM','Hadasim CLM','Simple CLM','Nachlieli','SBL BibLit','SBL Hebrew',Cardo,Alef,'Noto Serif Hebrew','Noto Sans Hebrew','David Libre',David,'Times New Roman',Gisha,Arial,FreeSerif,FreeSans}שְׁוָא) is a Hebrew niqqud vowel sign written as two vertical dots ( ְ ) beneath a letter. It indicates either the phoneme /ə/ (shva na', mobile shva) or the complete absence of a vowel (Ø) (shva nach, resting shva). It is transliterated as 'e', 'ĕ', 'ə', ''' (apostrophe), or nothing. Note that usage of 'ə' for shva is questionable: transliterating modern Hebrew Shva Nach with ə or ' is misleading, since it is never actually pronounced – the vowel does not exist in modern Hebrew – moreover, the vowel is probably not characteristic of earlier pronunciations either (see Tiberian vocalization → Mobile Shwa = Shwa na'). 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). In Modern Hebrew, shva is either pronounced /e/ or is mute (Ø), regardless of its traditional classification as shva nacḥ (שְׁוָא נָח) or shva na (שְׁוָא נָע), see following table for examples. The Israeli standard for its transliteration 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: ^ One exception to rule 2 seems to be מְלַאי‎ /mlaj/ 'inventory'; the absence of a vowel after the מ (/m/) might be attributable to the high sonority of the subsequent liquid ל (/l/), however compare with מְלִית‎ (/meˈlit/, not /*mlit/) 'filling' (in cuisine). According to the New User-Friendly Hebrew-English Dictionary (Arie Comey, Naomi Tsur; Achiasaf, 2006), the word מְלַאי‎ ('stock') is pronounced with an /e/: . ^ Exceptions to rule 6 include פְּסַנְתְּרָן‎ (/psantˈran/, not */psanteˈran/ – 'pianist'), אַנְגְּלִית‎ (/aŋˈɡlit/, not */aŋɡeˈlit/ – 'English'), נַשְׁפְּרִיץ‎ (/naʃˈprit͡s/, not */naʃpeˈrit͡s/ – 'we will sprinkle'), several inflections of quinqueliteral roots – e.g.: סִנְכְּרֵן‎ (/sinˈkren/, not */sinkeˈren/ – 'he synchronized'); חִנְטְרֵשׁ (/χinˈtreʃ/, not */χinteˈreʃ/ – 'he did stupid things'); הִתְפְלַרְטֵט‎ (/hitflarˈtet/, not */hitfelartet/ – 'he had a flirt') – as well as other, more recent loanwords, 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 phrase סִפְרֵי תורה‎ ('books of the Law') is correctly pronounced in Modern Hebrew /sifrei torah/ with the 'פ' (or /f/ sound) being mute, the shva na in זְמַן‎ ('time') in Modern Hebrew is often pronounced as a mute Shva (/zman/). In religious contexts, however, scrupulous readers of the prayers and scriptures do still differentiate properly between Shva Nach and Shva Na (e.g. zĕman).