See also: Schwa (disambiguation).
| IPA | Modern Hebrew /e/ (pronounced as /link/), Ø | |
| Biblical Hebrew pronounced as //a// | ||
| Transliteration | e, ', | |
| English example | men, menorah | |
It is transliterated as (e), (ĕ), (ə), (') (apostrophe), or nothing. Note that use of (ə) for shva is questionable: transliterating Modern Hebrew shva naḥ with (ə) is misleading, since it is never actually pronounced pronounced as /[ə]/ – the vowel pronounced as /[ə]/ does not exist in Modern Standard Hebrew. Moreover, the vowel pronounced as /[ə]/ is probably not characteristic of earlier pronunciations such as Tiberian vocalization.
A shva sign in combination with the vowel diacritics patáẖ, segól and kamáts katán produces a : a diacritic for a (a 'reduced vowel' – lit. 'abducted vowel').
In Modern Hebrew, shva is either pronounced pronounced as //e// or is mute (Ø), regardless of its traditional classification as shva nach (Hebrew: שְׁוָא נָח) or shva na (Hebrew: 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 pronounced as //e//), and no representation in transliteration if the shva is mute.
In Modern Hebrew, a shva is pronounced pronounced as //e// under the following conditions:[1]
| Condition for pronounced as //e// pronunciation of shva in Israeli Hebrew | Examples | Examples for silent shva (since condition does not apply) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. When under the first of two letters, both representing the same consonant or consonants with identical place and manner of articulation: | Hebrew: שָׁכְחוּ | pronounced as //ʃaχeˈχu// | they forgot | Hebrew: מָכְרוּ | pronounced as //maχˈru// | they sold | ||||
| Hebrew: שָׁדַדְתְּ | pronounced as //ʃaˈdadet// | you (f.) robbed | Hebrew: שָׁלַלְתְּ | pronounced as //ʃaˈlalt// | you (feminine) negated | |||||
| 2. When under the first letter of a word, if this letter is a sonorant in modern pronunciation, i.e. (pronounced as //j//), (pronounced as //l//), (pronounced as //m//), (pronounced as //n//) or (pronounced as //r//): | Hebrew: נְמָלִים | pronounced as //nemaˈlim// | ants | Hebrew: גְּמָלִים | pronounced as //ɡmaˈlim// | camels | ||||
| Hebrew: מְנִיָּה | pronounced as //meniˈja// | counting | Hebrew: בְּנִיָּה | pronounced as //bniˈja// | building | |||||
| 3. When under the first letter of a word, if the second letter is a glottal consonant, i.e. (pronounced as //ʔ//), (pronounced as //h//) or (pronounced as //ʕ// or pronounced as //ʔ//): | Hebrew: תְּאָרִים | pronounced as //teaˈrim// | titles | Hebrew: מִתְאָרִים | pronounced as //mitʔaˈrim// | outlines | ||||
| Hebrew: תְּמָרִים | pronounced as //tmaˈrim// | dates | ||||||||
4. When under the first letter of a word, if this letter represents one of the prefix-morphemes
| Hebrew: בְּרֵיחָהּ | pronounced as //berejˈχa// | in her scent | Hebrew: בְּרֵיכָה | pronounced as //brejˈχa// | pool | ||||
| Hebrew: בְּחִישָׁה | pronounced as //beχiˈʃa// | in sensing | Hebrew: בְּחִישָׁה | pronounced as //bχiˈʃa// | stirring | |||||
| Hebrew: וְרוֹדִים | pronounced as //veroˈdim// | and (they) tyrannize | Hebrew: וְרוּדִים | pronounced as //vruˈdim// | pink (m.p.) | |||||
| Hebrew: כְּרָזָה | pronounced as //keraˈza// | as a thin person | Hebrew: כְּרָזָה | pronounced as //kraˈza// | poster | |||||
| Hebrew: לְפָּרִיז | pronounced as //lepaˈriz// | to Paris | ||||||||
| Hebrew: תְּבַלּוּ | pronounced as //tevaˈlu// | you (m. p.) will have a good time | Hebrew: תְּבַלּוּל | pronounced as //tvaˈlul// | cataract | |||||
| 5. (In non standard language usage) if one of the morphemes mentioned above (pronounced as //be//, pronounced as //ve//, pronounced as //ke//, pronounced as //le// or pronounced as //te//) or one of the morphemes pronounced as //mi// ("from") or pronounced as //ʃe// ("that") is added as a prefix to a word, which without this prefix begins with a letter marked with a shva pronounced pronounced as //e// under the above conditions, this shva will retain its pronounced as //e//-pronunciation also with the prefix: | Hebrew: מִצְּעָדִים | pronounced as //mitseaˈdim// | from steps | Hebrew: מִצְּמָדִים | pronounced as //mitsmaˈdim// | from pairs | ||||
| Hebrew: מִצְעָדִים | pronounced as //mitsʔaˈdim// | parades | ||||||||
| Hebrew: מִרְוָחִים | pronounced as //mirevaˈχim// | from blanks | Hebrew: מִרְוָחִים | pronounced as //mirvaˈχim// | intervals | |||||
| Hebrew: מֵרְוָחִים –pronounced as //merevaˈχim// | ||||||||||
| Hebrew: rtl=yes|לַאֲרָיוֹת וְלְנְמֵרִים יֵשׁ פַּרְוָה | pronounced as //learaˈjot velenemerim…// | Lions and tigers have fur | ||||||||
| Hebrew: וְלִנְמֵרִים pronounced as //…velinmeˈrim…// | ||||||||||
| Hebrew: rtl=yes|וְכְּיְלָדִים שִׂחַקְנוּ בַּחוּץ | pronounced as //vekejelaˈdim…// | And as children we played outside | ||||||||
| Hebrew: וְכִילָדִים – pronounced as //veχilaˈdim…// | ||||||||||
| 6. (Usually – see counterexamples) when under a medial letter, before whose pronunciation a consonant was pronounced: | valign=top | Hebrew: אִשְׁפְּזוּ | valign=top | pronounced as //iʃpeˈzu// | valign=top | they hospitalized | Hebrew: אִישׁ פְּזוּר דַּעַת | pronounced as //iʃ pzur ˈda.at// | an absentminded man | |
One exception to rule 2 seems to be Hebrew: מְלַאי pronounced as //mlaj// 'inventory' (although according to the New User-Friendly Hebrew-English Dictionary (Arie Comey, Naomi Tsur; Achiasaf, 2006), the word is instead pronounced pronounced as //meˈlai//); the absence of a vowel after the (pronounced as //m//) might be attributable to the high sonority of the subsequent liquid (pronounced as //l//), compare with Hebrew: מְלִית (pronounced as //meˈlit//, not pronounced as //*mlit//) 'filling' (in cuisine).
Exceptions to rule 6 include Hebrew: פְּסַנְתְּרָן (pronounced as //psantˈran//, not pronounced as /
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 Hebrew: סִפְרֵי תורה ('books of the Law') is correctly pronounced in Modern Hebrew pronounced as //sifrei torah// with the (or /f/ sound) being mute, the shva na in Hebrew: זְמַן ('time') in Modern Hebrew is often pronounced as a mute Shva (pronounced as //zman//). In religious contexts, however, scrupulous readers of the prayers and scriptures do still differentiate properly between Shva Nach and Shva Na (e.g.).
In traditional Hebrew grammar, a shva is categorized according to several attributes of its grammatical context. The three categories of shva relevant to standard grammar of Modern Hebrew are shva naʼ (Hebrew: שווא נע), shva naḥ (Hebrew: שווא נח) and the less common shva meraḥef (Hebrew: שווא מרחף). When discussing Tiberian pronunciation (ca. from the 8th until the 15th century) some shvas are classified as shva ga'ya (Hebrew: שווא געיה). The following table summarizes four distinguishing attributes which determine these categories:
To help illustrate the first criterion (existence or non-existence of a vowel in the word's non inflected 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 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.| type of shva | example | non inflected form of example | attributes: | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| supersedes in non inflected form: | preceding letter's niqqud: | following letter with / without dagesh qal: | assigned to syllable | |||||||||
| naʼ | Hebrew: עֵרְבוֹנוֹת | pronounced as //er/Øpronounced as /voˈnot// | (deposits) | Hebrew: עֵרָבוֹן | pronounced as //er/pronounced as /a/pronounced as /ˈvon// | (deposit) | Hebrew: עֵ—רְבוֹ—נוֹת | vowel | long | without | following | |
| naḥ | Hebrew: עֶלְבּוֹנוֹת | pronounced as //el/Øpronounced as /boˈnot// | (insults) | Hebrew: עֶלְבּוֹן | pronounced as //el/Øpronounced as /ˈbon// | (insult) | Hebrew: עֶלְ—בּוֹ—נוֹת | no vowel | short | with | preceding | |
| meraḥef | Hebrew: יֶאֶרְכוּ | pronounced as //je.er/Øpronounced as /ˈχu// | (they will last) | Hebrew: יֶאֱרַךְ | pronounced as //je.eˈr/pronounced as /a/pronounced as /χ// | (it will last) | Hebrew: יֶ—אֶרְ—כוּ | vowel | short | without | preceding | |
In most cases, traditional Hebrew grammar considers shva naʼ, or the mobile shva, 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 naʼ.
Merely identifying a given shva as being a shva naʼ offers no indication as to its pronunciation in Modern Hebrew; it is however relevant to the application of standard niqqud, e.g.: a Hebrew: בג״ד כפ״ת letter following a letter marked with a shva naʼ may not be marked with a dagesh qal (Modern Hebrew phonology sometimes disagrees with this linguistic prescription, as in Hebrew: זִפְּזְפּוּ – 'they zapped' – in which the second pe is pointed with a dagesh qal although preceded by a shva naʼ), or: the vowel preceding a letter marked with a shva naʼ must be represented by the "long" niqqud-variant for that vowel: qamats and not pataḥ, tsere and not segol etc.. 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[6] 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. Shva naʼ 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 naʼ can be identified as such by means of the following criteria:
For a more detailed account, see
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 pronounced as //e// (e.g. the shva under the second dalet in the word Hebrew: שָׁדַדְתְּ – pronounced as //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 Hebrew: בג״ד כפ״ת letter following a letter marked with a shva nacḥ must be marked with a dagesh qal (Modern Hebrew phonology sometimes disagrees with this linguistic prescription, as in Hebrew: לְפַסְפֵס – "to miss" – in which the second pe lacks a dagesh qal although preceded by a shva naḥ), 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.. 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[6] 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 na’ (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 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 Hebrew: 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. This sometimes, but not always, reflects pronunciation in Modern Hebrew; e.g. Hebrew: מַלְכֵי ('kings of') is commonly pronounced in accordance with the standard form, pronounced as //malˈχej// (with no dagesh qal in the letter kaf), whereas Hebrew: כַּלְבֵי ('dogs of'), whose standard pronunciation is pronounced as //kalˈvej//, is commonly pronounced pronounced as //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 designates a shva marked under a letter that is also marked with the cantillation mark (Hebrew: גַּעְיָה lit. 'bleating' or 'bellowing'), or, e.g. the shva under the letter bet in the word Hebrew: בְּהוֹנוֹת ('toes') would normally be classified a shva na’ and be transliterated (e): (or according to the precise standard,[6] (ĕ):), however, if marked with the ga'ya cantillation mark,, this shva is classified as shva ga'ya, and the transliteration believed to reflect its historical pronunciation would be . This "strict application" is found in Yemenite Hebrew.
Within niqqud, vowel diacritics are sorted into three groups: big, small and fleeting or furtive (Hebrew: תנועות גדולות, Hebrew: תנועות קטנות and Hebrew: תנועות 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 ('fleeting') all share the common feature of being a digraph of a small vowel diacritic (Patach, Segol or Kamatz Katan) plus a shva sign. Similarly, their names are derived from the respective small vowel diacritic's name plus the adjunct :, and .
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 Hebrew: הֶעֱמִיד ('he placed upright'), pronounced pronounced as /he/, should standardly be syllabified into only two syllables, Hebrew: הֶ—עֱמִיד .
| Name | Symbol | Israeli Hebrew | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IPA | Transliteration | English approximate | ||
| Reduced Segol | pronounced as /link/ | e | men | |
| Reduced Patach ("ẖatáf patáẖ") | pronounced as /link/ | a | spa | |
| Reduced Kamatz ("ẖatáf kamáts") | pronounced as /link/ | o | cone | |
| Reduced Hiriq ("ẖatáf ẖiríq") – not in current use, appears rarely[8] in the Aleppo Codex[9] | pronounced as /link/ | i | it | |
| Vowel comparison table | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vowel Length | IPA | Transliteration | English approximate | Notes | ||||
| Long | Short | Very Short | ||||||
| pronounced as //a// | pronounced as /link/ | a | spa | see open central unrounded vowel | ||||
| pronounced as //e// | pronounced as /link/ | e | temp | see mid front unrounded vowel | ||||
| pronounced as //o// | pronounced as /link/ | o | cone | see mid back rounded vowel | ||||
| n/a | pronounced as //u// | pronounced as /link/ | u | doom | ||||
| pronounced as //i// | pronounced as /link/ | i | ski | |||||
| Note I: | By adding two vertical dots (shva) the vowel is made very short. | |||||||
| Note II: | The short o is usually promoted to a long o in Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation | |||||||
| Note III: | The short u is usually promoted to a long u in Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation | |||||||
| Glyph | Unicode | Name |
|---|---|---|
| U+05B0 | HEBREW POINT SHEVA | |
| U+05B1 | HEBREW POINT HATAF SEGOL | |
| U+05B2 | HEBREW POINT HATAF PATAH | |
| U+05B3 | HEBREW POINT HATAF QAMATS | |
Long and short niqqud-variants represent identical spoken vowels in Modern Hebrew; the orthographic distinction is, however, still observed in standard spelling.