שווא

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See also: שוואָ, שווה, and שב

Hebrew

ניקוד

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Classical Syriac ܫܘܳܝܳܐ (š'waya, literally “even, equal”), in Syriac a term for a sign consisting of two vertical dots used to separate parts of a sentence.[1]

Pronunciation

Noun

שווא / שְׁוָא • (shva, šəwɔʾ) m

  1. shva (a Hebrew nikud vowel sign written as two vertical dots beneath a letter, in Israeli Hebrew indicating either the phoneme /e/ or the complete absence of a vowel) (ִ◌ְ)
  2. schwa (unstressed vowel sound)
Descendants
  • → Dutch: sjwa
  • → German: Schwa
  • → Polish: szwa

References

  • “שוא” in the Hebrew Terms Database of the Academy of Hebrew Language

Further reading

  1. ^ אהרן דותן (דויטשר) (Aron Dotan a.k.a. Aron Deutscher) (1953) “שמותיו של השוא בראשיתו של הדקדוק העברי (The names of the schwa at the beginning of Hebrew grammar)”, in Lĕšonénu: A Journal for the Study of the Hebrew Language and Cognate Subjects / לשוננו: כתב-עת לחקר הלשון העברית והתחומים הסמוכים לה‎, volume י"ט (19), number קובץ מיוחד תשי"ד (special file 2014), Academy of the Hebrew Language, pages 13-30

Etymology 2

Root
שׁ־ו־א (sh-w-ʾ)

Noun

שווא / שָׁוְא • (shav) m

  1. falsehood, futility
  2. (literary) emptiness, vanity, uselessness, pointlessness
    • Tanach, Exodus 20:7, with translation of the King James Version:
      לֹא תִשָּׂא אֶת שֵׁם ה׳ אֱלֹהֶיךָ לַשָּׁוְא כִּי לֹא יְנַקֶּה ה׳ אֵת אֲשֶׁר יִשָּׂא אֶת שְׁמוֹ לַשָּׁוְא׃
      Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
Derived terms

References

Yiddish

Noun

שווא • (shvo) m

  1. (nonstandard) Unpointed form of שוואָ (shvo).
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