2.4 Vocal and Silent Sheva
Figure 2.4: The Sheva
- The Sheva can be tricky to grasp at first since vocal and silent Sheva are written the same. They have two very different uses31.
- Both types of a Sheva mark the END of a syllable
- VOCAL Sheva is a REDUCED vowel but does NOT have a vowel Class
- Only non-gutturals can take a Vocal Sheva
- Gutturals reject the Vocal Sheva and take the Hateph vowels instead
- Pronounced like the A in Amuse (same as Hateph Patach)
- Only non-gutturals can take a Vocal Sheva
- SILENT Sheva is not a reduced vowel. In fact, it is NOT A VOWEL AT ALL
- Any letter, including Gutturals, can take a Silent Sheva
- Silent/No sound
- We will learn how to distinguish between the two kinds of Sheva in the next lesson
| Name | Type | Class | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vocal Sheva | Reduced | No Class | _A_muse |
| Silent Sheva | Not a Vowel | No pronunciation |
Many academic textbooks will use the term “Shewa” instead of “Sheva”. Both words mean the same thing.↩︎