שווא

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. the Hebrew diacritical mark shva (ִ◌ְ)
  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 (š-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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