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.

Noun

שווא / שְׁוָא • (shva, šəwɔʾ) m

1. the Hebrew diacritical mark shva (ִ◌ְ)
2. schwa (unstressed vowel sound)

Descendants

• → Dutch: sjwa
• → Finnish: švaa
• → German: Schwa
  • → English: schwa
• → Polish: szwa
• → Portuguese: xevá
• → Italian: scevà, schwa

References

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

Further reading

• שווא‎ on the Hebrew Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^he
• Shva on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 2

Root
שׁ־ו־א‎ (š-w-ʾ)

Noun

שווא / שָׁוְא • (shav) m

1. falsehood, futility
2. (literary) emptiness, vanity, uselessness, pointlessness
   • 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.

References

• H7723 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• “שוא” in the Hebrew Terms Database of the Academy of Hebrew Language

Yiddish

Noun

שווא • (shvo) m

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