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Sheva Rules

The document outlines rules for pronouncing sheva (vowel pointing) in Hebrew. It divides sheva into two categories: vocal sheva, which connects a letter to the following letter and is pronounced, and silent sheva, which connects a letter to the preceding letter and is not pronounced. It provides eight rules for vocal sheva regarding placement at the start of words, following long vowels, on letters with dagesh, identical letters, letters with metheg, and more. It also gives three rules for silent sheva regarding placement at the end of syllables, on the last letter of words, and when two shevas follow each other at the end of words. The document serves as a guide to understanding

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365 views3 pages

Sheva Rules

The document outlines rules for pronouncing sheva (vowel pointing) in Hebrew. It divides sheva into two categories: vocal sheva, which connects a letter to the following letter and is pronounced, and silent sheva, which connects a letter to the preceding letter and is not pronounced. It provides eight rules for vocal sheva regarding placement at the start of words, following long vowels, on letters with dagesh, identical letters, letters with metheg, and more. It also gives three rules for silent sheva regarding placement at the end of syllables, on the last letter of words, and when two shevas follow each other at the end of words. The document serves as a guide to understanding

Uploaded by

ramfive torres
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Rules for the Sheva

To Pronounce or Not to Pronounce: That is the Question!


compiled by Tim Hegg TorahResource.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vocal Sheva ([ ) connects its letter to the letter that follows it]

1. Any sheva at the beginning of a word is pronounced:

!( lecha), ( ketov), ( beniy)

2. Any sheva following a letter that has a long vowel is pronounced, unless that letter is accented
(indicated in the MT with a cantillation mark).

Short Vowels () Long Vowels (


)
patach, chametz (not chametz chatuf),
seghol, tzere & tzere gadol, and
chiriq katan, chiriq gadol,
chametz chatuf, ( as in )
cholam & cholam gadol, and
qibbutz, shuruq,

Examples:

! - iy-re-cha
- lo-me-deiy

- yei-le-chu

Example of the exception, i.e., when the preceding letter has a long vowel but that letter re-
ceives the accent:


- qa-ton-ti (Gen 32:11)
- ya-chol-ti (Gen 30:8)

3. Any sheva on a letter having dagesh is pronounced

Examples:

- mi-pe-neiy
- da-be-riy
! - bi-te-cha

1
4. Any sheva on the first letter of two identical letters is pronounced

Examples: - na-de-dah, - ha-le-lu, - hi-ne-ni

5. Any sheva following a letter with Metheg ()


is pronounced. The metheg is a short, verticle
line of the Masoretic cantillations.

Examples:


, za-che-rah, ,
sha-me-rah

6. When two shevas follow each other in a word, the first is silent and the second pronounced.

Examples:

shach-be-cha, , ve-nish-me-ah, , ve-yach-le-ail


! ,

7. A sheva on a letter immediately preceding any of the letters which does not have a
dagesh is pronounced.

Examples:

i-ve-du, ,
, ba-re-chu, , ya-a-te-fu

8. When a word has two cantillations (tamim), and one cantillation is on the letter immediately
preceding a sheva, it is pronounced.

Examples:

, le-gei-re-shon

Silent Sheva ([ ) connects its letter to the letter that precedes it]

1. Whenever the sheva is on the last letter of a syllable, it is silent.

Examples:

, yil-mod, ,
mish-teh, ,
sim-chah

2
2. When the last letter of any word has no vowel, it does not take the sheva, it simply stands
voweless.

Examples:

, dod, ,
shem, , leiv

The exception to this rule are the letters and O which do take a sheva, but the sheva is silent.

Examples:
bach, ,
O, at, O, lach

3. When two shevas follow each other as the last two vowels of a word, both are silent. (This is
rare).

Examples:

, yaft, , yashq

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