שווא

See also: שוואָ, שווה, and שב

Hebrew

ניקוד
ְ   ֱ   ֲ   ֳ   ִ   ֵ   ֶ   ַ   ָ   ֹ   ֻ   ּ   ֿ   ׁ   ׂ

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Aramaic ܫܘܳܝܳܐ (š'waya, literally “even, equal”).

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 (sh-w-ʾ)

Noun

שווא / שָׁוְא • (shav) m

1. falsehood, futility
2. (literary) emptiness, vanity, uselessness, pointlessness
   • Tanach, Exodus 20:7:

     (please add the primary text of this quotation)

     KJV

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

     
     

     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

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Yiddish

Noun

שווא • (shvo) m

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