Shva In Aramaic

This series of web pages provides free lessons on the Aramaic Vowels. Previous lessons looked at the Aramaic Alphabet.

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The final Aramaic vowel is called Shva. This vowel is represented by two small dots placed in a vertical line below the letter.

Shva is a very common Aramaic vowel and occurs in most Aramaic words. Here is what Shva looks like with an imaginary Aramaic letter:

Aramaic vowel Shva  Shva

Shva is used at the end of a closed syllable, to indicate that this Aramaic letter does not have a full vowel of its own. The Shva means that either there is no vowel at all (Shva Nach in Hebrew, or a resting Shva), or only a very short half-vowel (Shva Na in Hebrew, or a moving Shva). A vocal or moving Shva is pronounced with a very short, half-skipped, i sound, the same i as in the words ink, in or it.

When you are learning Aramaic, it is not always easy to know when a Shva is resting (with no sound at all), or moving, with a short half-vowel. The following rules will help you:
 
  • When two Shvas occur under consecutive consonants (except at the end of a word), the first one is resting and the second moving. For example, the Hebrew word Aramaic word yishmeru meaning they will keep, is pronounced yeesh-Miroo, not yeeshi-Miroo or yeesh-Mroo. This rule, however, does not apply if two Shvas occur together at the end of a word.
  • Two moving Shvas never occur together; one of them will always be resting.
  • A Shva is always moving if it occurs under the first letter of a Aramaic word. This is very common in Aramaic, and occurs in words starting with Aramaic word be (in a), Aramaic word le (to/for a) or Aramaic word ke (like a).
  • A Shva is generally moving if it occurs under the first consonant of a syllable. This is true at the beginning or in the middle of a word.
  • A Shva is generally resting if it closes a syllable in the middle of a word. This occurs, for example, in the Hebrew word Aramaic word artsa (to the land) which is pronounced artsa, not aritsa.
  • A Shva which follows the vowels Kamets, Sere, Holem, or Shurek is usually a moving Shva, while a resting Shva usually follows the vowels Patah, Segol, Hirek, Kibbuts or Kamets Hatuf.
  • Shva is always moving if it occurs under the first of two identical consonants, such as in the Hebrew word Aramaic word tsilele meaning shadows of.
  • The Shva is usually omitted when it occurs under the last letter of a word. An exception to this rule is the Final Kap (Aramaic letter Kap Sofit), which regularly takes a Shva (in which case it looks like Aramaic letter Kap with Shva). In this case, the Shva sits inside the letter Kap rather than below it.
You should realize that, when people speak in real life, there is a lot of variation in pronunciation. People speak fast or slow, with or without accents, formally or using slang, with or without emphasis, and many other causes of variation. Therefore, you should think of these 'rules' more as guidelines. The best way to learn how to pronounce Aramaic 'correctly' is to hear the language being spoken. Don't rely on grammars and textbooks to tell you what is 'correct' or 'incorrect'. Don't sit and analyse a bunch of rules every time you find a new word. Speak Aramaic, listen to Aramaic, and learn by doing. Try to contact Aramaic speaking communities, or listen to a related language such as Hebrew. There is no substitute for speaking or hearing Aramaic.

Among Aramaic speakers today, with the myriad of variation in the way that people speak, pronouncing a word with the ‘wrong’ Shva would probably go unnoticed unless you keep making repeated mistakes with common words. Insisting on exact rules, and precisely when and where a Shva is resting or moving, is something that is generally done only by academics such as University professors and people who can't actually hold a conversation in Aramaic!

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