The shewa (סְ) – those two vertical dots under the consonants – come in 2 varieties, though they will look alike.

Characteristics

1. Silent Shewa
   • Usually preceded by a short vowel: מַלְכִּי
     • The shewa under the lamed is silent because it follows a short vowel, the patah
   • Never falls on the first letter of a word!
   • Will be found on the last letter of a word: מֶלֶךְ
     • The shewa in the final kaf is silent because it is at the end of a word.
2. Vocal Shewa
   • Usually preceded by a long vowel: קֹטְלִים
     • The shewa under the tet is vocal because it is preceded by the long holem.
   • Will fall on the first letter of a word: דְּבָרִים
   • Will not fall on the last letter of a word.

Special Considerations

1. What about words that have two shewas in the middle of a word, like תִּקְטְלוּ?
   • In this situation the shewa on the right is always silent.
     • Notice the short hireq preceding the shewa under the qof.
   • The shewa on the left is always vocal.
2. What if a consonant has a dagesh and a shewa, like קִטְּלוּ?
   • In situations like this, because of the dagesh, the shewa is vocal.
   • But there is a short vowel preceding the shewa!
     • Yes, but because of the dagesh, the shewa is vocal.
3. What if a word ends with two shewas, like קָטַלְתְּ?
   • A word can end with 2 silent shewas.
   • If you see this, the two shewas are always silent.
4. Sometimes I see shewas with vowels next to them, like עֱ עֳ עֲ :
   • These are called composite shewas.
   • They are another type of vocal shewa.
   • They are primarily found under guttural letters.
     • See my post on Guttural letters under the Hebrew 101 link.
   • Don’t think of these as a vowel + shewa!
     • NO!  These are vocal shewas, pure and simple.

Pronunciation

A shewa is essentially the absence of a vowel.

1. Silent Shewa – the absence of sound.  When pronouncing a word with a silent shewa, the sound stops when you hit the silent shewa.  Take for example the variant spelling of my last name McDonald:
   • MacDonald: when you pronounce this word, the sound stops on the ‘c’ and then picks up again with the ‘D’
     • Mac | Donald
   • In Hebrew: תִקְטֹל
     • tiq | tōl
2. Vocal Shewa – a very quick sound.  When pronouncing a word with a vocal shewa, the sound is made quickly as you move from one syllable to the next.
   • In English, the ‘e’ in the word ‘because’ is quickly pronounced as you move from the ‘b’ to the ‘c.’
   • Also in English, the ‘o’ in ‘police’ is almost non-existent when we pronounce it: pǝlice
   • In Hebrew: קֹטְלִים
     • qōtǝlīm

References:

• Fuller and Choi, Invitation to Biblical Hebrew, ch. 3.
• Gesenius-Katuzsch, §10.
• Joüon-Muraoka, §8.