Shva or, in Biblical Hebrew, shĕwa (Hebrew: שְׁוָא) is a Hebrew niqqud vowel sign written as two vertical dots "ְ" beneath a letter. In Modern Hebrew, it indicates either the phoneme /e/ or the complete absence of a vowel (Ø), whereas in Hebrew prescriptive linguistics, six grammatical entities are differentiated: the resting Shva (naḥ / נָח), such as in the words שִׁמְעִי (II Sam. 16:5) and כַּרְמִי (Josh. 7:1); the mobile Shva (na / נָע), such as the Shva which appears at the beginning of words, which renders the vowel a mobile vowel, as in the Hebrew word "floating" (meraḥef / מְרַחֵף), or as in לְפָנָי (lefanai) or שְׁמַע (shema) (Deut. 6:4); or whenever a diacritical vertical line known as a Ga'ya / גַּעְיָה (lit. "bleating" or "bellowing") appears next to a Shva. For example, in the words הַֽמְקַנֵּ֥א אַתָּ֖ה לִ֑י (Num. 11:29), the Shva beneath the Hebrew character mim becomes a mobile Shva because of the Ga'ya (small vertical line) beneath the Hebrew character he. In all these cases the Shva gives an audible sound to the letter, as in a short "a" or short "e", and is not mute. Likewise, whenever a Shva appears in the middle of a word and the letter has a diacritical point within it (dagesh), as in the pe of מִפְּנֵיכֶם (Lev. 18:24), or in the qoph of מִקְּדָֿשׁ (Exo. 15:17), they too will become a mobile Shva (na / נָע), as will a word that that has two Shvas written one after the other, as in the word רַעְמְסֵס (Exo. 12:37), or in the word וישְׁמְעו (Gen. 3:8), etc. the first Shva is resting (mute), while the second Shva is a mobile Shva. Another instance of where the Shva becomes mobile is when it comes directly after a long vowel sound, such as the long vowel of either yod or ḥiríq, as in יְחִֽידְֿךָ (Gen. 22:2), giving it the sound of yeḥīdhkha, etc., or as in the long vowel of waw or ḥolam, as in the words הוֹלְכִֿים,‎ יוֹדְֿעִים and מוֹכְֿרִים, etc. (hōlkhīm, yōdʻīm and mōkhrīm), or as in the verse שֹׁפְטִים וְשֹׁטְרִים תִּתֶּן לְךָ (Deut. 16:18), “shōfəṭīm wa-shōṭərīm titen ləkha.”