division of syllables, be weakened to Šewâ mobile, or even be entirely lost, so that its place is taken by the mere syllable-divider (Šewâ quiescens). Examples of the first case are, שֵׁם name, pl. שֵׁמוֹת, but שְׁמִי my name, שְׁמוֹתָם their names, דָּבָר word, constr. st. דְּבַר; צְדָקָה righteousness, constr. st. צִדְקַת; an example of the second case is, בְּרָכָה blessing, constr. st. בִּרְכַּת. Whether the vowel is retained or becomes Šewâ (דָּם, דָּמִי, but שֵׁם, שְׁמִּי), and which of the two disappears in two consecutive syllables, depends upon the character of the form in question. In general the rule is that only those vowels which stand in an open syllable can become Šewâ.
Thus the change into Šewâ takes place in—
[k] (a) The ā and ē of the first syllable, especially in the inflexion of nouns, e.g. דָּבָ֫ר word, plur. דְּבָרִ֫ים; גָּד֫וֹל, great, fem. גְּדוֹלָ֫ה; לֵבָ֫ב heart, לְבָבִ֫י my heart; but also in the verb, תָּשׁ֫וּב she will return, plur. תְּשׁוּבֶ֫ינָה, and so always, when the originally short vowel of the prefixes of the Imperfect comes to stand in an open syllable which is not pretonic. On the other hand, an ā lengthened from ă before the tone is retained in the Perfect consecutive of Qal even in the secondary tone, e.g. וְקָֽטַלְתָּ֫; cf. § 49 i.
[l] (b) The short, or merely tone-long, vowels a, e, o of the ultima, especially in verbal forms, e.g. קָטַל, fem. קָֽטְלָה qāṭelā; יִקְטֹל, יִקְטְלוּ yiqṭelû; but note also יִלְקֹטוּן, תִּדְבָּקִין, &c., according to § 47 m and o. The helping vowels are either entirely omitted, e.g. מֶ֫לֶךְ king (ground-form malk), מַלְכִּי my king; or, under the influence of a guttural, are weakened to Ḥaṭeph, e.g. נַ֫עַר boy, נַעֲרוֹ his boy. If the tone remains unmoved, the vowel also is retained, notwithstanding the lengthening of the word, e.g. יִקְטֹ֫לוּ pausal-form for יִקְטְלוּ.
[m] Where the tone moves forward two places, the former of the two vowels of a dissyllabic word may be shortened, and the second changed into Šewâ. Cf. דָּבָר word; in the plur. דְּבָרִ֫ים; with heavy suffix דִּבְרֵיהֶ֫ם (cf. § 28 a) their words. On the attenuation of the ă to ĭ, see further, s, t.
[n] Rem. 1. An ô arising from aw=au, or by an obscuring of â (see § 9 b), sometimes becomes û, when the tone is moved forward, e.g. נָקוֹם, נְקוּמ֫וֹתָ (see Paradigm Perf. Niph. of קוּם); מָנוֹס flight, fem. מְנוּסָ֫ה, with suffix, מְנוּסִ֫י. The not uncommon use of וּ in a sharpened syllable, as בְּחֻוּקֵּי Ez 20 (for בְּחֻקֵּי, cf. also the examples in § 9 o), is to be regarded as an orthographic licence, although sometimes in such cases û may really have been intended by the Kethîbh.
[o] Of the vowels of the U-class, û and tone-long ō stand in a tone-bearing
