Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Jason Hare" <jason AT hareplay.com>]

I have to agree with George (gfsomsel). I think it is indeed vocal. The
shurek is a long vowel, so it would indicate that it is NOT a closed
syllable. Remember the general rule in an unaccented syllable: open - long;
closed - short. Those are connected. So, the shva goes with the following
syllable (since it is not its own full vowel). However, in regular speech, I
would say that it is not pronounced (as most appearances of shva as the
initial letter of a consonant cluster is not--in the Sefardic normative,
anyway).

Best regards,
Jason Hare
Missouri Southern State University-Joplin