how to pronounce shiva

/ˈʃiːvə/

audio example by a male speaker

audio example by a female speaker

the above transcription of shiva is a detailed (narrow) transcription according to the rules of the International Phonetic Association; you can find a description of each symbol by clicking the phoneme buttons in the secction below.

shiva is pronounced in two syllables

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1.

iː

2. example pitch curve for pronunciation of shiva

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video examples of shiva pronunciation

An example use of shiva in a speech by a native speaker of american english:

“… and Vishnu and Shiva loom largest in …”

meanings of shiva

name:

The god of destruction and transformation, and together with Brahma and Vishnu, one of the principal deities in Hinduism. Within Shaivism he is viewed as the Supreme deity, whereas in other branches of Hinduism such as the Smarta tradition he is worshipped as one of the six manifestations of the Divine.
A male given name from Sanskrit used in India.

noun:

A weeklong period of formal mourning for a close relative.

shiva frequency in english - C2 level of CEFR

the word shiva occurs in english on average 2 times per one million words; this frequency warrants it to be in the study list for C2 level of language mastery according to CEFR, the Common European Framework of Reference.