Construct state
In Afro-Asiatic languages, the first noun in a genitive phrase that consists of a possessed noun followed by a possessor noun often takes on a special morphological form, which is termed the construct state. For example, in Arabic and Hebrew, the word for "queen" standing alone is ملكة and מלכה respectively, but when the word is possessed, as in the phrase "Queen of Sheba", it becomes ملكة سبأ and מלכת שבא respectively, in which and are the construct state form and and are the absolute form.
The phenomenon is particularly common in Semitic languages, in Berber languages, and in the extinct Egyptian language.
In Semitic languages, nouns are placed in the construct state when they are modified by another noun in a genitive construction. That differs from the genitive case of European languages in that it is the head noun rather than the dependent noun which is marked. However, in Semitic languages with grammatical case, such as Classical Arabic, the modifying noun in a genitive construction is placed in the genitive case in addition to marking the head noun with the construct state.
In some non-Semitic languages, the construct state has various additional functions besides marking the head noun of a genitive construction.
Depending on the particular language, the construct state of a noun is indicated by various phonological properties and/or morphological properties.
In traditional grammatical terminology, the possessed noun in the construct state is the nomen regens, and the possessor noun, often in the genitive case, is the nomen rectum.
Semitic languages
In the older Semitic languages, the use of the construct state is the standard way to form a genitive construction with a semantically definite modified noun. The modified noun is placed in the construct state, which lacks any definite article, and is often phonetically shortened. The modifying noun is placed directly afterwards, and no other word can intervene between the two, though in Biblical Hebrew a prefix often intervenes, as in the case of śimḥat ba/qāṣîr in Isaiah 9:2. For example, an adjective that qualifies either the modified or modifying noun must appear after both. In some languages, e.g. Biblical Hebrew and the modern varieties of Arabic, feminine construct-state nouns preserve an original -t suffix that has dropped out in other circumstances.In some modern Semitic languages, the use of the construct state in forming genitive constructions has been partly or completely displaced by the use of a preposition, much like the use of the modern English "of", or the omission of any marking. In these languages, the construct state is used mostly in forming compound nouns. An example is Hebrew bet ha-sefer "the school", lit. "the house of the book"; bet is the construct state of bayit "house". Alongside such expressions, the construct state is sometimes neglected, such as in the expression mana falafel, which should be menat falafel using the construct state. However, the lack of a construct state is generally considered informal, and is inappropriate for formal speech.
Arabic
In Arabic grammar, the construct state is used to mark the first noun in the genitive construction. The second noun of the genitive construction is marked by the genitive case.In Arabic, the genitive construction is called إضافة ʼiḍāfah and the first and second nouns of the construction are called مضاف muḍāf and مضاف إليه muḍāf ʼilayhi. These terms come from the verb أضاف ʼaḍāfa "he added, attached", verb form IV from the root ض-ي-ف ḍ-y-f . In this conceptualization, the possessed thing is attached to the possessor.
The construct state is one of the three grammatical states of nouns in Arabic, the other two being the indefinite state and the definite state. Concretely, the three states compare like this:
| State | Noun form | Meaning | Example | Meaning |
| Indefinite | ملكةٌ ' | "a queen" | ملكةٌ جميلةٌ ' | "a beautiful queen" |
| Definite | الملكةُ ' | "the queen" | الملكةُ الجميلة ' | "the beautiful queen" |
| Construct | ملكةُ ' | "a/the queen of..." | ملكةُ البلدِ الجميلةُ ' | "the beautiful queen of the country" |
| Construct | ملكةُ ' | "a/the queen of..." | ملكةُ بلدٍ جميلة ' | "a beautiful queen of a country" |
| State | Noun form | Meaning | Example | Meaning |
| Indefinite | ملكة ' | "a queen" | ملكة جميلة ' | "a beautiful queen" |
| Definite | الملكة ' | "the queen" | الملكة الجميلة ' | "the beautiful queen" |
| Construct | ملكة ' | "a/the queen of..." | ملكة البلد الجميلة ' | "the beautiful queen of the country" |
| Construct | ملكة ' | "a/the queen of..." | ملكة بلد جميلة ' | "a beautiful queen of a country" |
In Classical Arabic, a word in the construct state is semantically definite if the following word is definite. The word in the construct state takes neither the definite article prefix al- nor the indefinite suffix -n, since its definiteness depends on the following word. Some words also have a different suffix in the construct state, for example masculine plural ' "teachers" vs. ' "the teachers of...". Formal Classical Arabic uses the feminine marker -t in all circumstances other than before a pause, but the normal spoken form of the literary language omits it except in a construct-state noun. This usage follows the colloquial spoken varieties of Arabic.
In the spoken varieties of Arabic, the use of the construct state has varying levels of productivity. In conservative varieties, it is still extremely productive. In Egyptian Arabic, both the construct state and the particle can be used, e.g. or. In Moroccan Arabic, the construct state is used only in forming compound nouns; in all other cases, dyal "of" or d- "of" is used. In all these varieties, the longer form with the "of" particle is the normal usage in more complicated constructions or with nouns marked with a dual or sound plural suffix.
Aramaic
In Aramaic, genitive noun relationships can either be built using the construct state or with a relative particle, *ḏī > dī, which became a prefix d- in Late Aramaic. "The king's house" can be expressed in several ways:- בית מלכא " house of the king"
- ביתא די מלכא or ביתא דמלכא "the house, that of the king"
- ביתיה די מלכא or ביתיה דמלכא "his house, that of the king"
Hebrew
In Hebrew grammar, the construct state is known as smikhut . Simply put, smikhut consists of combining two nouns, often with the second noun combined with the definite article, to create a third noun.As in Arabic, the smikhut construct state, the indefinite, and definite states may be expressed succinctly in a table:
| State | Noun form | Meaning | Example | Meaning |
| Indefinite | ' | "a queen" | ' | "a beautiful queen" |
| Definite | ' | "the queen" | ' | "the beautiful queen" |
| Construct | ' | "a/the queen of..." | ' | "the queen of the beautiful country" |
| Construct | ' | "a/the queen of..." | ' | "a queen of a beautiful country" |
| State | Noun form | Meaning | Example | Meaning |
| Indefinite | ' | "apples" | ' | "green apples" |
| Definite | ' | "the apples" | ' | "the green apples" |
| Construct | ' | "a/the apples of..." | ' | "the apples of this tree" |
| Construct | ' | "a/the apples of..." | ' | "apples of earth" |
Modern Hebrew
Modern Hebrew grammar makes extensive use of the preposition shel to mean both "of" and "belonging to". The construct state — in which two nouns are combined, the first being modified or possessed by the second — is not highly productive in Modern Hebrew. Compare the classical Hebrew construct-state with the more analytic Israeli Hebrew phrase, both meaning "the mother of the child", i.e. "the child's mother":However, the construct state is still used in Modern Hebrew fixed expressions and names, as well as to express various roles of the dependent, including:
- A qualifier
- A domain
- A complement
- A modifier
Berber
In Berber, the construct state is used for the possessor, for objects of prepositions, nouns following numerals, and subjects occurring before their verb.In some cases, applying the construct state could completely alter the meaning of the phrase. The Berber particle d means "and" and "is/are". To decrease the confusion the Berber word for "and" can be written "ed". Also, a large number of Berber verbs are both transitive and intransitive, according to context. In the intransitive case, the construct state is required for the subject.
Examples:
- Aryaz ed weryaz — lit. "The man and the man" —.
- Taddart en weryaz — lit. "The house of the man" —.
- Aɣyul ed userdun — lit. "The donkey and the mule" —.
- Udem en temɣart — lit. "The face of the woman" —.
- Afus deg ufus — lit. "Hand in hand" —.
- Semmust en terbatin — lit. "Five girls" —.
- Yecca ufunas — "The bull has eaten" —.
- Ssiwlent temɣarin - "The ladies have spoken" -.
Dholuo
The Dholuo language shows alternations between voiced and voiceless states of the final consonant of a noun stem. In the "construct state" the voicing of the final consonant is switched from the absolute state.- 'hill',
- 'stick',
- 'appearance',
- 'bone',
- 'book',
- 'book',
Similarities in other language groups
Celtic languages
It has been noted since the 17th century that Welsh and other Insular Celtic languages have a genitive construction similar to the Afro-Asiatic construct state in which only the last noun can take the definite article:Compare, for example:
It has been suggested that the Insular Celtic languages may have been influenced by an Afro-Asiatic substrate language or that languages in both groups were influenced by a common substrate language that is now entirely lost. However, it is also possible that the similarities with the construct state are coincidental.