Construct state


In Afro-Asiatic languages, the first noun in a genitive phrase 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 Hebrew, the word for "queen" standing alone is malka, but when the word is possessed, as in the phrase "Queen of Sheba", it becomes malkat šəba, in which malkat is the construct state form and malka is the absolute form.
The phenomenon is particularly common in Semitic languages, in the Berber language, 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. 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:
StateNoun formMeaningExampleMeaning
Indefiniteملكةٌ malikatun"a queen"ملكةٌ جميلةٌ malikatun jamīlatun"a beautiful queen"
Definiteالملكةُ al-malikatu"the queen"الملكةُ الجميلةُ al-malikatu l-jamīlatu"the beautiful queen"
Constructملكةُ malikatu"a/the queen of..."ملكةُ البلدِ الجميلةُ malikatu l-baladi l-jamīlatu"the beautiful queen of the country"
Constructملكةُ malikatu"a/the queen of..."ملكةُ بلدٍ جميلةٌ malikatu baladin jamīlatun"a beautiful queen of a country"

StateNoun formMeaningExampleMeaning
Indefiniteملكة malika"a queen"ملكة جميلة malika gamila"a beautiful queen"
Definiteالملكة il-malika"the queen"الملكة الجميلة il-malika l-gamila"the beautiful queen"
Constructملكة malikt"a/the queen of..."ملكة البلد الجميلة malikt il-balad il-gamila"the beautiful queen of the country"
Constructملكة malikt"a/the queen of..."ملكة بلد جميلة malikit balad gamila"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 mudarrisūna "teachers" vs. mudarrisū "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 bitāʿ "of" can be used, e.g. kitāb Muḥammad "Muhammad's book" or il-kitāb bitāʿ Muḥammad "the book of Muhammad". 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 Syriac Aramaic the construct state evolved much in the same way as in Modern Hebrew, becoming a relic by the time of the Peshitta.

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:
StateNoun formMeaningExampleMeaning
Indefinite malkah"a queen" malka yafa"a beautiful queen"
Definite ha-malkah"the queen" ha-malkah ha-yafah"the beautiful queen"
Construct malkat"a/the queen of..." malkat ha-medina ha-yafah"the beautiful queen of the country"
Construct malkat"a/the queen of..." malkat medina yafah"a beautiful queen of a country"

StateNoun formMeaningExampleMeaning
Indefinite tapuḥim"apples" tapuḥim y'ruqim"green apples"
Definite ha-tapuḥim"the apples" ha-tapuḥim ha-y'ruqim"the green apples"
Construct tapuḥei"a/the apples of..." tapuḥei ha-etz ha-zeh"the apples of this tree"
Construct tapuḥei"a/the apples of..." tapuḥei adamah"apples of earth"

Modern Hebrew

makes extensive use of the preposition shel to mean both "of" and "belonging to". Therefore, the construct state — in which two nouns are combined, the first being modified or possessed by the second — is rarely used in Modern Hebrew to express possession. Compare the classical Hebrew construct-state ’em ha-yéled "mother:CONSTRUCT the-child’ with the more analytic Israeli Hebrew phrase ha-íma shel ha-yéled "the-mother of the-child’, 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:
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:
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.
It has been noted since the seventeenth 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. Examples include:
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, now entirely lost. However, it is also possible that the similarities with the construct state are coincidental.