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 (Latin status constructus). For example, in Arabic and Hebrew, the word for "queen" standing alone is malika ملكة and malka מלכה‎ respectively, but when the word is possessed, as in the phrase "Queen of Sheba" (literally "Sheba's Queen"; or, rather, "Queen's Sheba"—but with the former meaning), it becomes malikat sabaʾ ملكة سبأ and malkat šəva מלכת שבא‎ respectively, in which malikat and malkat are the construct state (possessed) form and malikah and malka are the absolute (unpossessed) form. In Geʽez, the word for "queen" is ንግሥት nəgəśt, but in the construct state it is ንግሥተ, as in the phrase "[the] Queen of Sheba" ንግሥታ ሣባ nəgəśta śābā. .

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The phenomenon is particularly common in Semitic languages (such as Arabic, Hebrew, and Syriac), 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 (modified) noun rather than the dependent (modifying) 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 (compare, e.g., "John's book" where "John" is in the genitive [possessive] case and "book" cannot take definiteness marking (a, the) like in 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 (for example, different suffixes, vowels or stress) and/or morphological properties (such as an inability to take a definite article).

In traditional grammatical terminology, the possessed noun in the construct state ("Queen") is the nomen regens ("governing noun"), and the possessor noun, often in the genitive case ("Sheba's"), is the nomen rectum ("governed noun").

In the older Semitic languages, the use of the construct state is the standard (often only) 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 (despite being semantically definite), and is often phonetically shortened (as in Biblical Hebrew). 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. (This can lead to potential ambiguity if the two nouns have the same gender, number and case; otherwise, the agreement marking of the adjective will indicate which noun is modified.) 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 (e.g. Modern Hebrew and Moroccan Arabic), 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 (a portion of 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.

In Berber, the construct state is used for the possessor, for objects of prepositions, nouns following numerals, and subjects occurring before their verb (modified from the normal VSO order).

In some cases, (not) 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" — (instead of *Aryaz ed aryaz).
• Taddart en weryaz — lit. "The house of the man" — (instead of *Taddart en aryaz).
• Aɣyul ed userdun — lit. "The donkey and the mule" — (instead of *Aɣyul ed aserdun).
• Udem en temɣart — lit. "The face of the woman" — (instead of *Udem en tamɣart).
• Afus deg ufus — lit. "Hand in hand" — (instead of *Afus deg afus).
• Semmust en terbatin — lit. "Five girls" — (instead of *Semmust en tirbatin).
• Yecca ufunas — "The bull has eaten" — (while Yecca afunas means: "He ate a bull").
• Ssiwlent temɣarin - "The ladies have spoken" - (instead of *Ssiwlent timɣarin).

Due to the difference in function between the construct state in Berber and its better-known function in Semitic languages, linguists such as Maarten Kossmann prefer the term "annex state."^[5]

The Dholuo language (one of the Luo languages) shows alternations between voiced and voiceless states of the final consonant of a noun stem.^[6] In the "construct state" (the form that means 'hill of', 'stick of', etc.) the voicing of the final consonant is switched from the absolute state.^{[citation needed]} (There are also often vowel alternations that are independent of consonant mutation.)

• /ɡɔt/ 'hill' (abs.), /god/ (const.)
• /lʊθ/ 'stick' (abs.), /luð/ (const.)
• /kɪdo/ 'appearance' (abs.), /kit/ (const.)
• /tʃoɡo/ 'bone' (abs.), /tʃok/ (const.)
• /buk/ 'book' (abs.), /bug/ (const.)
• /kɪtabu/ 'book' (abs.), /kɪtap/ (const.)

• Compound (linguistics)
• Definiteness