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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 ملكة and מלכה respectively, but when the word is possessed, as in the phrase "Queen of Sheba" (literally "Sheba's Queen"; or, rather, "Queen-of Sheba"), it becomes ملكة سبأ and מלכת שבא respectively, in which and are the construct state (possessed) form and and are the absolute (unpossessed) form.
The phenomenon is particularly common in Semitic languages (such as Arabic language, Hebrew language, and Syriac language), 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 Markedness. 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 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 Arabic, the genitive construction is called إضافة ʼiḍāfah (literally "attachment") and the first and second nouns of the construction are called مضاف muḍāf ("attached"; also the name for the construct state) and مضاف إليه muḍāf ʼilayhi ("attached to"). These terms come from the verb أضاف ʼaḍāfa "he added, attached", verb form IV from the root ض-ي-ف ḍ-y-f (Form I: ضاف ḍāfa) (a hollow root).Hans Wehr, Dictionary of Modern Standard Arabic: (ضيف) ضاف ḍāfaFaruk Abu-Chacra, Arabic: An Essential Grammar: p. 61 In this conceptualization, the possessed thing (the noun in the construct state) is attached to the possessor (the noun in the genitive case).
The construct state is one of the three definiteness of nouns in Arabic, the other two being the indefinite state and the definite state. Concretely, the three states compare like this:
| +Different noun states in Classical Arabic, using the noun ملكة "queen" ! State !! Noun form !! Meaning !! Example !! Meaning |
| "a beautiful queen" |
| "the beautiful queen" |
| "the beautiful queen of the country" |
| "a beautiful queen of a country" |
| +Different noun states in Egyptian Arabic, using the noun ملكة "queen" ! State !! Noun form !! Meaning !! Example !! Meaning |
| "a beautiful queen" |
| "the beautiful queen" |
| "the beautiful queen of the country" |
| "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 (nunation), 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 pausa, 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 (e.g. Gulf Arabic), 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 (a periphrasis form) is the normal usage in more complicated constructions (e.g. with an adjective qualifying the head noun, as in the above example "the beautiful queen of the nation") or with nouns marked with a dual or sound plural suffix.
In later Aramaic, the construct state became less common.
As in Arabic, the smikhut construct state, the indefinite, and definite states may be expressed succinctly in a table:
| +Different noun states in Hebrew with , using the feminine singular noun "queen" ! State !! Noun form !! Meaning !! Example !! Meaning |
| "a beautiful queen" |
| "the beautiful queen" |
| "the queen of the beautiful country" |
| "a queen of a beautiful country" |
| +Different noun states in Hebrew with , using the plural masculine noun "apples" ! State !! Noun form !! Meaning !! Example !! Meaning |
| "green apples" |
| "the green apples" |
| "the apples of this tree" |
| "apples of earth" (in Modern Hebrew "potatoes") |
However, the construct state is still used in Modern Hebrew fixed expressions and names, as well as to express various roles of the dependent (the second noun), including:
Hebrew adjectival phrases composed of an adjective and a noun feature adjectives in the construct state, as in:
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:
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.
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