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 and 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 and 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, 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.…

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 and 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 and 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, 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"). ===Hebrew=== In Hebrew grammar, the construct state is known as smikhut ( ) ( , lit. "support" (the noun), "adjacency"). Simply put, smikhut consists of combining two nouns, often with the second noun combined with the definite article, to create a third noun. — — "(a) house" — — "the house" — — "house-of" — — "(a) book" — — "(a) school" (literally "house(-of) book") — — "the school" (formal; literally "house(-of) the book") — — "cake" (feminine) — — "cheese" — — "cheesecake" — — "speech" — — "freedom" (an example of a noun for which the smikhut-form is identical to the regular form) — — "freedom of speech" (literally "freedom(-of) speech") — — "the freedom of speech" (literally "freedom(-of) the speech") As in Arabic, the smikhut construct state, the indefinite, and definite states may be expressed succinctly in a table: ====Modern Hebrew==== Modern Hebrew grammar makes extensive use of the preposition shel (evolved as a contraction of she-le- "which (is belonging) to") to mean both "of" and "belonging to". The construct state ( smikhút) — 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 (the second noun), including: A qualifier A domain A complement A modifier Hebrew adjectival phrases composed of an adjective and a noun feature adjectives in the construct state, as in: ==References== ==External links==

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