This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Construct state" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(January 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

InAfro-Asiatic languages, the first noun in agenitive phrase that consists of a possessed noun followed by a possessor noun often takes on a specialmorphological form, which is termed theconstruct state (Latinstatus constructus). For example, inArabic andHebrew, the word for "queen" standing alone ismalikaملكة andmalkaמלכה respectively, but when the word is possessed, as in the phrase "Queen of Sheba" (literally "Sheba's Queen"; or, rather, "Queen-of Sheba"), it becomesmalikat sabaʾملكة سبأ andmalkat šəvaמלכת שבא respectively, in whichmalikat andmalkat are the construct state (possessed) form andmalika andmalka are the absolute (unpossessed) form.

The phenomenon is particularly common inSemitic languages (such asArabic,Hebrew, andSyriac), inBerber languages, and in the extinctEgyptian language.

InSemitic languages, nouns are placed in the construct state when they are modified by another noun in agenitive construction. That differs from thegenitive case of European languages in that it is thehead (modified) noun rather than the dependent (modifying) noun which ismarked. However, in Semitic languages withgrammatical case, such asClassical Arabic, the modifying noun in a genitive construction is placed in thegenitive 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 thenomen regens ("governing noun"), and the possessor noun, often in the genitive case ("Sheba's"), is thenomen rectum ("governed noun").

In the older Semitic languages, the use of the construct state is the standard (often only) way to form agenitive construction with a semantically definite modified noun. The modified noun is placed in the construct state, which lacks anydefinite article (despite being semantically definite), and is often phonetically shortened (as inBiblical Hebrew). The modifying noun is placed directly afterwards, and no other word can intervene between the two, though inBiblical Hebrew a prefix often intervenes, as in the case of śimḥat ba/qāṣîr inIsaiah 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 modernvarieties of Arabic, feminine construct-state nouns preserve an original-t suffix that has dropped out in other circumstances.^{[citation needed]}

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 andMoroccan Arabic), the construct state is used mostly in forming compound nouns. An example is Hebrewbet ha-sefer "the school", lit. "the house of the book";bet is the construct state ofbayit "house". Alongside such expressions, the construct state is sometimes neglected, such as in the expressionmana falafel (a portion offalafel), which should bemenat falafel using the construct state. However, the lack of a construct state is generally considered informal, and is inappropriate for formal speech.^{[citation needed]}

InArabic grammar, the construct state is used to mark the first noun (the thing possessed) in thegenitive construction. The second noun of the genitive construction (the possessor) is marked by thegenitive case.^{[citation needed]}

In Arabic, the genitive construction is calledإضافةʼiḍāfah (literally "attachment") and the first and second nouns of the construction are calledمضافmuḍāf ("attached"; also the name for the construct state) andمضاف إليهmuḍāf ʼilayhi ("attached to"). These terms come from the verbأضافʼaḍāfa "he added, attached",verb form IV from the rootض-ي-فḍ-y-f (Form I:ضافḍāfa) (ahollow root).^[1][2] In this conceptualization, the possessed thing (the noun in the construct state) is attached to the possessor (the noun in the genitive case).^{[citation needed]}

The construct state is one of the threegrammatical states of nouns in Arabic, the other two being the indefinite state and the definite state. Concretely, the three states compare like this:

InClassical Arabic, a word in the construct state is semantically definite if the following word is definite. The word in the construct state takes neither thedefinite article prefixal- 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 pluralmudarrisūna "teachers" vs.mudarrisū "the teachers of ...". Formal Classical Arabic uses the feminine marker-t in all circumstances other than before apause, but the normal spoken form of the literary language omits it except in a construct-state noun. This usage follows the colloquial spokenvarieties of Arabic.^{[citation needed]}

In the spokenvarieties 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. InEgyptian Arabic, both the construct state and the particleبِتَاع,bitāʿ,'of' can be used, e.g.كِتَاب أَنْوَر,kitāb Anwar,'Anwar's book' orالكِتَاب بِتَاع أَنْوَر,il-kitāb bitāʿ Anwar,'the book of Anwar'. InMoroccan Arabic, the construct state is used only in forming compound nouns; in all other cases,dyal "of" ord- "of" is used. In all these varieties, the longer form with the "of" particle (aperiphrastic 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.^{[citation needed]}

InAramaic, genitive noun relationships can either be built using the construct state or with a relative particle, *ḏī >dī, which became a prefixd- in Late Aramaic. "The king's house" can be expressed in several ways:

• בית מלכא "(the) 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"

In later Aramaic, the construct state became less common.^{[citation needed]}

InHebrew grammar, the construct state is known assmikhut ([smiˈχut]) (סמיכות‎, 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.^[3]

בַית‎ —/ˈbajit/ — "(a) house"

הבַית‎ —/ha-ˈbajit/ — "the house"

בֵית‎ —/be(j)t/ — "house-of"

ספר‎ —/ˈsefer/ — "(a) book"

בֵית ספר‎ —/be(j)tˈsefer/ — "(a) school" (literally "house(-of) book")

בֵית הספר‎ —/be(j)tha-ˈsefer/ — "the school" (formal;literally "house(-of) the book")

עוגה‎ —/ʕuˈɡa/ — "cake" (feminine)

גבינה‎ —/ɡviˈna/ — "cheese"

עוגת גבינה‎ —/ʕuˈɡatɡviˈna/ — "cheesecake"

דיבור‎ —/diˈbur/ — "speech"

חופש‎ —/ˈħofeʃ/ — "freedom" (an example of a noun for which thesmikhut-form is identical to the regular form)

חופש דיבור‎ —/ˈħofeʃdiˈbur/ — "freedom of speech" (literally "freedom(-of) speech")

חופש הדיבור‎ —/ˈħofeʃha-diˈbur/ — "the freedom of speech" (literally "freedom(-of) the speech")

As in Arabic, thesmikhut construct state, the indefinite, and definite states may be expressed succinctly in a table:

Modern Hebrew grammar makes extensive use of the prepositionshel (evolved as a contraction ofshe-le- "which (is belonging) to") to mean both "of" and "belonging to". The construct state (סמיכות‎smikhút) — 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":^[4]

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:

InBerber, the construct state is used for the possessor, for objects of prepositions, nouns following numerals, and subjects occurring before their verb (modified from the normalVSO order).^{[citation needed]}

In some cases, (not) applying the construct state could completely alter the meaning of the phrase. The Berber particled 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.^{[citation needed]}

Examples:

• Aryaz edweryaz — lit. "The man and the man" — (instead of *Aryaz edaryaz).
• Taddart enweryaz — lit. "The house of the man" — (instead of *Taddart enaryaz).
• Aɣyul eduserdun — lit. "The donkey and the mule" — (instead of *Aɣyul edaserdun).
• Udem entemɣart — lit. "The face of the woman" — (instead of *Udem entamɣart).
• Afus degufus — lit. "Hand in hand" — (instead of *Afus degafus).
• Semmust enterbatin — lit. "Five girls" — (instead of *Semmust entirbatin).
• Yeccaufunas — "The bull has eaten" — (whileYeccaafunas means: "He ate a bull").
• Ssiwlenttemɣarin - "The ladies have spoken" - (instead of *Ssiwlenttimɣarin).

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

TheDholuo language (one of theLuo 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 oftenvowel 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.)

It has been noted since the 17th century thatWelsh and otherInsular Celtic languages have a genitive construction similar to the Afro-Asiatic construct state in which only the last noun can take the definite article:

• Breton:

• Welsh:

• Irish:

Compare, for example:

Ithas been suggested that the Insular Celtic languages may have been influenced by an Afro-Asiaticsubstrate 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.^[7]

Classical Nahuatl grammar distinguished a non-possessed form in nouns (suffixed with-tl or-in) and a possessed form (without a suffix but bearing a prefix marking the possessor). The possessed form is comparable to Afro-Asiatic construct state. An example would becihuātl ("woman, wife") vs.nocihuāuh ("my wife", prefixno- "my").^{[citation needed]}

• Compound (linguistics)
• Definiteness

• Semitic linguistics
• Grammatical cases

• Articles containing Arabic-language text
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles needing additional references from January 2008
• All articles needing additional references
• Articles containing Hebrew-language text
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from July 2025
• Articles containing Egyptian Arabic-language text
• Pages with Hebrew IPA
• Pages with plain IPA
• Pages with interlinear glosses using two unnamed parameters
• Articles with unsourced statements from January 2017