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 (Latin status constructus). So in Biblical Hebrew, the word for "queen" standing alone is malka מלכה, but when this word is possessed, as in the phrase "Queen of Sheba" (literally "Sheba's Queen"), it becomes malkat šəba מלכת שבא, where malkat is the construct state (possessed) form, while malka is the absolute (unpossessed) form.

This phenomenon is particularly common in Semitic languages (such as Arabic, Hebrew, and Syriac), 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. Note that this 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 (e.g. 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 (e.g. a different suffix, different vowels or different stress) and/or morphological properties (such as inability to take a definite article).

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