Construct State - Berber

Berber

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" in English. Also, many Berber verbs are both transitive and intransitive. In the intransitive case, the construct state is required for the subject.

Examples:

• Taddart n urgaz — lit. "The house of the man" — (instead of: "Taddart n argaz).
• Aghyul d userdun — lit. "The donkey and the mule" — (instead of: Aghyul d aserdun, which means: The donkey is a mule).
• Udem n temghart — lit. "The face of the woman" — (instead of: Udem n tamghart).
• Afus deg ufus — lit. "Hand in hand" — (instead of: Afus deg afus)
• Semmust n terbatin — lit. "Five girls" — (instead of: Semmust n tirbatin).
• Icca ufunas — "The bull has eaten" — (while "Icca afunas" means: He ate a bull).