Arabic
In Arabic grammar, the construct state is used to mark the first noun (the thing possessed) in the genitive construction. The second noun of the genitive construction (the possessor) is marked by the genitive case.
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 adds, attaches", verb form IV from the root ض ي ف ḍ y f (a hollow root).
The construct state is one of the three grammatical states of nouns in Arabic, the other two being the indefinite state and the definite state. Concretely, the three states compare like this:
| State | Noun form | Meaning | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indefinite | malikatun | "a queen" | malikatun ǧamīlatun | "a beautiful queen" |
| Definite | al-malikatu | "the queen" | al-malikatu l-ǧamīlatu | "the beautiful queen" |
| Construct | malikatu | "the queen of ..." | malikatu l-baladi l-ǧamīlatu | "the beautiful queen of the country" |
| State | Noun form | Meaning | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indefinite | malika | "a queen" | malika ǧamila | "a beautiful queen" |
| Definite | il-malika | "the queen" | il-malika l-ǧamila | "the beautiful queen" |
| Construct | malik(i)t | "the queen of ..." | malikt il-balad il-ǧamila | "the beautiful queen of the country" |
In Classical Arabic, words in the construct state are semantically definite, but do not take definite article prefix al-, which normally marks definiteness. Since they are definite, they do not receive the indefinite suffix -n (nunation). Some words also have a different suffix in the construct state, for example masculine plural mudarrisūna "teachers" vs. mudarrisū "the teachers of ...". Formal Classical Arabic uses the feminine marker -t in all circumstances other than before a pause, 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 bitāʿ "of" can be used, e.g. kitāb Muḥammad "Muhammad's book" or al-kitāb bitāʿ Muḥammad "the book of Muhammad". 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 periphrastic 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.
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