Grammatical States
As in other Semitic languages Sabaean has a few grammatical States, which are indicated by various different endings according to the Gender and the Number. At the same time external plurals and duals have their own endings for grammatical state, while inner plurals are treated like singulars. Apart from the Construct State known in other Semitic languages, there is also an Indeterminate State and a Determinate State, the functions of which are explained below. The following are the detailed State Endings:
| Constr.State | Indet. State | Det. State | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine | Singular | -∅ | -m | -n |
| Dual | -∅ / -y | -n | -nhn | |
| External Plural | -w / -y | -n | -nhn | |
| Feminine | Singular | -t | -tm | -tn |
| Dual | -ty | -tn | -tnhn | |
| External Plural | -t | -tm | -tn | |
The three grammatical states have distinct syntactical and semantic functions:
- The Status indeterminatus: marks an indefinite, unspecified thing : ṣlm-m "any statue".
- The Status determinatus: marks a specific noun: ṣlm-n "the statue".
- The Status constructus: is introduced if the noun is bound to a genitive, a personal siffix or - contrary to other Semitic languages - with a relative sentence:
- With a pronominal suffix: ʿbd-hw "his slave".
- With a Genitive Noun: (Ḥaḑramite) gnʾhy myfʾt "both walls of Maifa'at", mlky s1bʾ "both kings of Saba"
- With a relative sentence: kl 1 s1bʾt 2 w-ḍbyʾ 3 w-tqdmt 4 s1bʾy5 w-ḍbʾ6 tqdmn7 mrʾy-hmw8 "all1 expeditions2, battles3 and raids4, their two lords 8 conducted5, struck6 and led7" (the nouns in the construct state are italicized here).
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