What is "construct state"

Construct \Con"struct\,

1. Formed by, or relating to, construction, interpretation, or inference.

   Construct form or Construct state (He

2. Gram.), that of a noun used before another which has the genitive relation to it.

The construct state or status constructus is a noun form occurring in Afro-Asiatic languages. It is particularly common in Semitic languages (such as Arabic, Hebrew, and Syriac), in the Berber language, and in the extinct Egyptian language. Forms analogous to the construct state are also found in some other languages, such as Dholuo. The first noun is the nomen regens and the second the nomen rectus.

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).