Re: Construct States

Steg Belsky wrote:
>
> On Tue, 2 Mar 1999 12:27:20 PST Edward Heil <edheil@...> writes:
> >>Cool...my conlang, Rokbeigalmki, has the same thing.  It's also known
> >as
> >>a "construct state".
>
> >Ah, I've heard of these.  I was perusing an Akkadian grammar I found
> >in
> >a used bookstore; Akkadian has construct states.  I understand Hebrew
> >does too?
>
> >I didn't read enough to get a firm grasp on the concept.
>
> Yup, Hebrew has it too.  It's called _smikhut_ ("juxtaposition") in
> Hebrew.
> A "construct state" is like the opposite of a genitive case.  Instead of
> having _island of-peace_, you have _island-of peace_.  There are
> different ways of doing it, and Hebrew uses a few of them.
> Normal masculine singular nouns just get put next to the second noun,
> which never changes.
> degel = flag
> shalom = peace
>
> _degel shalom_ = "flag of peace".
>
> Feminine nouns that end in _-a_ get a _t_ added on.
> darga = level
> hashalom = the peace
>
> _dargat hashalom_ = "(the) level of the peace".  In smikhut the
> construct-state noun can't have _ha-_ "the" attached to it.
>
> Masculine plural nouns have the plural ending _-im_ changed to _-ei_.
> hhayalim = soldiers
> hamedina = the state
>
> _hhayalei hamedina_ = "(the) soldiers of the state"
>
> Feminine plural nouns don't change.
> malkot = queens
> angliya = england
>
> _malkot angliya_ = "(the) queens of england"
>
> Irregular nouns whose plural ending doesn't match the grammatical gender,
> such as _beitza_ (egg) >> _beitzim_ (not *_beitzot_), are changed
> according to the plural ending, _beitzei_.  The same holds true for
> feminine words that don't end in _-a_ and masculine words that do.
>
> There are also irregular changes, such as _milhhama_ (war) >> _milhhEmet_
> (war of) and not *_milhhamAt_. (capital letters are the accented
> syllable)
>
> In Modern Israeli Hebrew, they sometimes do strange things, such as
> coining new words by running a construct compound together.
>
> _migdal or_ = "tower of light"
> (plural - _migdalei or_)
>
> --->> _migdelor_ = "lighthouse"
> with the plural form _migdelorim_.
>
Hmmm - that is what the dictionary says. But I've never heard any one
use that plural - I'll check with a few people at the office today! I
suspect many people might flip it back to a "norma" construct and say
migdalei or as the plural.

        Shaul