8: The Construct State

8.1: In Ge’ez the construct state is formed by adding an “e” vowel at the end of the modified noun in this sequence: noun₁-e + noun₂. The construct state is when one noun (noun₁) is modified, limited or qualified by another noun (noun₂) i.e. the house₁ of a man₂, a man₂’s house₁, the voice₁ of the prophet₂, a prophet₂’s voice₁ etc.

ንግሥት:ሀገር	nəgəšt1 heger2	queen1 city2	=	ንግሥተ:ሀገር	nəgəšte heger	Queen of the city The city’s queen
ንጉሥ:እስራኤል	nəguš1 əsraél2	king1 Israel2	=	ንጉሠ:እስራኤል	nəguše əsraél	King of Israel Israel’s king

8.2: The same exact rules apply to plural nouns:

ቃላት:ነቢይ	qalat1 nebiy2	words1 prophet2	=	ቃላተ:ነቢይ	qalate nebiy	Words of the Prophet
አህጉር፡የመን	ehgur1 yemen2	cities1 yemen2	=	አህጉረ፡የመን	ehgure yemen	The cities of Yemen

8.3: Nouns ending in the vowel “-i” take a “-é” ending in the construct state:

ብእሲ፡ዕጸድ

bə’si1 ‘eşed1

man1 village2

=

ብእሴ:ዕጸድ

bə’sé ‘eşed

Man of the village

8.4: Nouns ending in the vowels “-a, -é, -o” do not change in the construct state.

አርዌ:ደብር

erwé1 debr2

beast1 mountain2

=

አርዌ:ደብር

erwé debr

beast of the mountain

Here are some more examples:

አምላከ፡ስማይ	əmlake səmay	The Lord of Heaven
ስመ፡ብእሲ	səme bə’si	The man’s name
ሕጋገ፡ነቢያት	ḥəgage nebiyat	Laws of the prophets
አግበርተ፡ሊቃን	egbərte liqan	Servants of the elders
ወለተ፡ካህን	welette kahən	The priest’s daughter
ደቂቀ፡እስራኤል	dəqiqe əsraél	The children of Israel
ቤተ፡መቅደስ	béte meqdes	House of Sanctity i.e. the Jerusalem Temple
ፍልሰተ፡ባቢሎን	fəlsete babilon	The Babylonian Exile
አህጉረ፡እግዚኣብሔር	ehgure əgziabhér	The cities of God
ጸሓፌ፡ነቢይ	şeḥafé nebiy	The prophet’s scribe
ቤተ፡ነጉሥ	béte nəguš	The king’s house i.e. a palace
ቤተ፡ክርስቲያን	béte krəstiyan	The house of the Christians i.e. a church
ወልደ፡ነጉሥ	welde nəguš	The king’s son i.e. a prince
አራዊተ፡ምድር	erawite mədr	Beasts of the land

And now see if you can decipher these longer sentences:

ዛብሲት፡ይእቲ፡ወለተ፡ካህን።

za-bə’sit yə’əti welette kahən

This woman is the daughter of the priest

አማተ፡እሉ፡ሰብእ፡ንሕነ።

emate əllu seb’ nəḥne

We are the mothers of these men.

አነ፡አምላከ፡ዝንቱ፡ምድር፡አነ።

ene emlake zəntu mədr ene

Indeed, I am the lord of this land.

ዝቤት፡ውእቱ፡ቤተ፡ንጉሠ፡ዛቲ፡ሀገር።

ze-bét wə’ətu béte nəguše zati heger

This house is the house of the king of this city.