m-prefix: mḥfdt "towers" from mḥfd "tower". Combinations: for example ʾ–prefix and t-suffix: ʾḫrft "years" from ḫrf "year", ʾbytt "houses" from byt "house". without any external grammatical sign: fnw "canals" from fnwt (f.) "canal". w-/y-Infix: ḫrwf / ḫryf / ḫryft "years" from ḫrf "year". Reduplicational plurals are rarely attested in Sabaean: ʾlʾlt "gods" fromʾl "god". External ("Sound") plurals: in the masculine the ending differs according to the grammatical state (see below); in the feminine the ending is -(h)t, which probably represents *-āt ; this plural is rare and seems to be restricted to a few nouns. The dual is already beginning to disappear in Old Sabaean; its endings vary according to the grammatical state: ḫrf-n "two years" (indeterminate state) from ḫrf "year". Sabaean almost certainly had a case system formed by vocalic endings, but since vowels were involved they are not recognizable in the writings; nevertheless a few traces have been retained in the written texts, above all in the construct state. 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: 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 suffix 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). Verbs Conjugation As in other West Semitic languages Sabaean distinguishes between two types of finite verb forms: the perfect which is conjugated with suffixes and the imperfect which is conjugated with both prefixes and