államaiban

államaiban is a Hungarian inflected form of the noun állam, meaning state or country. It conveys a locative sense, roughly translating to “in its states” or “in their states,” depending on the possessor. The word illustrates Hungarian’s agglutinative system, in which multiple suffixes are stacked to express possession and location.

Morphology and form. The form derives from állam plus a possessive suffix indicating the possessor (for example, its or their) and an inessive suffix indicating location inside. In typical constructions, forms such as államaiban (in its states) or államaikban (in their states) are produced, with the exact suffixes changing according to person and number of the possessor. This pattern—state root + possessive ending + inessive ending—is common in Hungarian for phrases describing internal subdivisions of a larger political entity.

Usage. The expression is common in formal or scholarly writing, especially when discussing federal or decentralized political structures, regional administration, or the internal organization of a country. It can refer to the administrative or geopolitical units within a nation and is often found in legal, historical, or sociopolitical contexts.

Example sentences:

- Az ország államaiban számos autonóm régió működik. (In the country’s states, several autonomous regions operate.)

- A jogszabály hatálya az államaiban élő polgárokat érinti. (The law affects the citizens living in its states.)

See also: Hungarian grammar, inessive case, possessive suffixes.