Palauan Adjectives
The following is a brief discussion about Palauan adjectives. For a longer
exploration, please refer to discussions of state verbs in the Joseph Handbooks.
According to the official Lewis Joseph grammar book of Palauan, there are no Palauan
parts of speech called adjectives. However, Palauan does, of course, have words used
to describe other words. In English, we call these words adjectives. Examples of
English adjectives are dangerous, beautiful, and hot.
Palauan Resulting State Verbs
In Palauan, words corresponding to English adjectives are
called state verbs. There are several types of Palauan state verbs. The most common
are resulting state verbs which occur as a result of a verb.
Some examples:
- Someone hides something which results in it being hidden.
- In Palauaun, omart is the verb 'to hide,' and blart is the resulting state verb corresponding to the English adjective hidden.
- Someone heats something which results in it being hot.
- In Palauaun, mengeald is the verb 'to heat,' and mekeald is the resulting state verb corresponding to the English adjective hot.
Here is a list of seven random Palauan verbs and their resulting state verbs:
| cheluiu | , v.r.s. | read; looked at closely.
|
| cherroid | , v.r.s. | removed to a distance; moved away. |
| derredirk | , v.r.s. | looked scornfully at. |
| kerriil | , v.r.s. | (person) reminded of debt, etc.; (loan, etc.) recalled. |
| ulechadu | , v.r.s. | cut with scissors; picked up with tongs.
|
| ulengelt | , v.r.s. | sunk (into soft ground).
|
| ultechakl | , v.r.s. | intimated; insinuated; stuck (on beach against dock, etc.) after floating ashore; staying in another house or village.
|
Palauan Anticipating State Verbs
Anticipating state verbs in Palauan are like resulting state verbs. However, instead of describing
the state of something after a verb has modified it, these describe the state of something
before a verb is anticipated to modify it. Here's seven random Anticipating State Verbs:
| bebael | , v.a.s. | to be formed, shaped, created, or spanked.
|
| chesechaol | , v.a.s. | are to be threaded/strung; always wandering from house to house.
|
| chesmerall | , v.a.s. | is to be closed, confined or locked in (e.g. as punishment). |
| chetuul | , v.a.s. | (fish) smoked; having the potential of giving off too much smoke.
|
| oketmekill | , v.a.s. | is to be arranged or put in a proper place. |
| sikesall | , v.a.s. | (raft, canoe, etc.) is to be poled.
|
| uderngall | , v.a.s. | is to be shaded or sheltered. |
State Verbs with Related Nouns
In English, a common thing to do is to ask 'how XXXX is something,' where XXXX is an
adjective. For example, 'how hot is that,' or 'how dangerous is that,' are common
English expressions.
This is true in Palauan as well in a form like,
'ng uangarang a kleldelel,' which translates literally perhaps to something like,
'it is like what, its heat,' or figuratively as, 'how hot is it.' The word kleldelel
is a possessed noun meaning 'its heat.' See the nouns page for a
longer explanation of possessed nouns.
Many of these Palauan nouns have related state verbs which translate to, and are
used as, English adjectives.
Here is a list of seven random Palauan nouns along with their corresponding state verbs.
| Palauan_Noun | Engish_Noun | Palauan_Adj | English_Adj |
| karmasuus | cowfish. | karmasuus | |
| chudel | grass. | chudel | grassy. |
| rir | fallen leaves of kebui. | merir | (leaves) yellow. |
| kim | type of large clam; female genitals. | bekekim | smell of clams (after cleaning or cooking clams). |
| karmasuus | cowfish. | karmasuus | cowfish. |
| chermall | hibiscus (bark used as a rope; leaves used as mulch for taro). | chermall | having vagina which lubricates quickly. |
| bangikoi | butterfly; moth. | bangikoi | butterfly; moth. |
Reng Idioms as Adjectives
There are many Palauan expressions which use a state verb to describe the Palauan word reng which means spirit or heart.
These are idioms which mean their literal and figurative meanings are not the same. Typically, but not always, the figurative meaning describes an emotion.
An example is kesib a reng, which literally means a sweaty heart but figuratively it means to be angry. Here is a list of seven random examples of
these reng idioms:
| Palauan | English |
| mengerar
: Palauan of mengerar er a rengul '>
| criticise; insult; put down; make someone feel ashamed; hurt someone's feelings. |
| betik
: Palauan of betik a rengul'>
| having a deep feeling or affection for; love. |
| ngmasech
: Palauan of ngmasech a rengul'>
| get angry. |
| Rengulbai
: Palauan of Rengulbai'>
| title of chiefs in Imeliik. |
| rengul
: Palauan of rengul'>
| his/her/its heart; spirit; feeling; soul; seat of emotions. |
| merirem
: Palauan of merirem er a rengul'>
| hurt someone's feelings. |
| suebek
: Palauan of suebek a rengul'>
| worried; anxious. |