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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:

Here is a list of seven random Palauan verbs and their resulting state verbs:

blkais, v.r.s.opened; lifted open/up.
a
mla
a
See also:
chelarm, v.r.s.tasted.
See also:
cheltekill, v.r.s.held or led by the hand; carried; towed; persuaded; carrying something.
a
See also:
kled, v.r.s.put or placed down.
a
er
a
a
See also:
rrael, v.r.s.(particular distance) walked/traveled/covered.
a
mla
el
a
ki
mla
er
See also:
seluis, v.r.s.(match) struck or lighted.
a
mla
a
er
a
See also:
telebiall, v.r.s.gestured to with raised eyebrows.
a
mla
a
a
See also:

 

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:

brukel, v.a.s.is to be dyed or colored.
a
el
a
a
See also:
chemuul, v.a.s.about to be broken in two.
a
el
a
a
See also:
chimkemkall, v.a.s.is to be covered over with (blanket, clothes, leave, etc.); (forest) choked with vegetation (and difficult to pass through).
a
el
a
er
a
See also:
odengelengelall, v.a.s.is to be sent or thrown down slope; is to be sailed downwind.
a
a
er
a
See also:
oskeskall, v.a.s.is to be pushed vigorously.
a
el
a
el
a
See also:
sechesechall, v.a.s.(solid food) is to be bitten into.
See also:
utebechall, v.a.s.is to be held steady, controlled, confirmed or moored.
See also:

 

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_NounEngish_NounPalauan_AdjEnglish_Adj
chelechelouldandruff.chelecheloulhaving dandruff.
burekswelling.oburekswollen.
H.O.(abbrev.) Babeldaob (used pejoratively).H.O.unexperienced in Western ways; ignorant of modern conveniences.
tutaumorning; this morning.tutauPalau morning bird.
chemadechcoconut sap.chemadechcoconut sap.
chelechedsmall sea crab.chelechedsmall sea crab.
besokelringworm.besokelringworm.

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:

PalauanEnglish
betachel
a
: Palauan of betachel a rengul'>
a
is to be pleased/satisfied/appeased; content.
ultebechel
a
: Palauan of ultebechel a rengul'>
a
honest; mature and responsible.
olturk
a
: Palauan of olturk a rengul'>
a
satiate; make someone give up (from fatigue); get one's fill of; insult continuously or mercilessly; let someone really have it.
nguibes
a
: Palauan of nguibes a rengul'>
a
desirous of; lusting after.
melamet
er
a
: Palauan of melamet er a rengul'>
er
a
do things as one pleases.
klikiid
a
: Palauan of klikiid a rengul'>
a
uninvolved.
mechitechut
a
: Palauan of mechitechut a rengul'>
a
weak willed; unmotivated; easily discouraged.


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