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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:

bludech, v.r.s.vomited on.
a
mla
a
mla
a
See also:
chellaod, v.r.s.comforted; consoled.
a
el
See also:
chelled, v.r.s.fished out.
a
el
mla
a
me
a
er
mla
mo
a
er
See also:
cheltekill, v.r.s.held or led by the hand; carried; towed; persuaded; carrying something.
a
See also:
kloechel, v.r.s.broken off.
See also:
ulekerreu, v.r.s.(person or animal) taken care of or protected; obeyed; cared about; respected; obedient.
a
el
a
a
See also:
urros, v.r.s.drowned.
a
mla
a
er
a
mla
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:

bedechekill, v.a.s.is to be thrown down (in fighting, etc.).
a
el
a
See also:
kemedall, v.a.s.is to be sewn up.
a
el
a
el
a
a
See also:
kesiil, v.a.s.(coconut or taro) is to be grated or scraped.
a
el
a
a
er
a
a
See also:
lengiil, v.a.s.is to be borrowed.
a
el
a
el
mo
a
a
er
a
See also:
tengetngall, v.a.s.(food) is to be obtained, sought or foraged for.
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
tebullswelling; earth mound.tebullbulging, hanging.
ngulasthma.kesengliilasthmatic (permanent condition).
beraomfish kept until slightly spoiled and then wrapped and barbequed.beraom (fish) slightly spoiled.
teberoishin; (large, triangle-shaped) coconut candy.teberoibow-legged.
klukuktomorrow; the next or following day.klukuktomorrow; the next or following day.
iudoraiburent-a-car; U-drive car.iudoraiburent-a-car; U-drive car.
rirfallen leaves of kebui.merir(leaves) yellow.

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
merusech
a
: Palauan of merusech a rengul'>
a
repentant.
diak
a
: Palauan of diak lemesim a rengul'>
a
stick to one's convictions; not change one's mind.
bltkil
a
: Palauan of bltkil a rengul'>
a
one's affection/concern for.
omult
er
a
: Palauan of omult er a rengul'>
er
a
convince; persuade.
mesaul
a
: Palauan of mesaul a rengul'>
a
not feel like.
bebeot
a
: Palauan of bebeot a rengul'>
a
rather undecided about something; not taking something too seriously.
cheremremangel
a
: Palauan of cheremremangel a rengul'>
a
greedy; stingy.


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