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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:

bldobed, v.r.s.taken or torn off.
a
a
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chelat, v.r.s.praised.
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nglerd, v.r.s.hoisted (up in the air).
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telubech, v.r.s.masturbated; circumcised.
a
mla
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uliubek, v.r.s.broken or smashed through.
a
mla
a
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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:

bekukall, v.a.s.is to be puffed up.
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ngemekill, v.a.s.is to be climbed on.
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ongeltall, v.a.s.is to be sunk (into soft ground).
a
er
a
el
a
er
a
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oserechall, v.a.s.is to be pressed down or pinned onto.
a
el
a
a
a
er
a
a
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osesengall, v.a.s.is to be moved a little bit or ways.
a
el
el
el
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uchelcheball, v.a.s.(cooking food) is to be covered with leaf; bag; etc.
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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
britelshakiness; jitters.britelshakiness; jitters.
otordblunt-headed parrot fish.otordblunt-headed parrot fish.
beraomfish kept until slightly spoiled and then wrapped and barbequed.beraomfish kept until slightly spoiled and then wrapped and barbequed.
ngelloklnodding; dozing (off).olengelloklnod when sleepy; doze off.
telengtungdwild tamarind; lead tree.telengtungdwild tamarind; lead tree.
chelechedsmall sea crab.chelechedsmall sea crab.
chedeadjellyfish; nettle.chedeadjellyfish; nettle.

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
mekurt
a
: Palauan of mekurt a rengul'>
a
(someone's) feelings hurt.
ungil
er
a
: Palauan of ungil er a rengul'>
er
a
fine or all right with.
meringel
a
: Palauan of meringel a rengul'>
a
feel bad about (something wasted); (something wasted) arouse sympathy; (something valuable) wasted.
deuil
a
: Palauan of deuil a rengul'>
a
his/her happiness; his/her joy
melemed
a
: Palauan of melemed a rengul'>
a
cool down one's anger.
ongemengemek
a
: Palauan of ongemengemek a rengul'>
a
ongemengemek
melekoi
a
: Palauan of melekoi a rengul'>
a
determined; well-motivated; make rasping or humming sound in the lungs; make humming moise while sleeping; (cat) purr.