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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:

berrius, v.r.s.carried along by (current, flood).
a
mla
a
er
a
See also:
blekesangch, v.r.s.forced open; pulled apart by force.
a
mla
a
See also:
blidokl, v.r.s.cast or tossed (e.g. fishnet); thrown underhand (as in softball); thrown out(side); located far from others (as if tossed away).
a
mla
See also:
bllebel, v.r.s.wound around with rope, cord, tape, etc.
See also:
delaes, v.r.s.criticized.
a
mla
te
mla
er
er
a
See also:
telungel, v.r.s.smelled; kissed.
See also:
ulekdengchokl, v.r.s.made to sit down.
a
mla
mla
el
mo
el
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:

bekesall, v.a.s.(leg) is to be moved to walk.
a
el
el
er
See also:
chedermotall, v.a.s.(water) is to be stirred or agitated.
See also:
edongel, v.a.s.is to be coaxed into doing something; is to be flattered/whetted/sharpened; easily flattered.
a
el
di
el
mo
a
le
el
See also:
sechesechall, v.a.s.is to be stuffed; (gun) is to be cocked or set.
a
a
a
See also:
songesongel, v.a.s.(coconut tree) is to be tapped for sap.
See also:
ukllemesall, v.a.s.is to be brightened or enlightened.
a
el
a
el
a
a
a
See also:
uksoangel, v.a.s.is to be made used to or trained.
a
el
er
er
el
mo
mo
a
er
a
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
kobesossea horse.kobesos (head) long, narrow or pointed.
bausmell; odor; scent.bekebausmell of vagina.
chetbaelelephantiasis.chetbael swollen from elephantiasis.
ngulasthma.ngulasthma.
chudelgrass.chudelmarijuana.
bausmell; odor; scent.bekebau(cooked meat or fish, cooking pot, etc.) foul-smelling.
cheludechwooden float for fish net; light weight wood used to make corks.cheludechwooden float for fish net; light weight wood used to make corks.

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
chelimimuul
a
: Palauan of chelimimuul a rengul'>
a
chelimimii a rengul
mederdirk
a
: Palauan of mederdirk a rengul'>
a
feel scorn for.
titmekl
a
: Palauan of titmekl a rengul'>
a
timid; scared.
melib
er
a
: Palauan of melib er a rengul'>
er
a
decide; make up one's mind.
omatek
er
a
: Palauan of omatek er a rengul '>
er
a
restrain ones desire to do something; keep ones desire(s) to oneself.
melemalt
a
: Palauan of melemalt a rengul'>
a
fair; just; understanding; good-hearted.
bebeot
a
: Palauan of bebeot a rengul'>
a
rather undecided about something; not taking something too seriously.


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