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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:

chelderuar, v.r.s.stirred; agitated; mixed up; (person) stunned or temporarily disoriented (typically due to having been struck in the head); (person) drunk; intoxicated; inebriated.
See also:
chelisngull, v.r.s.(face) frowning; vexed; offended.
See also:
klad, v.r.s.(sea cucumber) rolled/rubbed in ashes (to remove bad-tasting outer membrane).
er
a
a
di
el
ta
el
a
mla
a
el
a
er
See also:
kludem, v.r.s.placed close together (in space or time).
a
el
See also:
selibas, v.r.s.tripped; hindered.
a
mla
er
a
a
See also:
telngoech, v.r.s.(taro etc.) scraped.
a
mla
mla
a
el
mo
er
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:

bechetall, v.a.s.is to be extracted or extirpated.
a
el
el
a
See also:
berekedall, v.a.s.is to be pasted or glued onto; is to be leaned against.
a
el
a
er
See also:
dengeball, v.a.s.is to be covered.
a
el
er
a
See also:
kelidel, v.a.s.is to be warmed or heated up.
a
el
mo
el
el
See also:
ksomel, v.a.s.is to be chopped with clam-shell ax.
a
el
er
See also:
urerall, v.a.s.is to be worked at.
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
tangtikebikelsee-saw; teeter-totter.tangtikebikel(object) wobbly or in danger of falling over.
chemarsleak (in something like a boat or a bucket).chemarsleak (in something like a boat or a bucket).
kimtype of large clam; female genitals.bekekimsmell of clams (after cleaning or cooking clams).
chelsebengoshandsomeness.chesbengoshandsome; beautiful.
telengtungdwild tamarind; lead tree.telengtungdwild tamarind; lead tree.
chadliver.chedengaolhave a large liver.
kurstwitching (nervous disorder) .kurstwitching (nervous disorder) .

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
bekesbesebek
a
: Palauan of bekesbesebek a rengul'>
a
easily worried; worrisome.
meleolt
a
: Palauan of meleolt a rengul'>
a
(person) carefree or nonchalant; (person) not easily disturbed or content to let things happen as they may.
blak
a
: Palauan of blak a rengul'>
a
hard-working; diligent; eager; attentive; interested in; intent upon; decided on; in favor of.
oltamet
er
a
: Palauan of oltamet er a rengul'>
er
a
pull at someone's heartstrings; mean a lot to someone.
dechal
a
: Palauan of dechal a rengul '>
a
perseverance; ambition; strong will.
mekikngit
a
: Palauan of mekikngit a rengul'>
a
feel rather sad or sorry about; rather mean or inconsiderate.
omtechei
a
: Palauan of omtechei a rengul'>
a
get back at; do to someone as he does to you.


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