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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:

klit, v.r.s.pressed with fingers and massaged; pressed against surface with fingers; softened; (fruit) soft (after hitting ground).
a
mla
a
a
me
ng
See also:
klumech, v.r.s.(blanket; etc.) spread out; (body) massaged; restored; message sent.
a
a
el
mo
er
a
a
ika
el
eko
er
See also:
rrukem, v.r.s.(money) split into smaller denomination; (money) exchanged.
a
mla
a
er
a
See also:
telungel, v.r.s.smelled; kissed.
See also:
ulchiib, v.r.s.lifted up; revealed.
See also:
uldidm, v.r.s.spied on; watched for carefully.
a
mla
mla
el
a
See also:
uldoud, v.r.s.given money; paid.
a
mla
er
a
mla
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:

cheridall, v.a.s.is to be removed to a distance or moved away.
a
mo
le
a
er
a
See also:
odkelall, v.a.s.is to be made to move; (person) is to be made active.
a
el
a
el
mo
See also:
riokel, v.a.s.is to be swept.
a
el
a
a
a
a
See also:
serechall, v.a.s.is to be cleansed/bathed in hot water.
a
el
a
el
mo
a
See also:
sudall, v.a.s.is to be erased; is to be dried or wiped off.
a
a
kim
a
See also:
uklematel, v.a.s.is to be made straight.
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
chermallhibiscus (bark used as a rope; leaves used as mulch for taro).chermallPalauan money in form of green or blue glass beads.
chadliver.chedengaolhave a large liver.
otangcheek.bekotangelhave fat cheeks.
siktcluster/bunch of fruit.berikt(tree) productive or bearing much fruit.
katuucat.bekekatuusmell of a cat.
chermallhibiscus (bark used as a rope; leaves used as mulch for taro).chermallcheromel
oreomelforest; woods.chereomeloreomel

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
mesisiich
a
: Palauan of mesisiich a rengul'>
a
strong-willed; motivated; determined; hard-working.
berngel
a
: Palauan of berngel a rengul'>
a
anything discouraging to one's spirit.
smiich
a
: Palauan of smiich a rengul'>
a
feel proud about (someone).
omeksebek
er
a
: Palauan of omeksebek er a rengul'>
er
a
worry (deliberately).
diak
a
: Palauan of diak lodengelii a rengul'>
a
(person) unaware of his limitations or overestimates his abilities or overextends himself with committments.
llemesel
a
: Palauan of llemesel a rengul'>
a
his/her/its intelligence.
dmolech
a
: Palauan of dmolech a rengul'>
a
wise; prudent; careful in planning ahead.


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