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:
- Someone hides something which results in it being hidden.
- In Palauaun, omart is the verb 'to hide,' and blart is the resulting state verb corresponding to the English adjective hidden.
- Someone heats something which results in it being hot.
- In Palauaun, mengeald is the verb 'to heat,' and mekeald is the resulting state verb corresponding to the English adjective hot.
Here is a list of seven random Palauan verbs and their resulting state verbs:
| cheliroir | , v.r.s. | caught up with; (hair, etc.) cut to same length.
|
| deludeu | , v.r.s. | bent in many places.
|
| klsik | , v.r.s. | has a ridge or hollow passage carved in it.
|
| rringet | , v.r.s. | chewed; crushed.
|
| telkool | , v.r.s. | (person) holding something in open palms.
|
| uldob | , v.r.s. | dropped through hole; delayed.
|
| ultuil | , v.r.s. | laid down; lying down; dependent on.
|
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:
| bidall | , v.a.s. | are to be travelled between.
|
| bretall | , v.a.s. | is to be shaken. |
| chimkemkall | , v.a.s. | is to be covered over with (blanket, clothes, leave, etc.); (forest) choked with vegetation (and difficult to pass through).
|
| debdebsall | , v.a.s. | is to be objected to.
|
| sekedall | , v.a.s. | is to be squeezed in or crowded out.
|
| sekesakel | , v.a.s. | is to be cut, sliced or flattered; (pig) is to be castrated.
|
| techetechall | , v.a.s. | is to be pounded.
|
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_Noun | Engish_Noun | Palauan_Adj | English_Adj |
| cherou | white mushroom; white scar. | cherou | white mushroom; white scar. |
| oreomel | forest; woods. | chereomel | oreomel |
| bodech | curved configuration/shape of boat. | obodech | curved; (person) having back curved towards rear. |
| chim | hand; arm; front paws (of animal); help; assistance; manual labor; person sent to help. | chim | hand; arm; front paws (of animal); help; assistance; manual labor; person sent to help. |
| besbas | trash; rubbish; litter; debris. | besbesiil | easily litter. |
| kldols | fatness; thickness. | kedols | (round object) fat, thick or wide. Commonly used to describe betelnuts and coconuts. |
| mbesaol | drool; spittle. | mbesaol | drool; spittle. |
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:
| Palauan | English |
| bekongesengasech
: Palauan of bekongesengasech a rengul'>
| easily angered; excitable. |
| medemedemek
: Palauan of medemedemek a rengul '>
| kind; generous. |
| mimokl
: Palauan of mimokl a rengul'>
| broad-minded. |
| mechedeng
: Palauan of mechedeng a rengul'>
| get surprised, puzzled or perplexed (by someone's behavior, etc.). |
| blosech
: Palauan of blosech a rengul'>
| having strange feelings about; be suspicious of. |
| beot
: Palauan of beot a rengul'>
| easygoing; nonchalant; unmotivated; lazy. |
| ngar
: Palauan of ngar er a eou a rengul'>
| (person is) humble/respectful. |