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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:

chelseches, v.r.s.locked; latched.
a
el
e
er
a
See also:
cherroakl, v.r.s.(ankle) twisted or sprained.
a
mla
a
er
a
See also:
ileakl, v.r.s.separated; separate; set apart; removed; disassociated; special.
a
mla
a
er
a
See also:
nglader, v.r.s.sent or seen off; returned; sent back; (bride) brought to prospective husband family.
a
mla
mla
a
See also:
selumk, v.r.s.(hair) pulled out; torn out
a
mla
mla
a
er
a
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:

bedesall, v.a.s.is to be arranged/lined up/displayed.
a
el
er
a
See also:
betochel, v.a.s.is to be thrown at, pounded or cracked.
See also:
chesuertall, v.a.s.is to be covered with asphalt.
See also:
ochudall, v.a.s.is to be looked for.
a
el
me
a
a
See also:
olutall, v.a.s.is to be returned or sent back.
a
See also:
tengetngall, v.a.s.(food) is to be obtained, sought or foraged for.
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
chemadechcoconut sap.chemadechcoconut sap.
lusechluck.melusechalways lucky.
chelechedsmall sea crab.chelechedambidextrous.
baikingdisease; germs.baiking(person) unsanitary/unhygienic (in one's habits).
otekliklvertical support beam for buadel whose bottom end lis on imuul.oteklikllying down with feet in air.
otangcheek.bekotangelhave fat cheeks.
mengchongchthick betel nut fiber used for wrapping food, making rain hat, etc.chellibelmengchongchwhite; (woman) beautiful/white-skinned.

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
melechang
a
a
: Palauan of melechang a llechul a rengul'>
a
a
teach (someone) a lesson.
cheldeng
a
: Palauan of cheldeng a rengul'>
a
confused; surprised; stubborn; dull-witted; slow (in understanding).
orrechorech
a
: Palauan of orrechorech a rengul'>
a
extremely angry; wild with anger.
ngar
er
a
bab
a
: Palauan of ngar er a bab a rengul'>
er
a
bab
a
conceited; disrespectful; proud; arrogant; haughty; snobbish.
mekikngit
a
: Palauan of mekikngit a rengul'>
a
feel rather sad or sorry about; rather mean or inconsiderate.
cheremremangel
a
: Palauan of cheremremangel a rengul'>
a
greedy; stingy.
tmuu
er
a
: Palauan of tmuu er a rengul'>
er
a
(something) occurs to (person)/enters (person's) mind.


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