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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:

berrober, v.r.s.snatched; grabbed; seized; (land) captured.
a
mla
a
er
a
See also:
blerrous, v.r.s.dreamt about.
a
mla
See also:
cheluml, v.r.s.(fire) started up or kindled.
a
mla
a
mla
See also:
klekad, v.r.s.(debt) repaid.
a
mla
mla
a
a
See also:
klsemramr, v.r.s.scratched at.
a
a
mla
See also:
rrutech, v.r.s.touched.
a
mla
er
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:

buchall, v.a.s.is to be split or cracked.
a
el
a
a
See also:
chetongel, v.a.s.is to be praised.
a
a
a
See also:
dengesall, v.a.s.is to be looked up at.
a
er
a
el
a
el
er
a
a
See also:
rsimel, v.a.s.is to be sewn.
See also:
sisall, v.a.s.is to be deloused.
a
el
a
a
kud
er
See also:
techekill, v.a.s.is to be deflected; is to be inserted (and held firmly).
See also:
uchelcheball, v.a.s.(cooking food) is to be covered with leaf; bag; etc.
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
H.O.(abbrev.) Babeldaob (used pejoratively).H.O.unexperienced in Western ways; ignorant of modern conveniences.
chedeadjellyfish; nettle.chedead not knowing where to go.
choalechsea urchin.choalechsea urchin.
dechudechdirt; mud; patching material; filling (for cavity).dechudech dirty; muddy.
chemadechcoconut sap.chemadechcoconut sap.
daktfear; awe.bedektallfearful; shy.
chadman; person; human being; living being; someone; somebody; anyone; anybody.chadalive; living.

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
ulsemuul
a
: Palauan of ulsemuul a rengul'>
a
(person) humble.
ngar
er
a
bab
a
: Palauan of ngar er a bab a rengul'>
er
a
bab
a
conceited; disrespectful; proud; arrogant; haughty; snobbish.
mengesib
er
a
: Palauan of mengesib er a rengul '>
er
a
get someone angry.
mellomes
a
: Palauan of mellomes a rengul'>
a
smart; diligent.
menglou
er
a
: Palauan of menglou er a rengul'>
er
a
try to make (someone, oneself) patient; assure; take edge of one's hunger.
olsebek
er
a
: Palauan of olsebek er a rengul'>
er
a
worry (unintentionally); startle.
ngelem
a
: Palauan of ngelem a rengul'>
a
smart; clever; having a retentive memory.


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