Palauan Language Online: Palauan-English Dictionary

mei
/me

, v.i.

come; arrive.

mei a okedongel a chad; mei er tiei, mei me kulekoi, ka mei.

v.imp.

be a ta er a telengtengil a tekoi el mengai er a tekoi el mei; be bong, be metengel.

ble

v.past.hypothetical

mera

cont.

mei er a

merekung
/merkung

v.i.pred.

is about to come or arrive.

mermang
/meremang

v.inch.

meremang a merael mei; ngar er a omerolel el mei; dumiang er a dmuil.

mlei
/mle

v.past

came; arrived.

mlei a mla mei me ngar tiang; skoki a mlei er a tutau.
mle a melekoi er a rrekui; Bung a mle tmuu; ng mle mekerang?

mlera

cont.

mlei er a

be kbong

expr.

goodbye; I'm leaving.

me e mong
/memong

expr.

pass by; go on; "(in a direction) towards me and then keep going (past me)."

nguu el mei

expr.

bring.

ta el buil er mla me e mong

expr.

one month ago.

Examples:

Ak mla tmuk a kloklel a kleblilliu er aike el beluu el dirk medechel me aike el beluu el mla mengai.

> I have assigned as the possession of your tribes the land of the nations that are still left, as well as of all the nations that I have already conquered.

Dosei kom oungalek, me bo mkaubuch.

> At any rate, you (two) have a child, so you might as well get married.

Me ta er a oluches.

> Give me one of the pencils.

A Toki me a Droteo a kakeakl a blirir.

> Toki and Droteo each have separate house.

A delak me a reta er ngak a tirke el chad el orrenges a tekingel a Dios e oltirakl.

> My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and obey it.

Proverbs:

Ng ko er a ibuchel er a Ngemai el di kiei me a dekedekel.

> He's like the sea urchins between Ngiwal and Melekeok, on the ocean floor with its cover.

The sea urchin can be seen lying quietly on the lagoon floor, occasionally with a leaf like a hat covering its head. Applied to a man who acquires a wife or great wealth without working for it.

Ak meruul me kau er a terudel?

> I build it and you destroy it?

May be applied to a person who feels his aims or projects are being destroyed by the actions of another.

Ke ko er a kuaol el sbungel er bab me iou.

> You're like a fish bait which can be eaten or pecked from the top and bottom.

You don't know what to do coz chores keep coming in from left and right.

Ng mlenga a telochel a demal me ng uai ngii.

> Like his father, for he ate his father's premasticated food.

Applied to a child by adoption, with the implication that the adopted child resembles his adoptive father

Ng ko er a Beriber me a Chemaredong.

> It's like the case of Beriber and Chemaredong (who for a long time lived in adjacent caves unaware of each other's existence but who finally discovered each other and began to share their surpluces).

People wasting things and not sharing or cooperating as they should. Cooperative reciprocity among equals should be patterned on that exemplified by these two men. Beriber, who harvested coconut syrup, and Chemaredong, who was an expert fish trapper, lived in two small caves near the village of Oikuul in Airai (central Palau). These caves are side by side, separated by a natural wall about one foot thick. However, for a long time the neighbors did not know that the other existed. Finally, they discovered one another, and from that time on they engaged in mutually profiitable exchange of their surpluses in fish and syrup. An elder source said that this is more than a proverb (blukul a tekoi) and referred to it as ollach idnger, the "law of neighborliness."

More Examples: