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

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:

A Toki a metord er a bechil me ng kie er a blil a demal.

> Toki is fed up with her husband, so she's living at her father's place.

Ng mle seiko er a urerel.

> He succeeded in his work.

A eanged a ungia me dorael.

> The weather's improving, so let's go.

Ulang! Ke ke meral meleberuou me ke di belchoel el olengeseonges.

> Ulang, you are always inept and end up short.

Bo er a skuul me mlengir a oriik.

> Go to school and borrow a broom.

Proverbs:

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

A rengud me chodab.

> The heart and assessment.

This might better be translated, "Assessment with knowledge." The mind or head is thought to be the locus of knowledge in Palau, but such knowledge is made useful or is measured with the heart (reng). Chodab, in this context, would appear to mean "to take stock of" or "to measure." In essence, then, the phrase cautions one who seems on the point of making a rash decision to temper his thoughts with his heart.

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."

Ng ko er a char er a Kosiil, el lecheraches e ng mong me a lekeriik e ng mei.

> Like seaweed at Kosiil, out with the tide and in with the tide.

Kosiil is a location in the lagoon where the seaweed can be seen to bend in and out with the tide. The idiom is applied to a leader who is too flexible and unreliable. In the short form (Kora char ra Kosiil) it may simply mean, "I'll go along with what you decide."

Ng ko er a debar er a Ngechur, el klungang e me ngal modekriker.

> Like the duck of Ngechur, he became industrious after growing old.

The idiom is applied to a person who has more or less vegetated into maturity and old age and who, already far past his prime, suddenly tries without success to do all the things he might have done when younger. It may be used with reference to an elder who tries to be a dandy.

More Examples: