Palauan Language Online: Palauan-English Dictionary

klebesei

, n.

night; tonight.
klebesei a ngeltel a sils el mo lmuut er a ngesechel a sils, milkolk.

luk

, n.

silence.
luk a lmuk; diak a tekingel.

mei
/me

, v.i.

come; arrive.

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

be

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:

Ng mle soak el me er tia el iungs.

> I wanted to come to this island.

Ng mle sment a ulolel tia el skuul.

> This school had a cement floor.

Ke me er oingarang?

> When are you coming?

Ng mle tela a teng er a Toki?

> What was Toki's grade?

Te rua techa tirke el mle kesib a rengul er tir a Dios el 40 el rak?

> With whom was God angry for forty years?

Proverbs:

Ng diak kobetik rengii recheroid e me douchi er a rebai.

> Without looking afield, it was cut down behind the house.

From the folk tale concerning Mesubed Dingal, the inventor of the Palauan kite (see also No. 73). After his wife had been kidnapped, he constructed a kite using feathers from all the birds of Palau and he needed also wood from an Edebsungel tree to fashion the body of the bird-kite. After looking all over Palau and being on the point of giving up, he found the tree he needed behind his own house. The saying may be applied to anyone who does things the hard way, or who goes far afield to find something which is close at hand.

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."

A uel el kuk meremang el me omeklatk me ng mo uchul a klengitereng

> When the purple swamp hen appears, it brings remembrance

There is a song (Oumachas) from which this saying derives: Once there was a young couple who made love in a secluded spot in the taro garden. While they were lying together a purple swamp hen darted out of the brush startling the couple. Eventually love cooled, but thereafter whenever the girl saw a purple swamp hen while she worked in the gardens, she recalled her lover. Hence any occurrence that brings back fond memories.

Ng ko er a beab er a Ngerard, el kma a lisiu me a lisam.

> It's like the rat of Ngerard, which eats up all your coconuts and (then) all of ours.

It's a decision, plan etc. that will backfire. A pet rat owned by Mad, chief of Ngaraard, ate the coconuts of most of the chief's neighbors, then, still hungry, ate the chief's own coconuts.

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:

A rengalek a mle ulsemuul e delodau.

> Children were humble and disciplined.

Ngak me a ius a mlo kaiberober er ngka el chemang er a taoch.

> The crocodile and I had a snatching match for the crab in the channel.

Ng klalo el lusbechall er a temel a cheliuaiu er a resechal me a redil el moktek er ngii a tomer a kldiull e merrob a rakt me ng diak lemoiuul er a delongelir.

> It's the object used when a man and a woman go to bed together whose purpose is to prevent pregnancy and to prevent the transmission of disease between them.

Ng mle chetil lomengur e kmo ng smecher.

> He did not want to eat and said he's sick.

Molengull el di melibkibk aika el keltkat er a ochim a uchul me ng diak a chebsel!

> Stop picking on your sores that's why they don't get healed!

mla

, v.s.

was/were (located); existed.
mla a melekoi er a rrekui el tekoi; mla mong; mla er ker; mla er a skuul.

bla

v.s.hypothetical

mla

aux.

has (done something).

mlar

cont.

mla er

mlara

cont.

mla er a

a lebla er ngii

expr.

if there had been.

mla mo

expr.

has become.

ng mla er ngii

expr.

there has or have been; there was or were.

Examples:

A Toki a mla imiit.

> Toki has given birth.

Ng mla merngii a deleb.

> A ghost or evil spirit has slapped him (i.e. he's having an epileptic fit).

Aika el kall a mla mo medeel er kemam.

> There's gotten to be too much food for us.

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.

Ke mla choitii a omelamech el dekool?

> Have you quit or giving up smoking?

Proverbs:

Ng mla merekakl a tekingel.

> He swallowed his words.

An inconsistent person, especially one who has stated that he would never do something, then does it.

Ng ko er a Ngiramesemong, el omilt a mla me e mong.

> Like Ngiramesemong, rehashing what has been finished.

Pertains to a person who repeatedly reminds another of past favors or continually recalls the mistakes of others. (My sources no longer recalled the episode or story from which this idiom derives.)

Ng ko er a chad er a Ngesias, el ngemuu er a mla mokom.

> It's like when the men of Ngesias clamored over what they had lost (after a party of raiders had attacked without warning and taken a head as a trophy).

The men of the Ngesias (Peleliu) village club were sitting near their clubhouse one evening when raiders broke through the brush, shouted wildly, and excaped with the head of one of them. When they recovered their senses, the men jumped to their spears and shouted threats into the darkness of the surrounding brush. Aroused by the commotion, the village chief appeared and ,when appraised of the situation, admonished them to be quiet since the fuss would gain nothing. "Don't cry over spilt milk."

A rekung el daob a mla otitech a rekung el beluu.

> Sea crabs have pushed out land crabs.

Outsiders have taken over the land or titles of local people. An outsider (e.g., adopted child, friend) has become more important than a blood relative.

Ng mla mkelii a tual.

> He cut down his own banana.

A man supplies fertilizer (money) for a banana tree that, eventually, provides fruit (gifts of food). The cycle, in this saying, is compared with that of the food-money cycle of a marriage in which the wife's clan provides food and service, while the husband's clan provides occasional payments of money. If a banana tree is cut down before it bears fruit, the cycle is interrupted. Hence, a man who marries incestuously within his own clan and thereby inhibits the foodmoney cycle.

More Examples:

Ng mla er ngii a meses el eolt er a Guam er a idelsebel.

> There was a typhoon here in Guam three days ago.

Ke mla mcholo aike el ngikel el ngar er a odekel?

> Did you descale the fish on the outdoor prepairing area?

Ngka el Ulang a mera el sekebdebid el di omriuch a mla sidai e kuk metord.

> Ulang keeps dwelling and fermenting in the past and gets all worked up and shut down.

Ka mnguu tia el terekill el mo er a blil Dachelbai e msbedii el kmo ng mla er a Ulang el sbedel a Ocherolel a Kitalong.

> Bring this basket of prepared food to Dachelbai's house and tell him that it's from Ulang for Kitalong's house-party.

Alii, ke mla er ker el mei?

> Hello, where did you come from?

nguemed

, v.i.

finish; die out; run out; get used up; get depleted.
nguemed a mo diak; mla nguemed a remechuodel el chad.

omilt

, v.t.

repeat or rehash (matter).
omilt a omelekl; melekoi a mla medung; omilt a mla memong.

Palauan Language Online: Palauan-English Dictionary

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