Palauan Language Online: Palauan-English Dictionary

Water, drunk from a coconut, passes from the dark of the nut to the dark of the mouth. Some discussions, such as those of village leaders, are secretively passed from mouth to mouth without public discussion.

Ng

ko

er

a

mud

er

a

Bngei,

el

di

melecheb

er

a

rrengor.

> Like the mud fish of the Bngei lagoon, drawn to the passing wind

The reef fish mud seldom leaves a given rock or cleft in the reef, but according to this saying the mud of Bngei lagoon, near Airai, may be attracted away from their locus by the dust raised by a passing school of fish. The latter portion of this proverb is difficult to translate. The word melecheb may be applied to a person drawn forward by a current of water. Rrengor refers to a movement of air caused by one body passing another. The idiom is applied to a changeable person, a faddist, or a joiner

Ke

ko

er

a

cherabrukl

el

di

blsiochel

e

reborb.

> You're just like a lobster (flambuoyant in color but prone to hide under rocks.

You dress up fancy but never go anywhere. Applicable to a person who prides himself on great wealth but does not put it to work; or to one who dresses to the hilt, then stays home. It may once have been applied to villages that were well armed, but peaceful.

Ng

kora

ilaot

Itkib

el

di

ngii

el

romur.

> Like the ilaot [coconut juice] of Ngetkib, mixing itself.

Probably of folk-tale derivation, the idiom may be applied to a man who has married too close to his own clan, thus not gaining the assistance of the wife's clan in food and services, since this would amount to the clan giving to itself. Also applied to a situation where a person expects to have some service performed for him but ends up doing it himself.

More Examples:

Ng

diak.

Ng

di

ungil

a

cheral

> No. The price is reasonable

Ak

di

oucharm

a

katuu.

> I only have pet cats.

Ngka

el

rubak

a

di

mle

siesorech

e

mad.

> This old man stayed stiff and contorted as he died.

Kamei

aika

el

uaol.

Aika

el

ngikel

a

di

menga

uolek.

> Pass the bait. The fish keep eating my bait.

Ng

di

mesesechull.

> It's raining lightly and continuously.

medengei

, v.s.t.

know (person or thing); understand; memorize.

medengei

a

ngar

er

ngii

a

klaodengei

er

ngii;

medengelii

a

tekoi.

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.s.hypo.

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:

A

lsoal

a

rengum

el

me

kmeed

er

a

renguk,

e

ng

di

ua

chad

el

soal

el

merael

el

mo

er

a

chiloil

el

ngar

er

a

chelmoll.

> When your heart wants to come close to my heart, it's like a person who wants to travel to the rocks in the reef.

A

Toki

me

a

Droteo

a

smecher

el

terung.

> Both Toki and Droteo are sick.

Me

motebedii

a

tekoi

me

lemeterob

tirke

el

chad

el

meleketek

er

a

beluu.

> Therefore you are to issue orders that those men are to stop rebuilding the city.

A

chitel

a

Droteo

er

a

omelamech

el

dekool

a

uchul

me

ng

mlo

ungil.

> Droteo's giving up smoking is the reason why he got better.

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

kora

bechars

er

a

Ngerdobotar,

el

di

kiei

me

ng

chelengang

> Like the cockroach of Ngerdobotar, staying on till it became white.

Presumably if a cockroach remains in the darkness for a long time, as one at Ngerdobotar (in Aimeliik) apparently did, it will turn white. Application pertains to a visitor who stays on and on, especially one who is not helpful in the household. Such behavior is not properly human; the person is somehow different, like a white cockroach.

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

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

Ngak

a

ngit

me

kau

a

ngoi?

> I receive it and you ask for it?

A man asks for and receives that which he needs from a second party. A third party, learning of this, asks the first party for it. Used as implied or generally about any unreasonable request

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."

More Examples:

Ngka

el

sechesech

a

mera

el

di

uletemtimd

er

a

kesus,