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.

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
/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:

Bechire a ngalek me lebo loilil.

> Let the child go play.

Ng diak lsoam el mo er a mubi, me a ka lsoam el mo er a restorangd, e kau a di ngara a soam?

> You don't want to go to the movies, and you don't even want to go to the restaurant, so what do you really want to do?

Ng dimlak kbo er a party e le a bechik a mle smecher.

> I didn't go to the party because my wife was sick.

Ng mle mekelekolt.

> It was cold.

Ngara me ke melodech er kau?

> What are you changing your mind?

Proverbs:

Mengar me a mecherocher.

> Bitter and salty.

The strategy of "doing things the hard way." When alternatives are available, the appropriate choice is the more difficult one. In voice, expression, and action there is a positive accent on personal ability.

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.

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 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 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.

More Examples:

Tia el iasumba a ko er a outangtikebikel me kede mo ruebet.

> The bench is wobbly so we might fall.

Rungalek, ka bo mocheuir a ta er a taxi el mei me lotekak el mo er a bdelul a chang.

> My child, go hail me a taxi cab so that I can take it to the dock.

John, mousubes e ak mla touchakl er a blil a Ngerkumer me ak mo telkib el meoud.

> John, forgive me, I made a stop at Ngerkumer's and may be a run a little late.

Ak mera el metitur el omekall aika el mlai er a Siabal.

> I really don't know how to drive these Japanese cars.

Kmal mle klou a ieleb.

> It flooded.

melai

, v.t.

bring; take; get; receive; obtain; take (amount of time); lay claim to; take away; remove.
melai a ngmai; nguu; ngeiul.

melechang

, v.t.

put (into particular position); take (to particular place).
melechang a lochang; ngmai el mechei; loiang, lechengel.

mong

, v.i.

go (in a direction not towards either the speaker or listener).
mong a merael mo cheroid; skuul a ngar a mong.

Bong!

v.imp.

Go! Go ahead!.

bocha
/bochang

v.inch.hypo.

may become.

bochung
/bochu

v.hypothetical

is about to go.

bong

v.hypothetical

mlong

v.past

went.
mlong a mla mong; mlo er a skuul.

mochang
/mocha

v.inch.

is beginning to arrive; is just arriving.
mochang a omerolel el mong; locha mochang.

mochung
/mochu

v.pred.

is about to go.
mochung a kmeed el mong; ke mochung? ak mochung.

el mo

expr.

until.

el mo el mong

expr.

(do something) in a continuous fashion; go on or keep on (doing something).

ng mochu er ngii

expr.

there is about to be.

nguu el mong

expr.

take.

Examples:

Ng mo ua kerrekar el mla medul er a ngau a rechelel, me a bngal a mosebek er a eolt el mo cheroid.

> They will be like trees whose branches are burned by fire, whose blossoms are blown away by the wind.

Bo mrei!

> Go home!

Tia el babier a mloiuid el mo tekoi er a Doisu.

> This letter got translated into German.

Te ngar er tiang el mo tela el klok?

> Until what time will they be here?

Ng dirk mellomes e ng sokol el mo bad.

> It is still light out but he feels like going to sleep.

Proverbs:

Ng kora osechel a mengur, el di ngar er a milkolk el mo er a milkolk.

> Like coconut water, passing from darkness to darkness.

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 ebedel a Mengellakl el di mochu meleketek.

> Like the clouds of Mengellakl that just pile up

High points like Mengellakl in Palau sometimes create clouds as the moisture-laden air is lifted by the wind to higher cooler altitudes. This saying applies to a situation or a fad that spreads; drinking to excess.

Metkul a bkul a Ngirair, e klou el Belau el mo er a Ngerechelong.

> From the Metkul boundary point at Ngirair, Palau is yet huge up to Ngerechelong.

This saying is given two meanings, both negative, pertaining to the people of northern Palau and to Ngaraard particularly: (i) the people of northern Palau are so provincial that they still think Palau is a huge country; (2) the people of northern Palau are the biggest liars (a play on "to deceive," which sounds like Belau [Palau] ). The idiom may be shortened to "Men of the point" (Chad ra bkul), referring to a point of land at Ngirair marking the boundary of Ngaraard. Or the act of patting the elbow (bkul) may carry the same meaning. Actually, the idiom is of fairly recent vintage, pertaining in part to resistance on the part of some of the people of northern Palau to administrative programs instituted by the Japanese.

Ng ko er a chad er a Ngerechelong, el di bita el mo dechor er a debsel a lei.

> Like the people of Ngerechelong, standing together on the base of the coconut tree.

The mound or hump that forms at the base of the coconut tree is said to represent the highest ranking village clan. The leader of that clan is spoken of as "standing on the mound." In the idiom, it is suggested that the people of Ngerechelong (northern Palau) would all like to be leaders-all standing on the mound at the same time. The idiom may be applied where too many people try to direct an operation; too many leaders.

More Examples:

A mechas er a ureram a mo merek el oureor. Aki oba el mo omengur.

> Lady at work is retiring. We are taking her out for lunch.

Ak mo melobech a llel a tuu el mo koeas.

> I'm going to cut down banana leaves for compost.

Ng sebechem el mo er a Ikelesia el obengkemam er a Sandei?

> Can you go to Church with us on Sunday?

Aike el blil a sobdringk a sebeched el mo oterau.

> We can sell the soda cans.

soak el mo er a Siabal

>

Palauan Language Online: Palauan-English Dictionary

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