Palauan Language Online: Palauan-English Dictionary

bebil

, n.

a little; a few; some; other.
bebil a sesei; bebil er a kall, bebil er a udoud.

elechang
/chelechang
/elecha
/chelecha

, n.

now; just now; today; these days.
elechang a chelecha el sils; elecha el dekasoues; chelecha el taem; chelecha el de katekoi.

kldeb

, n.

shortness (esp. compared with someone/something else).
kldeb a kldebengel; kedeb.

mekemad

, n.

war.
mekemad a klakoad er a delongelel a beluu me a beluu.

mengaisisiu

, v.t.redup.

equal the height of; become as tall as; compare to; pretend as if.

merekui

, v.t.

finish (completely; entirely); consume; accomplish.
merekui a mochu merek; merekui er a urrereel a blai; kmedu el mo merek.

oleached

, v.t.

rush (against time, tide, deadline, etc.).
oleached a orreched; oeached el melekoi, oleached er a dolech, oechedii, oechedel.

se
/sei
/isei

, pro.

that object far from speaker and far from listener.
sei a melutk er a cheroid er a mengedecheduch; ngar sei; diak el tiang; sei er a mong a skuul.

se el

conj.

when (in the future); whenever.

se el sekum

conj.

if (used in negative sentences).

sel

cont.

se el

er se er a

expr.

when (in the past).

er se er a Sebadong

expr.

last Saturday.

er se er a taem er a mekemad

expr.

during the war.

er sei

expr.

over there; in that place.

mekera isei

expr.

[used to refer to a method of doing something that the speaker has forgotten.]

ngera isei

expr.

thingamajig; thingamabob; whatchamacallit. [used to refer to something whose name the speaker has forgotten.]

se di kau

expr.

it's up to you.

se el soam

expr.

whatever you want; it's up to you.

se el tebel

expr.

that table (over there).

se er a

expr.

conj. when (in the past).

tela isei

expr.

[used to refer to a number that the speaker has forgotten.]

tia isei

expr.

what's-his-name; what's-her-name. [Used to refer to someone whose name the speaker has forgotten.]

Examples:

A bilis a oteb er sei.

> The dog is barking there.

Se er a kbo er a Merikel, e ak kilie er a blil a Toki.

> When I went to America, I lived at Toki's place.

Ak mo olengull se el kbo kmechas.

> I'm going to take it easy when I'm an old woman.

Se el blai a meteet er a chemachel.

> That family is well-known to have resources in betel nut.

Se el lebekiis, e te mo er a chei.

> When they get up, they go fishing.

Proverbs:

Se el obutek a medak.

> When my eyes are closed.

When one dies the eyes are "closed"; hence, to be dead. The term for "death" is mad as is the term for "eye," (mad; madak: "my eye"). Some sources suggest that the term for death refers to the closed eyes of a dead person.

More Examples:

Alii! Kom kerkikl se el bo moumenged me ng diak mtemall a ochaieo e ng mekull.

> Dont mess with the spotted eagle ray when you go fishing as they are sacred.

Ng locha ngar er ngii a chisil a cheluch er se el isiobing.

> There might be a few drops of oil in the bottle.

Uukel, mera el medecheduch el mengib er se el sengchel.

> Wow, she's so good breaking it down with them hips.

Ak milruul a udong er se er a sueleb.

> I made udon soup for lunch.

Techa isei ngka el merredel er a Aleks?

> Who's Alex's boss again?

Siabal

, n., [From English]

Japan.
Siabal a beluu er a Asia.

taem

, n., [From English]

time; occasion.

tedeb

, v.s.

short.
tedeb a di kedeb; di mle tedeb el delengchokl e ng merael.

tedeb el taem	expr.	a short while.
See also:

telkib

, v.s.

a little; a bit; part of piece of.
telkib a diak le klou; kekerei; telkib el kall.

di telkib

expr.

only a little; just a bit.

el telkib

expr.

for a while.

telkib a bebetok

expr.

a shade too much.

telkib el betok

expr.

a bit too much.

telkib el kekesai

expr.

just barely not enough.

telkib el kesai

expr.

not enough.

telkib el taem

expr.

a short while; a short time.

telkib er a Ngiual

expr.

part of the village of Ngiual.

telkib er a kall

expr.

part of the food.

telkib er a lius

expr.

small piece of coconut.

See also: ,

Examples:

Ng ko er a mlo telkib el suebek a rengmam.

> We sort of became a little bit worried.

A di kkilungii a renguk el telkib el meketeket e ng ultebechel el ngar er ngii a mo ungil el kudesuii.

> Whenever I was just patient and waited for a little while, I was certain to have a good idea.

Ak di telkib el smecher.

> I'm a bit sick.

A telkib er a kerrekar a kultaut er ngii.

> Some of the wood I burned up.

A telkib er a kerrekar a mla motaut.

> Some of the wood has been burned up.

Proverbs:

Ng ko er a Beachedarsai el di telkib, e diak bo lak

> Like Beachedarsai's food, only a little but it does not disappear.

Beachedarsai and a friend, one day, went to heaven. On arrival they were very hungry, so they visited one of the gods who provided food for them. The "food" was one tiny piece of taro and a bit of fish. Beachedarsai thought to himself that this would hardly suffice, but he picked up the taro and ate it. As he did so another piece appeared on the plate. He ate the piece of fish and another piece of fish appeared. His friend also ate and on his plate as well a new piece of taro or fish appeared as each was consumed. When they were satisfied, there remained on their plates a piece of taro and fish. The idiom is applied to any small blessing, such as a small but steady income, or Western meals that, in contrast with the Palauan tray full of food, are served in small portions, and so on.

More Examples:

Ak locha di telkib e te odikak.

> Pretty soon they'll disown me.

Ng mlo telkib el ngesonges a ududek me ng dimlak kucherar a chemelek el dekool.

> My budget was low, I could not buy cigarettes.

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 telkib el mechad a dingak.

> Im a bit hard of hearing.

Ak mo telkib el meoud el me remei er a klukuk. Ng kmal betok a urerek.

> I'm going to be a little late tomorrow. I have a lot of work.

oechedii	v.pf.3s	oechedii a oleached er ngii; orreched er ngii.
ulechedii	v.pf.3s.past
oeached	v.pf.3p.inan.	oeached a oleached, okiuechei el meruul, melekoi; oechedii, orreched; oechedel a dolech.
uleached	v.pf.3p.inan.past
moeached	v.erg.	moeached a uleached; orreched el meruul; chad a mla okiuechei el ngmai; oleached el souchii a buuch; oechedel
oechedall	v.a.s.	is to be rushed against. oechedall a kirel el moeached; omech; orreched; orechudel; oechedii, oechedall a dolech, oechedel.
uleached	v.r.s.	uleached a mla moeached; okiu a uchei er ngii; ulerreched el melai; mlengaidesachel; oleached er a dolech, oechedii; oechedel a dolech.
uliached	v.r.s.	rushed against.
oleached er a chull	expr.	rush to do something before it begins to rain.
oleached er a dolech	expr.	beat the low tide; reach one's destination just before low tide.
oleached er a sils	expr.	beat the heat; do something while sun is still out.
oleached er a taem	expr.	beat deadline.
See also:

Palauan Language Online: Palauan-English Dictionary

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