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Palauan Adjectives

The following is a brief discussion about Palauan adjectives. For a longer exploration, please refer to discussions of state verbs in the Joseph Handbooks. According to the official Lewis Joseph grammar book of Palauan, there are no Palauan parts of speech called adjectives. However, Palauan does, of course, have words used to describe other words. In English, we call these words adjectives. Examples of English adjectives are dangerous, beautiful, and hot.

Palauan Resulting State Verbs

In Palauan, words corresponding to English adjectives are called state verbs. There are several types of Palauan state verbs. The most common are resulting state verbs which occur as a result of a verb. Some examples:

Here is a list of seven random Palauan verbs and their resulting state verbs:

blid, v.r.s.(hair, cord etc.) twisted.
a
mla
a
See also:
cheleokl, v.r.s.having something stuck in throat; (machine) broken.
a
mla
a
er
a
er
a
a
el
a
See also:
rrederad, v.r.s.(flowers, etc.) picked here and there.
a
el
el
a
a
See also:
terrekakl, v.r.s.abused; not taken care of; carelessness.
a
el
el
a
le
er
See also:
ulchetekl, v.r.s.messed up.
See also:
ulkeek, v.r.s.filled up.
See also:

 

Palauan Anticipating State Verbs

Anticipating state verbs in Palauan are like resulting state verbs. However, instead of describing the state of something after a verb has modified it, these describe the state of something before a verb is anticipated to modify it. Here's seven random Anticipating State Verbs:

doechel, v.a.s.is to be cut or wounded.
See also:
iuekill, v.a.s.is to be surrounded by.
a
el
a
er
a
See also:
kloaol, v.a.s.is to be grabbed at and squeezed or kneaded; (taro patch) is to be prepared.
See also:
ltukel, v.a.s.(someone) is to be remembered (because he will be a titled person).
a
a
a
el
a
a
el
el
a
See also:
osisechekill, v.a.s.is to be taught, instructed, trained.
a
el
a
el
a
See also:
tebteball, v.a.s.is to be broken up in small pieces.
See also:
tingechall, v.a.s.is to be scraped (taro etc.).
a
a
a
See also:

 

State Verbs with Related Nouns

In English, a common thing to do is to ask 'how XXXX is something,' where XXXX is an adjective. For example, 'how hot is that,' or 'how dangerous is that,' are common English expressions.

This is true in Palauan as well in a form like, 'ng uangarang a kleldelel,' which translates literally perhaps to something like, 'it is like what, its heat,' or figuratively as, 'how hot is it.' The word kleldelel is a possessed noun meaning 'its heat.' See the nouns page for a longer explanation of possessed nouns.

Many of these Palauan nouns have related state verbs which translate to, and are used as, English adjectives. Here is a list of seven random Palauan nouns along with their corresponding state verbs.

Palauan_NounEngish_NounPalauan_AdjEnglish_Adj
burachedskin disease in which white spots spread over body.burachedhaving skin covered with white spots.
chelechedsmall sea crab.chelechedsmall sea crab.
diablongdevil.diablongdevil.
ongitact of asking for something.bekongitalways asking for things.
mechasold woman; titled woman; foreign woman; male's father's sisters; girlfriend; wife.mechascoconut at later stage (between medecheduch and metau) when shell blackens and husk turns yellowish brown.
H.O.(abbrev.) Babeldaob (used pejoratively).H.O.(abbrev.) Babeldaob (used pejoratively).
riklbold/violent behavior.meriklbold; violent; restless.

Reng Idioms as Adjectives

There are many Palauan expressions which use a state verb to describe the Palauan word reng which means spirit or heart. These are idioms which mean their literal and figurative meanings are not the same. Typically, but not always, the figurative meaning describes an emotion. An example is kesib a reng, which literally means a sweaty heart but figuratively it means to be angry. Here is a list of seven random examples of these reng idioms:

PalauanEnglish
dmeu
a
: Palauan of dmeu a rengul'>
a
happy; glad; joyful; appreciative.
medemedemek
a
: Palauan of medemedemek a rengul '>
a
kind; generous.
mengesib
er
a
: Palauan of mengesib er a rengul '>
er
a
get someone angry.
bekokuii
a
: Palauan of bekokuii a rengul'>
a
kind; generous.
ngmasech
a
: Palauan of ngmasech a rengul'>
a
get angry.
blekebek
a
: Palauan of blekebek a rengul'>
a
pleasant/nice (in personality); congenial.
olsiich
er
a
: Palauan of olsiich er a rengul'>
er
a
take pleasure in someone else's pain, difficulties, problems, etc.


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