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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:

blekesangch, v.r.s.forced open; pulled apart by force.
a
mla
a
See also:
bleng, v.r.s.covered with hand; stopped up.
a
mla
a
a
See also:
bluut, v.r.s.piled/heaped up.
a
mla
a
See also:
rrumes, v.r.s.poke at; (food) tested.
a
mla
a
See also:
uldidm, v.r.s.spied on; watched for carefully.
a
mla
mla
el
a
See also:
ulimoim, v.r.s.lowered; (boat) moved out to deep water.
a
mla
bab
el
a
a
a
e
el
See also:
ulseked, v.r.s.squeezed in; crowded out.
a
mla
a
a
eru
el
el
le
er
a
a
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:

bechengall, v.a.s.is to be stepped on and crushed.
a
el
er
el
a
See also:
dirkall, v.a.s.is to be looked at in a mirror.
See also:
ldaol, v.a.s.(woman) is to have sexual intercourse.
a
See also:
orikall, v.a.s.is to be chased out, expelled or gotten rid of.
a
el
a
a
See also:
osisall, v.a.s.(money) is to be pawned or pledged; is to be leaned against.
a
el
mo
er
a
a
el
mo
el
See also:
sedomel, v.a.s.is to be propositioned or proposed.
a
See also:
udochall, v.a.s.(sea) is to be beaten with pole; (fruit) is to be knocked down with pole.
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
kerasuschigger.kerasusbitten by chiggers.
kemangetlength (of string, etc.) which exceeds what is needed or expected.kemangetlength (of string, etc.) which exceeds what is needed or expected.
lebfuzz (on leaf) of plant (e.g., sugar cane; grass); plant in coffee family; shyness.meleblebitchy; prickly; covered with fuzz of plant.
chedeadjellyfish; nettle.chedead not knowing where to go.
bausmell; odor; scent.bekebausmell of vagina.
kekeuathlete's foot; tinea.kekeuhaving athlete's foot.
bengtpurple colored sweet potato.bengtpurple colored sweet potato.

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
chelam
a
: Palauan of chelam a rengul'>
a
heartbroken.
rengul
a
: Palauan of rengul a kerrekar'>
a
center/core of tree.
sisiokel
a
: Palauan of sisiokel a rengul'>
a
fastidious; particular.
mengerar
er
a
: Palauan of mengerar er a rengul '>
er
a
criticise; insult; put down; make someone feel ashamed; hurt someone's feelings.
melemed
a
: Palauan of melemed a rengul'>
a
cool down one's anger.
luut
er
a
: Palauan of luut er a rengul'>
er
a
anything causing one to lose one's resolve.
outekangel
er
a
: Palauan of outekangel er a rengul'>
er
a
persevere; force (oneself) to do something.


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