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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:

delengmes, v.r.s.respected; honored.
a
mla
mla
a
mla
e
a
See also:
selab, v.r.s.snapped or pecked at.
a
er
er
a
a
er
a
See also:
selubed, v.r.s.(coconut tree) has cut re-opened to re-initiate sap flow.
a
mla
a
a
See also:
ulengasech, v.r.s.raised; sued; ascended.
a
mla
a
a
See also:
ulengchongch, v.r.s.dropped down from tree; (restriction) removed.
a
mla
el
a
a
a
bul
er
a
See also:
urreteret, v.r.s.(desire) suppressed; pushed into ground.
a
er
mla
mo
mla
me
er
eou
a
a
a
er
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:

bichall, v.a.s.is to be sifted or filtered.
a
el
a
a
See also:
cheterebsall, v.a.s.is to be spun or turned.
a
el
a
See also:
deratel, v.a.s.(taro, etc.) is to be scraped; (cord, etc.) is to be cut through; (relationship) is to be broken off.
a
a
a
a
See also:
dibkaol, v.a.s.is to be tied into knot.
See also:
ngbatel, v.a.s.(clothes; etc.) are to be taken off; is to be pulled out/freed/absolved.
a
el
a
er
a
a
a
a
See also:
ochidall, v.a.s.is to be messed up.
a
el
er
a
a
el
a
er
a
el
See also:
tengetngall, v.a.s.(food) is to be obtained, sought or foraged for.
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
ureorwork; job; task.bekureorwork a lot; hard-working; diligent.
chelechedsmall sea crab.chelechedambidextrous.
chemaiongdragonfly.chemaiong prone to moving from one boyfriend or girlfriend to another.
kikoisea clam.merikikoiwavy; bulging in places.
daktfear; awe.bedektallfearful; shy.
tangtikebikelsee-saw; teeter-totter.tangtikebikel(object) wobbly or in danger of falling over.
dechudechdirt; mud; patching material; filling (for cavity).dechudech dirty; muddy.

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
mekngit
a
: Palauan of mekngit a rengul'>
a
feel sorry/sad about; mean; inconsiderate.
merael
a
: Palauan of merael a rengul'>
a
indecisive.
oltak
er
a
: Palauan of oltak er a rengul'>
er
a
deceive oneself about being someone's sweetheart.
ungil
a
: Palauan of ungil a rengul'>
a
happy; glad; kind.
omud
a
: Palauan of omud a rengul'>
a
fed up with; exasperated; can't stand.
ungil
er
a
: Palauan of ungil er a rengul'>
er
a
fine or all right with.
ngellitel
a
: Palauan of ngellitel a rengul'>
a
choosy.


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