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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:

chelebis, v.r.s.mashed; crushed.
a
mla
a
a
See also:
derrau, v.r.s.(fish) caught with a hand net.
a
a
el
el
el
.
See also:
klekas, v.r.s.scratched (because itchy).
a
mla
a
el
a
See also:
selenges, v.r.s.(coconut tree) tapped for sap.
a
mla
a
See also:
selloakl, v.r.s.grabbed at and shaken or stirred.
a
mla
mla
er
a
el
el
a
See also:
telebiall, v.r.s.gestured to with raised eyebrows.
a
mla
a
a
See also:
ulteremed, v.r.s.pressed down; crushed.
a
mla
el
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:

btengetall, v.a.s.is to be sanded, smoothed or polished.
a
el
a
a
a
See also:
chesuchall, v.a.s.is to be given tortoise shell money.
a
el
a
msa
See also:
cholodall, v.a.s.is to be comforted or consoled.
a
el
See also:
osisechekill, v.a.s.is to be taught, instructed, trained.
a
el
a
el
a
See also:
techeball, v.a.s.is to be removed/scraped up/cut out/uprooted.
a
el
a
er
a
a
el
er
a
See also:
tngekill, v.a.s.is to be appeased or consoled
a
el
el
a
a
See also:
uksecherall, v.a.s.is to be made sick.
a
el
el
a
me
a
le
ng
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
rubakelder; old man; chief; foreign man; boyfriend; husband.rubakelder; old man; chief; foreign man; boyfriend; husband.
chelechedsmall sea crab.chelechedarea of shallow water (usually exposed at low tide and good for fishing).
chetaubrief rain squall.chetau (skin) dark.
silssun; day.bekesils(boys) smell sweaty or gamey (after perspiring in sun).
bisechwild taro (makes mouth itchy).bisech(person) easily aroused sexually.
kikoisea clam.merikikoiwavy; bulging in places.
cheludechwooden float for fish net; light weight wood used to make corks.cheludechwooden float for fish net; light weight wood used to make corks.

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
telirem
a
: Palauan of telirem a rengul'>
a
feelings hurt.
medul
a
: Palauan of medul a rengul'>
a
disgusted with.
blekebek
a
: Palauan of blekebek a rengul'>
a
pleasant/nice (in personality); congenial.
meduch
a
: Palauan of meduch a rengul'>
a
hard-working; conscientious; strong-willed; persevering.
mederdirk
a
: Palauan of mederdirk a rengul'>
a
feel scorn for.
becheremremangel
a
: Palauan of becheremremangel a rengul'>
a
greedy; stingy.
keremerem
a
: Palauan of keremerem a rengul'>
a
stupid; ignorant.


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