dui, n.title (for village chief or family head).
dui
a
a
a
a
er
a
a
kuk
a
oba
diakn.poss.1s
diamn.poss.2s
dialn.poss.3s
a
dui
el
a
er
ng
el
a
dimamn.poss.1pe
diadn.poss.1pi
dimiun.poss.2p
dirirn.poss.3p
meluchel er a duiexpr.hold title.
Examples:
> Don't go fishing because you'll get sicker (than you are now).
> He just likes to chew (betel nut) and doesn't do any work.
> Studying math isn't something Droteo is suited for.
> What is it that makes you stay away from home so much?
> Don't return until you've found her.
Proverbs:
> An ukall tree won't become a titimel tree.
i.e., a child will resemble its father; human nature will not change. The ukall, a lumber tree, resembles the titimel, a fruit bearing tree, at least to the extent that both are trees and become quite large. Both have assets but are quite different. The idiom is applied in the sense that a child resembles its father and will become what its father was. It may also be used to mean "human nature can't be changed."
> If it is my lunch it can be divided, if it is yours then it cannot
Two men habitually trapped fish in the same region of the lagoon. One would occasionally ask the other to join him at lunch, the other would always refuse. One day the man who refused arrived with no lunch. When the usual invitation was extended the man refused, saying that, anyway, he had no lunch. The invitation was insistently pressed until the reluctant one gave in. As they split the taro between them the one who shared made the above statement. The idiom is a mild rebuke of a retentive person
> Like lightning, a big, unnecessary noise.
Lightning rarely strikes in such a way as to cause serious damage in Palau. May be applied to any unnecessary fuss or oratory at a meeting.
> Like the insects which stays at ashes of fire but doesn't burn.
You're near a situation which needs immediate attention but you don't lend a hand.
> He's like Chelebesoi of Ngeriil, dead in a fishtrap not his own.
A man named Chelebesoi (also the name of a fish) was robbing another man's fish trap when a head-hunting party came by and removed his head. He lost both his head and his reputation. The idiom may apply to one who gets hurt while trying to do someone else's job.
More Examples:
> What was said this morning will stay as is until we resume tomorrow.
> No, you can't borrow by book.
> This Ulang just makes a mess and doesn't help clean up.
> It won't rain. It's just cloudy today.
> Shall we go pick some clams?

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