Palauan Language Online: Palauan-English Dictionary

rubak

, n.

elder; old man; chief; foreign man; boyfriend; husband.

rubak

a

chuodel

el

sechal;

telechull

a

kebekuul

a

rubak;

ngeasek

e

telechull

a

dui

a

rubak.

bai
/abai

,

/uploads/pics/2979.jpg, n.

village meeting house; guest house; community house.

bai

a

ongdboll;

tbiil

a

llach

er

ngii;

bai

er

a

klobak;

a

bai

a

ongdboll

er

a

beluu,

orekuul,

blil

a

kldibel,

bailbeluu;

bai

er

a

remeau;

oremuul,

bai

er

a

rengeasek,

merael

a

kakerous

el

omeruul

er

a

chelsel

a

ngellakel

me

a

sius,

me

a

klautok

me

a

ngloik

er

a

chesel.

bil

n.poss.3s

bai er a rubak

expr.

bai for old men only.

kebtot el bai

expr.

twin bai; two bais adjacent to each other.

See also:

BAIBELUU

Examples:

Bai

molesei

el

ekong.

> Move a little away (from me).

Ng

bai

soak

a

kohi

er

a

tii.

> I like coffee more than tea.

A

eolt

a

bai

iliit

er

a

Belau.

> The storm missed Palau.

Kede

bai

mo

odngelii

er

a

kebesengei?

> Shall we visit her tonight?

Proverbs:

Ngalek

a

bai.

> Child of the clubhouse.

In former times, when Palauan women would sometimes serve as companions to the men of clubs in villages other than their own, a woman occasionally became pregnant. While pregnancy during this service, or as a result of it, was considered bad form, a child so conceived was not considered "illegitimate" but was differentiated in degree by this idiom.

Ng

ko

er

a

ngklel

a

bai

er

a

Chol:

a

Medederiik

> Like the name of the bai at Chol: "Empty."

A bai in the northern community of Chol is (or once was) called Medederiik, meaning "deserted" or "empty." The idiom may apply to a person without possessions, a poor man.

Ke

ko

er

a

bisech

er

a

bai

el

dechor

er

a

rebai

e

diak

dousbech

er

ngii.

> You're like the bisech plant in the backyard which has no purpose.

A person who isn't trusted so he/she is not needed.

Ng

ko

er

a

ngklel

a

bai

er

a

Ngerekabesang:

a

Telkakl

> Like the name of the community house at Ngerekabesang: "Buttressed."

At Ngerekabesang in Koror (central Palau) there is a community house (bai) called Telkakl, which means "to buttress" or "to be buttressed." Some of the older bai in Palau were thus supported with beams from the ground to the eaves, and the implication has been added that a bai so supported must be very full of important possessions. This idiom is used of a person who is wealthy, or of one's self, meaning that one has cash on hand.

More Examples:

Dimlak

kisterir

er

a

chelsel

a

bai.

> I didn't see them in the men's club house.

Ng

bai

soak