Word List: Affixes
| -al | , suffix | his; her; its; their. |
| -ang | , suffix | him; her; it. |
| -ed | , suffix | our (including you). |
| -ei | , suffix | used in terms of address such as chedei, ngelekei, merrengei, ochellei. |
| -emam | , suffix | our (excluding your). |
| -emam | , suffix | us (excluding you). |
| -emiu | , suffix | you (plural). |
| -id | , suffix | our (including your). |
| -id | , suffix | us (including you). |
| -il | , suffix | his; her; its; their (non-human). |
| -im | , suffix | your (singular). |
| -ir | , suffix | their (human). |
| -iu | , suffix | your (plural). |
| -kid | , suffix | us (including you). |
| -mam | , suffix | our (excluding your). |
| -miu | , suffix | your (plural). |
| -ud | , suffix | our (including your). |
| -ul | , suffix | his; her; its; their. |
do- /du- | , prefix | we (including you). |
i-
| , prefix | used to add emphasis to a pronoun (e.g. ikid, ise, itia). |
ki- /kimo- /kimu- | , prefix | we (excluding you) (second person plural exclusive affix).
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| me- | , prefix | used to modify a state verb to indicate that it is describing more than one thing. |
mo- /m- /cho- /chome- /chomo- /chomu- /mu- | , prefix | you. |
Examples: |
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> The school faces in the direction of M-Dock. |
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| o- | , prefix | used to convert a verb into an action noun. |
| ou- | , prefix | used to signify owning, possessing, or using something. |
re- /r- | , prefix | used to indicate a plurality of people.
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| rechad | n. | people. |
| rekebil | n.pl. | girls. |
remo /remong | n.plural | those people going (somewhere). |
| resensei | n. | teachers. |
| rebetok el chad | expr. | many people. |
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See also:
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Examples: |
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> People tend to start arriving at one o'clock. |
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> The hospital patients are sick people. |
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> The minimum wage in Palau should go up. |
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> There are eight people in my family. |
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> The attorneys will attempt at a settlement to avoid trial. |
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Proverbs: |
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> Narrow was our birth as humans. The saying defines life as a confined, perilous journey, symbolized by the painful narrowness of the birth canal. Generally applied to the trials of life, or sometimes by a parent to a child that does not want to do his chores. |
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> The mountains of Koror are people. Several interpretations are given for this idiom: (i) Koror doesn't have mountains as high as other districts to the north, but the people are as high (elite) as mountains. (2) Others lay claim to the height of the mountains near their village, in Koror the people make the villages great. (3) A group of warriors from a northern village set out to raid Koror, but, as they approached the islands on which the hamlets of Koror are situated, they saw mountain after mountain fading away into the distance; dispairing any success against such a great nation, the raiders turned home. Actually, the mountains that they saw rugged, raised limestone islands-are nearly uninhabited, with Koror's population concentrated on islands of clay and volcanic origin along the northern fringe of the group. |
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More Examples: |
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> People who need medical care go to the hospital. |
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> The Chinese ship finally sailed out last month. |
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> About dolphins, we know that they can help humans when humans get into trouble. |
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> Jehovah's witnesses carry umbrellas. |
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> I think people in Airai should make toll booths at the airport and collect fees. |
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| rechi- | , prefix | used to indicate a group of people from a particular country or of a particular ethnicity. |