Tagalog Sound Changes when Combining Roots and Affixes

In some cases, a sound change occurs when a root and an affix are combined. Such changes are reflected in the spelling. Examples:

sound change	root	affix	root + affix
from /d/ to /r/	dunong knowledge tawid crossing	ma- -in	marunong to know how tawirin to cross
from /o/ to /u/	putol cut off	-in	putulin to cut off
from /ng/ to /n/*	dikit sticking luto’ cooking	pang-	pandikit paste, glue panluto’ cooking utensil
from /ng/ to /m/**	bansa’ nation pito seven	pang-	pambansa’ national pampito seventh

sound change	from /d/ to /r/
root	dunong knowledge tawid crossing
affix	ma- -in
root + affix	marunong to know how tawirin to cross

sound change	from /o/ to /u/
root	putol cut off
affix	-in
root + affix	putulin to cut off

sound change	from /ng/ to /n/*
root	dikit sticking luto’ cooking
affix	pang-
root + affix	pandikit paste, glue panluto’ cooking utensil

sound change	from /ng/ to /m/**
root	bansa’ nation pito seven
affix	pang-
root + affix	pambansa’ national pampito seventh

* usually before d, l, r, s, t, and sometimes before n
** usually before b, p, and sometimes before m

In some cases, the final vowel or the first consonant of the root disappears. Examples:

root	affix	root + affix
takip cover, lid	-an	takpan to cover
sunod next, following	-in	sundin to obey
kuha’ getting	mang-	manguha’ to collect or gather

root

affix

root + affix

takip

cover, lid

-an

takpan

to cover

sunod

next, following

-in

sundin

to obey

kuha’

getting

mang-

manguha’

to collect or gather

root

takip

cover, lid

affix

-an

root + affix

takpan

to cover

root

sunod

next, following

affix

-in

root + affix

sundin

to obey

root

kuha’

getting

affix

mang-

root + affix

manguha’

to collect or gather

In the case of the affixes -in and -an, /h/ or /n/ is added when the root ends in a vowel that is not followed by a glottal stop. Examples:

root	affix	root + affix
kati itch	-in	katihin to feel itchy
talo defeated, beaten	-in	talunin to defeat, to beat
mura cheap	-an	murahan to reduce the price of, to make cheaper
tawa laughter	-an	tawanan to laugh at

root

affix

root + affix

kati

itch

-in

katihin

to feel itchy

talo

defeated, beaten

-in

talunin

to defeat, to beat

mura

cheap

-an

murahan

to reduce the price of, to make cheaper

tawa

laughter

-an

tawanan

to laugh at

root

kati

itch

affix

-in

root + affix

katihin

to feel itchy

root

talo

defeated, beaten

affix

-in

root + affix

talunin

to defeat, to beat

root

mura

cheap

affix

-an

root + affix

murahan

to reduce the price of, to make cheaper

root

tawa

laughter

affix

-an

root + affix

tawanan

to laugh at

Please respect copyright. Learn more

Contents | Detailed Contents | Up ▲

See notes on Terminology and Pronunciation Marks

This grammar guide is part of the Learning Tagalog Course.
Do you want to speak Tagalog fluently?

Try the course