Roots and Affixes

You will find in Tagalog that you can understand the meaning of a particular word based on its root. This root is what carries the core meaning of the word. Roots can be used by themselves in Tagalog, but affixes cannot. Affixes can be added to a root word to form different meanings or functions to the root as below:

Root: Araw

Maaraw – Sunny

Tag-araw – Summer

Kaarawan – Birthday

Umaraw – to shine (sun)