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The linker gives the language of Filipino, or Tagalog, the official language of the Philippines, a distinctive feature. Tagalog linker is a grammatical term that describe the suffix -ng for all modifiers.
When any noun, adjective, or even number modifies the following noun in Filipino, the linker must be added to the modifiers. Any modifiers mean any -- including numbers "isang long-range Taepodong-2" (isa=one, one long-range Taepodong-2), or adjectives "Hilagang Korea" (Hilaga=North, North Korea). Even interrogative words such as "anong oras" (ano=what, what time) uses the linker to modify the following noun.
The closest notion of the linker must be the Japanese -no suffix or English "of". The difference is, that in any of the above cases in English, do not use any "linker" -- one long-range Taepodong-2, North Korea, what time.
The following applet shows the linker rules when added to Filipino words. When added to a word that ends with a vowel, the suffix -ng is added. When the word ends with "n", only -g is added. When the word ends with a consonant other than "n", instead of -ng suffix, the word "na" is placed between the modifier and the following word.
Usage: Select any words in the drop-down list, or type in a word in the box and press enter. The word together with a linker will be shown below.