mang-/mam-/man-

In Cebuano, prefixes ending in -ng—specifically the Actor Focus prefixes mang- (future/infinitive) and nang- (past/completed and progressive aspects; nang- is the standard prefix for both past and progressive actions, though nagapang- or nagpang- are also sometimes used), along with pang- (command, instrument noun, gerund/verbal noun like pagpamalit, occupational/habitual noun like pangisda, or adjectives meaning 'intended for' like pang-adlaw or pang-kasal)—undergo morphophonemic changes based on the first letter of the root word. The mang- prefix (and its assimilated forms) has four primary functions: 1) To indicate a plural actor (e.g., mokaon becomes mangaon for multiple eaters, as in the common invitation 'Mangaon ta!'), 2) To indicate a distributive or habitual action involving multiple objects or a dedicated task, even for a singular actor (e.g., mopalit becomes mamalit for shopping around), 3) To attach to nouns to mean 'to gather, hunt, or collect' that noun (e.g., kahoy becomes mangahoy for gathering wood; isda becomes mangisda for fishing), and 4) To indicate actions applied to one's own body or grooming (e.g., hilam-os becomes manghilam-os for washing one's face; hunaw becomes manghunaw for washing hands; sudlay becomes manudlay for combing hair). This process, called nasal assimilation, follows these rules:

• P, B (Labials): The 'ng' becomes 'm' and the root consonant usually drops, though the root consonant is sometimes kept in certain dialects/words.
  Example: mang- + palit → mamalit (to buy); pang- + palit → pamalit (shopping/buying)
• T, S, D (Dentals/Alveolars): The 'ng' becomes 'n' and the root consonant usually drops.
  Example: mang- + tawag → manawag (to call); mang- + dakop → manakop (to catch)
• K (Velar): The 'ng' stays 'ng' but the 'k' usually drops.
  Example: mang- + kaon → mangaon (to eat); nang- + kaon → nangaon (ate)
• L: The 'ng' frequently assimilates to 'n', or remains 'mang-', but the root consonant 'L' never drops.
  Example: mang- + laba → manlaba or manglaba (to wash clothes)
• G, H, W, Y, R, M, N, NG: No change occurs; the prefix remains 'mang-'.
  Example: mang- + hatag → manghatag (to give out)
• Vowels: No change occurs to the prefix, but the hard glottal stop that usually precedes a starting vowel is dropped. Because the glottal stop drops, the 'ng' links directly to the vowel to form a new syllable, allowing the pronunciation to flow smoothly. In writing, a hyphen is sometimes added to separate the 'ng' from the vowel to prevent mispronunciation (e.g., pang-adlaw), though it is often dropped in highly common words (e.g., mangisda).
  Example: mang- + asawa → mangasawa (pronounced smoothly as ma-nga-sa-wa, to court/marry)
• Foreign Loanwords: Words borrowed from other languages (like English) generally do not assimilate. The prefix remains 'mang-' and the root is kept intact, often separated by a hyphen in writing. Words starting with C, Q, Ch, or J either take a hyphen or assimilate based on their phonetic sound (e.g., a hard C acts like K).
  Example: mang- + snatch → mang-snatch (to snatch); mang- + judge → mang-judge (to judge)

Occupational Nouns: In Cebuano, reduplicating the assimilated nasal syllable creates an occupational noun, not a progressive verb. For example, from palit (buy), the distributive verb is mamalit, and the noun is mamamalit (buyer). Progressive actions use prefixes like naga-, nag-, or nang- with the assimilated root (e.g., namalit or nangumpra for 'was buying').