@jkos Tag^a means to cut deeply., and it implies to use a very sharp heavy cutting implement to make the item into two pieces. Saying "taga sa leeg" is more correctly translated "a grievous or mortal blow or cut to the neck, implying death is imminent" It's as if saying the chop to the neck is fatal. If one wants to say there is a cut on the neck, it's "may sugat sa leeg" (a non fatal cut on the neck). Literally, there's a neck wound. Taga implies a severe cutting stroke.
An idiomatic meaning of taga is to be overcharged (by a seller). Tinaga ka nung tindera = The female vendor overcharged you.
Now there is a form of taga- which is pronounced differently, unrelated, and it means "from
". Taga-Bulacan = from Bulacan. Taga-bundok = from the mountains.