ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE IPA Central Sama A. Kemp Pallesen Hamilton, New Zealand kemp.pallesen@slingshot.co.nz Craig Soderberg Boston, MA, USA craigggg@gmail.com Central Sama (ISO code sml) is spoken in the Philippines throughout the Sulu Archipelago and the Sibuguey Gulf to the north, and in many scattered communities as far north as Manila Bay. In Sabah, Malaysia, it is spoken primarily in the districts of Semporna and Kunak. For more information regarding the classification of this language within Austronesian, see Gordon (2005). ‘Central’ is not an indigenous label for the language; it simply reflects the central position of the language relative to other members of the Sama-Bajaw subgroup. Most native speakers of the language identify themselves as Sama, and the language they speak as Sinama. They are also known by numerous other names, a fact that has given rise to some confusion both in regard to identity and demographic information. Among these names are: Sama Dilaut (meaning ‘ocean-going Sama’, some semi-nomadic); Sama Pala’u (meaning ‘boat-based Sama’, semi-nomadic); Sama Jengen (meaning ‘house-boat Sama’), found in the Bongao district of the Philippines; Sama Lipid (meaning ‘land-based Sama’), a culturally distinct group of Central Sama speakers found in the Siasi municipality of the Philippines; Sama Pagung and Sama Paosol (meaning ‘floating Sama’ and ‘house-building Sama’, respectively); Badjaw (a sometimes pejorative exonym in the Philippines for migrant Sama Dilaut, but a more positive one for Central Sama speakers in Sabah, Malaysia). In addition, many Central Sama, though few of them own or live on land, choose – like other Sama – to identify themselves by a place name. For example, Sama Siasi, Sama Sitangkai, Sama Kabingaˈan, Sama Ubian, and Sama Olutangga. In Sabah, Malaysia, in addition to the names above, these people are known as Bajau Laut, Sama Laut, Sama Mandelaut, and Bajau Pela’u. English terms used to refer to this people group include both Sea Bajau and Sea Gypsies. 1 In the year 2000, population estimate for the Central Sama in Sabah was 15,000 (Soderberg forthcoming). Gordon (2005) estimates the population of Central Sama in the Philippines to be 90,000. The ‘North Wind and the Sun’ text was translated and read by Ruth Biral, an unmarried female speaker of Central Sama, 29 years of age at the time of the recording. Ms Biral was born and raised in Siasi, a municipality of Sulu Province in the Philippines. Both her parents are Central Sama. Besides her native Sama, Ms Biral also speaks English, and the Philippine languages Cebuano, Tagalog, Tausug, and Ilonggo. 1 Some of these designations are from Dunn (1980: 24). Journal of the International Phonetic Association (2012) 42/3 C  International Phonetic Association doi:10.1017/S0025100312000229