Abstract
The Sama have proven over and over again difficult to classify. Non-Sama have called them Badjaw, Samal, and Siyamal. Some Sama have refused to identify with the name Sama and call themselves only by the name of their places of origin. Others have found benefit to identify with the names given them by outsiders. Others have blended in with the Tausug people. As the Sama people have spread across the Philippines and Malaysia, Sama groups may experience reduced contact with other once neighboring or intermingled Sama groups. This paper gives practical though imperfect litmus test examinations that are of use to a cultural observer or those of Sama heritage in identifying which language and dialect of Sinama a conversant or text is written in. The paper focuses on giving meaning to four Sama-Badjaw language classifications and identifying surface level differences that exist among these languages as well as helping to pinpoint various dialects and under which language classification they fit best. The four languages are Northern, Central, Western, and Southern Sinama. Differences in vowel sounds, pronoun usage, language affixation and vocabulary are used to identify language category as well as give insight into what dialect of a language is being spoken. The paper is intentionally abbreviated and simplified in order to make it possible for non-linguists and even those with very simple knowledge of Sinama to make use of its findings. Keywords: Sama, Sinama languages, Sinama dialects
Highlights
The Sama have proven over and over again difficult to classify
In Davao the worker is more likely to think Babuꞌ comes from Samal island than to know this name for her people
Even though the local government has done much to help the Sama Dilaut get access to free healthcare, Babuꞌ is too proud to allow herself to be identified as Badjao
Summary
The Sama have proven over and over again difficult to classify. Non-Sama have called them Badjaw, Samal, and Siyamal. What this Sama Dilaut leader, this Laminusa boy, and this Babuꞌ from Silompak do not realize is that all of their languages are classified linguistically as Central Sinama. This can cause confusion with the linguistic classifications since the dialects of the Sama from Siasi, as well as a few of the islands from the northern part of Tawi-Tawi are not themselves Sama Dilaut, but their dialects are classified as Central Sinama along with the Sama Dilaut. In the Filipino concept of the word Badjaw, all of the Sama who belong in this classification are a dialect within the language Central Sinama.
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