# Monastic sign languages

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Gestural communication used by Christian monks

Monastic Sign Region Europe Native speakers None[1] Language family (sign lexicons) Dialects Anglo-Saxon Augustinian Benedictine Cistercian Language codes ISO 639-3 mzg Linguist List mzg Glottolog mona1241

**Monastic sign languages** have been used in Europe from at least the tenth century by [Christian](/source/Christians) [monks](/source/Monk), and some, such as [Cistercian](/source/Cistercians) and [Trappist](/source/Trappists) sign, are still in use today—not only in [Europe](/source/Europe), but also in [China](/source/China), [Japan](/source/Japan), and the [United States](/source/United_States).[2] Unlike deaf [sign languages](/source/Sign_language), they are better understood as forms of symbolic [gestural](/source/Gesture) communication rather than [languages](/source/Language), and some writers have preferred to describe them as sign [lexicons](/source/Lexicon).[3]

## Uses

The purposes for which these sign lexicons were used were varied. Travelling [Franciscan](/source/Franciscan) [friars](/source/Friars) used [finger alphabets](/source/Fingerspelling), possibly as memory aids for preaching, and in [Benedictine](/source/Order_of_Saint_Benedict) [monasteries](/source/Monastery), signs representing words were used for limited communication when silence was required. Rather than the popularly imagined total "[Vows](/source/Vow) of Silence", the [Rule of St. Benedict](/source/Rule_of_St._Benedict) merely prohibits conversation in certain areas of the monastery during certain hours of the day. The most common time for silence was known as the "Great Silence" which took place at night. It was only much later, in the seventeenth century, that reform movements within the Cistercian and Trappist communities came to see absolute silence as a valuable penance along with other austere, yet voluntary, deprivations.[4]

## Signs

Signs are well documented in medieval Benedictine monasteries of Western Europe, from [Portugal](/source/Portugal) to [England](/source/England). Antique texts present lists of words with accompanying signs, including instructions for sign production. Occasionally they also explain the rationale behind the sign. Signs are mostly [nouns](/source/Noun) relating to monastic life. Foods, articles of clothing, particular rooms and buildings, ritual objects, and different ranks of clerical office dominate the vocabulary. The few signs that act as [verbs](/source/Verb) include "sit", "stand up", "kneel", and "confess".[5] They almost always bear an [iconic](/source/Iconicity) or visually motivated connection to the thing represented by the sign. No grammar is described for these signs, and they were probably used in the [word order](/source/Word_order) of an oral language—either [Latin](/source/Latin) or the local vernacular—and possibly with accompanying gesture such as pointing. Modern Cistercian monks in England or the [United States](/source/United_States) use a syntax derived "heavily, but not exclusively", from English,[6] while Cistercian monks in [France](/source/France) loosely follow the syntax of the [French language](/source/French_language); at least as much as it is possible to do so, given the limited lexicon.[7] Vocabulary lists in the medieval texts ranged from 52 signs to 472, with "the average at 178 and a mean at 145."[8]

The earliest Benedictine sign books date from around 1075 (and again at about 1083) at the [Abbey of Cluny](/source/Abbey_of_Cluny)[9] (in what is now France), and [Hirsau Abbey](/source/Hirsau_Abbey)[10] (in what is now [Germany](/source/Germany)) at around the same time. [Bonaventure](/source/Bonaventure) in the thirteenth century used a finger alphabet,[11] and the medieval *Monasteriales Indicia* describes 127 signs used by Anglo-Saxon Benedictine monks.[12] Signs from a sixteenth century Portuguese monastic sign language have also been documented.[13]

## List

- Benedictine sign language - (Cluny dialect)

- Anglo-Saxon monastic sign language (defunct)

- Augustinian Sign Language = Canons Sign Language (defunct) - Dublin Cathedral (defunct) - Ely Cathedral (defunct) - Paris (defunct)

- Trappist Sign Language

- [Cistercian](/source/Cistercians) Sign Language

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [Monastic sign languages](https://www.ethnologue.com/16/show_language/mzg) at *[Ethnologue](/source/Ethnologue)* (16th ed., 2009)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ***Cistercian** : Barakat, Robert. (1975). *Cistercian sign language: A study in non-verbal communication.* Cistercian Studies Series, 7. Kalamazoo, Michigan: Cistercian Publications. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-87907-811-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-87907-811-1) ***Trappist** : Quay, Suzanne. (2001). *Signs of Silence: Two Examples of Trappist Sign Language in the Far East*. Cîteaux: Commentarii cistercienses, Vol. 52 (3-4), pp. 211-230

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Barley, Nigel F. (1974). *Two Anglo-Saxon sign systems compared.* Semiotica, 12, 227–237. (see pp. 234–35 on this point).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Bragg, Lois (1997). *Visual-Kinetic Communication in Europe Before 1600: A Survey of Sign Lexicons and Finger Alphabets Prior to the Rise of Deaf Education* Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education 2:1 Winter 1997

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Rijnberk, G. van (1954). *Le langage par signes chez le moines.* Amsterdam: North-Holland. p. 12

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Baron, N. S. (1981). *Speech, writing, and sign: A functional view of linguistic representation.* Bloomington: Indiana University Press. p. 238

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Barakat, R. (1975). *Cistercian sign language: A study in non-verbal communication.* Cistercian Studies Series, 11. Kalamazoo, Michigan: Cistercian Publications.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Calculations by Bragg (1997), using data from Rijnberk (1954).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Bernhard of Cluny, *De notitia signorum*, in: Umiker-Sebeok et al., Monastic Sign Languages, Approaches to Semiotics 76 (1987), Amsterdam: Benjamins, 345-4

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** *Constitutions Hirsaugienses.* Book I, ch. 6-25. In J.-P. Migne, (Ed.), Patrologiae: Cusus Completus (Paris, 1844-64), vol. 150, colo. 940-57.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Werner H. (1932). *Geschichte des Taubstummenproblems bis ins 17, Jahrhundert* ("History of the deaf-mute problem in the seventeenth century"). Jena, Germany: Verlag von Gustav Fisher; 1932.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** *Monasteriales Indicia: The Anglo-Saxon Monastic Sign Language*, Edited with notes and translation by [Debby Banham](/source/Debby_Banham). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-9516209-4-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-9516209-4-0).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** Martins, M. (1960). *Livros de sinais dos Cistercienses Portugueses.* Boletim de Filologia, 17, 293-357. 1-27.

## Further reading

- Bruce, Scott G. (2001). "The Origins of Cistercian Sign Language", *Cîteaux: Commentarii cistercienses* 52 (2001): 193–209.

- Bruce, Scott G. (2005). "Monastic Sign Language in the Cluniac Customaries", in *From Dead of Night to End of Day: The Medieval Customs of Cluny / Du cœur de la nuit à la fin du jour : Les coutumes clunisiennes au Moyen-Âge*. Eds. S. Boynton & I. Cochelin (Disciplina monastica 3). Turnhout: Brepols, 2005, pp. 273–286.

- Bruce, Scott G. (2007). *Silence and Sign Language in Medieval Monasticism: The Cluniac Tradition, c. 900-1200*. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.

- Barakat, Robert (1975). *The Cistercian sign language: a study in non-verbal communication*. (Cistercian Study Series; 7) Kalamazoo, Mich.: Cistercian Publications, 1975. Reviewed by [Stokoe, W.](/source/William_Stokoe) (1978) in *Semiotica*, 24 (1975): 181-94

- Barley, Nigel F. (1974). "Two Anglo-Saxon sign systems compared", *Semiotica: journal of the International Association for Semiotic Studies* 12 (1974): 227-37.

- Jarecki, Walter (1981). *Signa loquendi: Die cluniacensischen Signa-Listen eingeleitet und herausgegeben.* Baden-Baden: Koerner.

- Daniels, Marilyn (1997). *Benedictine Roots in the Development of Deaf Education*. Bergin & Garvey. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-89789-500-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-89789-500-2)

- [Kendon, Adam](/source/Adam_Kendon) (1990). "Signs in the cloister and elsewhere", *Semiotica* 79, nos. 3-4 (1990), pp. 307–329

- Nitschke, August (1997). "Sign language and gesture in medieval Europe: Monasteries, courts of justice, and society", in *Nonverbal communication: where nature meets culture*. Eds. Ullica Segerstråle & Peter Molnár. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1997, pp. 263–274.

- Umiker-Sebeok, Jean & Thomas A. Sebeok, eds. (1987). *Monastic sign language*. (Approaches to Semiotics 76). Berlin-NY-Amsterdam: Mouton de Gruyter.

v t e Sign language List of sign languages List by number of signers Language families[a] Sign languages by family Australian Aboriginal (multiple families)[c] Diyari Djingili Eltye eltyarrenke Iltyeme iltyeme Jaralde Kalkutungu Miriwoong Mudburra Pitha Pitha Rdaka rdaka Umpila Far North Queensland Warlmanpa Warluwara Warramunga Worora Kinship Yan-nhaŋu Yir Yoront Yolŋu Western Desert Kartutjarra Manjiljarra Ngaatjatjarra Zendath Kesign Meriam Western Torres Strait Islander Arab (Ishaaric) Egyptian Kuwaiti Libyan Qatari Unified Yemeni Iraqi– Levantine Iraqi Levantine Jordanian Lebanese Palestinian Syrian Possible Emirati Saudi Omani Chinese Sign Chinese (CSL/ZGS) Shanghai Hong Kong (HKSL) Macau Chilean-Paraguayan- Uruguayan Sign Chilean (LSCh) Paraguayan- Uruguayan Sign Paraguay (LSPY) Uruguay (LSU) Francosign Algerian (LSA) Swiss-German (DSGS) Estonian (Eesti viipekeel) Irish (ISL) Australian-Irish Brazilian (Libras) Lithuanian Catalan (LSC) Valencian (LSV) French (LSF) Old French[c] Romanian (LSR) American (ASLic) American (ASL) Black ASL (BASL) Protactile Bolivian Burmese Yangon Mandalay Cambodian Costa Rican Dominican Guyanese Jamaican Malaysian (BIM) Panamanian Filipino (FSL) Puerto Rican (PRSL) Singapore (SgSL) Indonesian (Nusantaric) Indonesian (Bisindo) Jakarta Yogyakarta Francophone African (Françafrosign) Ethiopian Chadian Ghanaian Guinean Bamako (LaSiMa) Moroccan Nigerian Sierra Leonean Mixed, Hand Talk Oneida (OSL) Mixed, Hoailona ʻŌlelo Creole Hawaiʻi Sign Language (CHSL) Mixed, French (LSF) Greek (ΕΝΓ/ENG) Cypriot (ΚΝΓ/KNG) Quebec (LSQ) Austro- Hungarian Czech (ČZJ) Hungarian (Magyar Jelnyev) Austrian (ÖGS) Slovak (SPJ) Ukrainian (УЖМ/USL) Russian Sign Azerbaijani (AİD) Bulgarian (БЖЕ) Georgian Kazakh-Russian (KSL/KRSL) Latvian (LSL) Mongolian Russian (РЖЯ) Yugoslavic Sign Croatian (HZJ) Kosovar Serbian Slovenian Yugoslav (YSL) Dutch Sign Dutch (NGT) Gambian Italian Sign Italian (LIS) Tunisian (TSL) Mexican Sign Mexican (LSM) Honduran (LESHO) Old Belgian Flemish (VGT) French Belgian (LSFB) Danish (Tegnic) Malagasy Icelandic (Táknmál) Norwegian (Tegnspråk) Danish (Tegnsprog) Faroese (Teknmál) Viet-Thai Hai Phong Hanoi Ho Chi Minh Thai (TSL/MSTSL) Hand Talk Great Basin Northeast Plains Sign Talk Southeast Southwest Mixed, American (ASL) Oneida (OSL) Plateau A'aninin Kalispel Ktunaxa (ʾa·qanⱡiⱡⱡitnam) Nesilextcl'n Shuswap (Secwepemcékst) Sqeliz Indo-Pakistani Sign Bangalore-Madras Beluchistan Bengali Bombay Calcutta Delhi Nepali North West Frontier Province Punjab-Sindh Japanese Sign Japanese (JSL/Nihon Shuwa) Korean (KSL/Hanguk Sueo) Taiwanese (TSL/Taiwan Shouyu) Kentish[c] Old Kentish Chilmark Martha's Vineyard (MVSL) Maya (Meemul Tziij / Meemul Ch'aab'al) Highland Maya Yucatec Chicán Nohkop Nohya Trascorral Cepeda Peraza NW Eurosign BANZSL Auslan Papua New Guinean (PNGSL) British (BSL) Northern Ireland (NISL) Fijian (FSL) Maritime (MSL) New Zealand (NZSL) Samoan South African (SASL) Swedish Sign Eritrean (EriSL) Finland-Swedish (FinSSL) Portuguese (LGP) Cape Verdian (LGC) São Tomé and Príncipean (LGSTP) Swedish (Teckenspråk) Finnish (Viittomakieli) German Sign German (DGS) Polish (PJM) Israeli (Shassi) Original Thai Sign Chiangmai Hai Phong Old Bangkok Paget Gorman Namibian (NSL) Providencia– Cayman Sign Providence Island (Provisle) Old Cayman (Guyanese) Isolates Afghan Akure (AkSL) Al-Sayyid Bedouin (ABSL) Albanian (AlbSL) Albarradas Sign Language Alipur Argentine (LSA) Armenian Caucasian (Harsneren)[c] Bay Islands Belizean Berbey Bhutanese Bouakako (LaSiBo) Bribri Brunca Bura Carhuahuaran Cena Central Taurus (CTSL/OTİD) Chatino Chiriqui Cuban (LSC) Dogon/Douentza Ecuadorian (LSEC) Enga Ghandruk Ghardaia (AJSL) Guatemalan (Lensegua) Guinea-Bissau Henniker[c] Hausa (HSL/Magannar Hannu) Hawaiʻi (Hoailona ʻŌlelo) Creole HSL Ibokun (IbSL) Inuit Inuit Uukturausingit (IUR) Greenlandic (Ussersuataarneq) Jhankot Jumla Ka'apor Kajana Kafr Qasim Kailge Kata Kolok Kenyan (KSL/LAK) Somali (SSL) Keresan Pueblo (KPISL/Keresign) Kisindo Jamaican Country (KS/Konchri Sain) Macedonian Magajin Gari (MgSL) Malawian Maltese (LSM) Mardin Maroua Maunabudhuk–Bodhe Mauritian (MSL) M'bour Mehek Miyakubo Shuwa Burkina (Mossi) Mount Avejaha Mozambican Naga Navajo/Diné Family Nicaraguan (ISN) Old Costa Rican Orocovis (LSOR) Ottoman (Seraglio/Harem) Ban Khor (Pasa kidd) Penang Persian (Esharani) Peruvian (LSP) Inmaculada Qahveh Khaneh Rennellese[c] Rossel Island Rwandan (AKR/AMR) Sandy River Valley[c] Salvadoran (LESSA) Sawmill Sinasina (SSSL) Sivia South Rupununi Spanish (LSE) Tebul Terena Tibetan (Bökyi lagda) Trinidad and Tobago (TTSL) Turkish (TİD) Ugandan (USL) Venezuelan (LSV/VSL) Wanib West African Adamorobe (AdaSL/Mumu kasa) Bura (Burasl) Mofu-Gudur Nanabin (NanabinSL) Yoruban (YSL) Zambian (ZSL) Other groupings Amami Shuwa languages Ethiopian languages Laotian languages Rwandan languages Sri Lankan languages Sudanese languages (~150)[b] Tanzanian languages (7+)[b] Zimsign languages International Sign Village languages By region[a] Sign languages by region Africa Algeria Algerian Ghardaia Cameroon Maroua Cape Verde Cape Verdian (LGC) Ghana Adamorobe (AdaSL / Mumu kasa) Nanabin Ivory Coast Bouakako (LaSiBo) Kenya Kenyan Malawi Malawian Mali Bamako (LaSiMa) Berbey Tebul Mozambique Mozambican Nigeria Akure (AkSL) Bura Hausa (Magannar Hannu) Ibokun (IbSL) Magajin Gari (MgSL) Rwanda Rwandan (Amarenga) São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipean (LGSTP) Senegal Mbour Somalia, Somaliland & Djibouti Somali South Africa South African Tanzania Tanzanian Uganda Ugandan Zambia Zambian Asia Bengal Bengali Cambodia Cambodian China Chinese Hong Kong Hong Kong (HKSL) India Alipur Bengali Indo-Pakistani Naga Indonesia Indonesian Kata Kolok (Benkala, Balinese) Iran Iranian (Esharani) Qahveh Khaneh Iraq Iraqi Kurdish Israel Al-Sayyid Bedouin Ghardaia Israeli Kafr Qasem Japan Japanese Koniya Miyakubo Korea Korean Kazakhstan Kazakh-Russian Laos Laotian Malaysia Malaysian Penang Selangor Maldives Maldives Mongolia Mongolian Nepal Ghandruk Jhankot Jumla Maunabudhuk–Bodhe Nepalese Philippines Filipino Saudi Arabia Saudi Singapore Singapore Sri Lanka Sri Lankan Taiwan Taiwanese Tajikistan Russian Tibet Tibetan (Bökyi lagda) Thailand Old Bangkok Chiangmai Thai Ban Khor (Pasa kidd) Vietnam Vietnamese Europe Armenia Armenian Austria Austrian Azerbaijan Azerbaijani Belgium Flemish French Belgian United Kingdom British Croatia Croatian Denmark Danish Faroese (Teknmál) Estonia Estonian Finland Finnish France Ghardaia French Lyons Georgia Georgian Germany German Greece Greek Hungary Hungarian Iceland Icelandic Ireland Irish Italy Italian Kosovo Yugoslav (Kosovar) Latvia Latvian Lithuania Lithuanian Moldova Russian Netherlands Dutch North Macedonia Macedonian Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Norway Norwegian Poland Polish Portugal Portuguese Russia Russian Slovenia Slovenian Spain Catalan Spanish Valencian Sweden Swedish Switzerland Swiss-German Turkey Central Taurus (CTSL/OTİD) Mardin Turkish Ukraine Ukrainian North and Central America Belize Belizean Canada American (ASL) Black ASL Protactile Hand Talk Oneida (OSL) Plateau Inuit (IUR) Maritime (MSL) Sawmill Quebec Cayman Old Cayman Costa Rica Bribri Brunca Old Costa Rican New Costa Rican Cuba Cuban Greenland Greenlandic (Ussersuataarneq) Guatemala Guatemalan Mayan Haiti Haitian Honduras Bay Islands Honduran Mexico Albarradas Chatino Mayan Mexican Nicaragua Nicaraguan Panama Chiriqui Panamanian Puerto Rico (USA) American (ASL) Puerto Rican Orocovis El Salvador Salvadoran (LESSO) Old Salvadoran United States American (ASL) Black ASL Protactile Hand Talk Oneida (OSL) Plateau Henniker Keresan (Keresign) Martha's Vineyard Navajo Family Sandy River Valley Sawmill Oceania Australia Akitiri (Eltye eltyarrenke) Arrernte (Iltyeme iltyeme) Auslan Australian-Irish Manjiljarra Mudbura (Mudburra) Ngada Umpila Far North Queensland Warlmanpa Warlpiri (Rdaka rdaka) Warumungu (Warramunga) Western Desert Western Torres Strait Islander Yir Yoront Yolŋu Hawaii (USA) Hawaiʻan (Haoilona ʻŌlelo) New Zealand New Zealand (NZSL) Papua New Guinea Enga Kailge Mehek Mount Avejaha Papua New Guinean (PNGSL) Rossel Island Sinasina Wanib Samoa and American Samoa Samoan South America Argentina Argentine (LSA) Bolivia Bolivian Brazil Brazilian (Libras) Cena Ka'apor South Rupununi Terena Chile Chilean Colombia Colombian Provisle Ecuador Ecuadorian Guyana Guyanese South Rupununi Paraguay Paraguayan Peru Carhuahuaran Inmaculada Peruvian Sivia Suriname Kajana Uruguay Uruguayan Venezuela Venezuelan International International Sign Makaton Monastic Signalong ASL Grammar Idioms Literature Profanity Name signs Extinct languages Chilmark Diyari Jaralde Kalkutungu Henniker Sign Language Martha's Vineyard Old French Old Kent Plateau Sign Language Pitha Pitha Sandy River Valley Sign Language Warluwara Linguistics Grammar (ASL) Bimodal bilingualism Phonology (ASL) Handshape / Location / Orientation / Movement / Expression Mouthing Nonmanual feature Sign names Home sign Fingerspelling American British (two-handed) Catalan Chilean Esperanto French German Hungarian Irish Japanese Korean Polish Russian Serbo-Croatian Spanish Ukrainian Portuguese Writing ASL-phabet Hamburg Notation System Stokoe notation SignWriting si5s ASLwrite () Language contact Contact sign Initialized sign Mouthing Signed Oral Languages Indian Signing System Manually coded English Manually coded language in South Africa Manually Coded Malay Paget Gorman Sign System Signed Dutch Signed French Signed German Signed Italian Signed Japanese Signed Polish Signed Spanish Signing Exact English Signed Swedish Others Bilingual–bicultural education Manually coded language Media Films (list) Television shows (list) Persons Jabbar Baghtcheban Jeanette Berglind Pär Aron Borg Thomas Braidwood Laurent Clerc Abbé de l'Épée Roger Fouts Valerie Sutton Thomas Gallaudet Abbé Sicard William Stokoe Pierre Pélissier Organisations Association of Visual Language Interpreters of Canada International Center on Deafness and the Arts Theater of Mimicry and Gesture World Association of Sign Language Interpreters Miscellaneous Baby sign language CHCI chimpanzee center (Washoe, Loulis) Open Outcry Legal recognition U.S. Army hand and arm signals Monastic sign languages Tactile signing Protactile Tic-tac ^a Sign-language names reflect the region of origin. Natural sign languages are not related to the spoken language used in the same region. For example, French Sign Language originated in France, but is not related to French. Conversely, ASL and BSL both originated in English-speaking countries but are not related to each other; ASL however is related to French Sign Language. ^b Denotes the number (if known) of languages within the family. No further information is given on these languages. ^c Italics indicate extinct languages.

v t e Nonverbal communication Modalities Physical Blushing Body language / Kinesics Body-to-body communication Facial expression Facial Action Coding System Microexpression Gesture List Speech-independent gestures Haptic communication Imitation Interpersonal synchrony Laughter Oculesics Eye contact Pupil dilation Olfaction Posture Proxemics Speech Affect Emotional prosody Paralanguage Intonation Loudness Prosody Rhythm Stress Tone Voice quality Social context Chronemics Conventions Display rules Habitus High-context and low-context cultures Interpersonal relationship Social norm Other Emoticon / Smiley One-bit message Missed call Silent service code Unconscious Microexpression Non-verbal leakage Multi-faceted Affect display Deception Emotion recognition First impression Intimacy Broader concepts Cognitive academic language proficiency Communication Emotional intelligence Nunchi People skills Semiotics Social behavior Social competence Social cue Social skills Unsaid Further information Disorders Aprosodia Asperger syndrome Autism Fragile X Pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified Childhood disintegrative disorder Rett syndrome Dyssemia Nonverbal learning disorder Social (pragmatic) communication disorder Neuroanatomy Limbic system / Limbic lobe Mirror neuron Applications Cold reading Lie detection Freudian slip Poker tell Targeted advertising Technology Computer processing of body language Emotion recognition in conversation Gesture recognition List of facial expression databases Sentiment analysis Key people Ray Birdwhistell Charles Darwin Paul Ekman Related Animal communication Behavioral communication Aggressive Assertive Passive Passive-aggressive Impression management Meta-communication Monastic sign lexicons Verbal communication Manual-tactile verbal Sign language Tactile signing Tadoma Art and literature Mime Mimoplastic art Subtext

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