Austronesian vernacular architecture and the Ise Shrine of Japan: Is there any connection?

Ezrin Arbi

Department of Architecture Faculty of Built Environment Universityof Malaya

Abst ract

In spite of so many varieties of form and detail of construction found in Southeast Asian vernacular buildings, there are some recurring features and shared characteristics that bind them together. The vast territories in which this phenomenon exists, known as the "Austronesian world", does no t include Japan. However, there is an intriguing resemblance between the architectural style of Japanese vernacular heritage of the earlier period with that of Austronesia. This paper is an attempt to explain the relation between the two using the findings of studies by archaeological, linguistic, sociological and anthropological experts based on the link between culture, langu age and ve rnacular architect ure.

Introduction the form of (i) ideas, (ii) activities and (iii) In order to see the link between artifacts. The first is abstract in nature; it language and architecture this pap er is not visible and exists only in the mind will necessarily be preceded with a brief of those who subscribe to it. The second discussion on the concept of culture. form is men's complex activities in their One of the earlier meanings was given interaction with each other; they are by Tylor (1871) (in Firth ed.1960:2), who concrete and observable. The third form of defined culture as "tha t complex whole culture, which is the most concrete, is the which includes knowled ge, beliefs, ar t, result of human activit ies in their social morals, laws, customs and all other intercourse that requires the creation capabilities and habits acquired by man and making of new tools, instruments, as a member of a society". Another structures, bu ildings etc in order to fulfill definition given by Malinowski (1931) their multi-various needs . It is also know n states that culture comprises inherited as 'material cultu re' or 'physical culture'. artifacts, goods, technical processes, ideas, Architectura l products such as dwelling habits and values. He further said that house or shrine obv iously belong to the social orga nizalion is also included since physical form of culture and at the same it can not be understood except as a part time they are the result of human activities, of culture (in Firth ed .1960). Obviously, one of manifestations of culture. culture encompasses all systems that give In analyzin g the content of culture, a society its identity and distinguish it the anthropologists make use of the from the others . concept of 'cultural un iversals' which Culture has also been analyzed by was first introdu ced by Malinowski, and scholars in terms of its form and content. later followed by Murdick and Kluckhohn According to Honingmann (1954) and (Koentjaraning rat in Alfian 1985). These Koentjaraningat (1985), culture may be in cultural universals are found in every

1 !ollnlal of Designa"d ti,e Built En vironment culture anywhere in the world, regardless The nameAustronesiaoriginatesfrom of its level of development or location. 'auster' meaning 'south wind ' in Latin, Koentjaraningrat (1966) took the gist plus 'nesos' which is 'island' in Greek. out of the various existing structure of The combination of the two words aptly cultural universals and presented seven describe the fact that the majority of the fundamental contents of every culture, langu ages in the family are spo ken on the comprising: (i) langu age, (ii) knowledge islan ds, with the exception of Malay and system, (iii) social organization, (iv) Cha mic languages which are indigenou s facility sys tem and technology, (v) income to continental Asia. generating system, (vi) religious system In both maps previously mentioned, and (vii) arts. While architecture as a Japa n is not included within the culturalartifactisa formofphysicalculture, Austronesian boundary. In fact in language is a fundamental content of the Bellwood' s map that island country culture that produces the artifact including does not appear at all, whil e in Fox's vernacular architecture. To conclude map Japanese archipelago is fully shown this brief discussion on the link between making one realizes not only how close it langu age and culture it is oppo rtune is actually from Taiwa n, but also the fact to qu ote eminent linguists' views that that it is almost surrounded by the Pacific language reflects and perpetuates the Islanders that speak the Austronesian basic assumptions and orientations of a languages. In the vast doma in of this given culture. It not only defines but to a language family, Taiwan has a special large extent de termines the way in which a importance. Accordi ng to linguistic culture views itself and the world (Whorl experts (Blust 1999 and Comrie 2001) the & Brown in Oliver 1975:9). Austronesian languages can be subdivided into two, namely the Malayo -Polynesian The Austronesian World branch scaltered all over the Pacificislands The vast numb er of languages and the Formosan languages of Taiwan spoken in the world has been grouped by comprising 9 subgroups of Austronesian. linguists into several families, one of the This leads them to postulate that Taiwan is largest of which is known as Austronesian, the home of the Austronesian languages. comprising 1268 languages or about Bellwood (1997) suggests that aro und one-fifth of the known languages in the 8000 years ago the ancestors of the world . It covers the languages spoken Austronesians came across from Southern by the people of insular , China to Taiwan, from where they spread Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia in the to the entire region that is now covered Pacific, as well as some part of mainland by the Austronesian langu ages. As Fox Asia coveri ng the territory shown in Map (2004:8) states: I and Map 2. Both maps delineate roughly the same areas, from which one can see "Implied in... discussions tha t the Austronesian world stretches ofsubgrouping (ofAustronesian across more than half-way rou nd the languages) is a broad consensus world's circumference, from Madagascar that the homeland of the on the extreme west, thro ugh the Malay Aus tronesian was in Taiwan. archipelagos to Easter Island on the This homeland area may have easternmost point. The Malay Peninsular, also included the P'eng-hu some part of , Taiwan, Philippine (Pescadores) islands between Islands and certain coastal parts of New Taiwan and China and possibly Guinea are also within its territo ry. even sites on the coast of

2 Austroneeian uemacuta rarchitectureand ti,e Ise Shrineoflapa"

Limits of the Austronesian Lan gu age Family

MAINlAND

4...,,,. utr.. Hluod' () " .&IJ1 IAl,Ut

Map 1 : Source : Waterson 1997:13.

) !i "-' ~ ~ .. . '-...... ru$ . . ...t-, '"~K\ ~\..,. i <, -c " ! ' ) f'1 V\. «;1& .. .. , t-, V IJ'~ , r ~ : . \{ , , t'k ...... -.; ~fL",~ ' .. " r-, f ~ . ~ . .. l V I ~';; '.,' .. \ II "~~ . .,...... , I 1/ 1"- 'I • .. I V [,.J '. I) h / 1\ "'- .0 ~ V V 1/ ;- 1'--- t'\; I y,~ . L----r--- II ~ l--- ,I , I.V ~

Map 2 : Source: Bellwood 2000:143.

3 JOIIYllal of Desigll andthe Buil! Environment

mainland China, especially Waterson's (1997:xv) attention, who if one were to view the early regardsits anonymouscraftsmenas having Austronesians a population of produced some of the most spectacular related dialect communities and beautiful wooden buildings anywhere living in scattered coastal in the world. In all their diversity and settlements." subtle variation, the architectural styles of traditional buildings found in the Austronesian Vernacular Architecture Austronesian world, upon a closer look The indigenous architecture of this show certain shared similarities that seem particular part of the world has attracted to indicate their common origin in the

DI , . _ ~ - - ,.:.... -=-', .E;""~ . ~~ ...... ----.-- -- . - 11I

lIT

Figure 1 : A collectionof Austronesianindigenous houses showiugsaddle roofs and gable hams, drawn by Vroklage (1936) (iu Watersons 1997:21)

4 Austronesianvemecutararchitecture andthe1se ShrineofJapatl distant past. Waterson (1997:1-11) noticed mud. Although present day Thai language there are some recurring features worthy does not belong to the Austronesian of special discussion. The most ap parent family, its proto-language which Benedict physical characteristic is the raised floor calls Austro-Thai has reconstruc ted terms supported by timber piles or stilts. In that also include words such as platforms/ the house of the Dayaks in , these storey, house post, and ladder/ steps posts are extremely high, but ' generally lead ing up to the house (first qu oted in they are of moderate height making the Waterson 1997:15). From the result of their space below the floor suitable for human studies, the linguists are able to throw or animal use. Only in very few cases some lights on the early type of dwellings the raised floor is so low that the space used by the spea kers of a language. underneath is rende red unusable except A more concre te proof of the use of for ventilation. Another prominent feature pile structure and saddle-roof d uring the of the style is the saddle-backed roof, of early Metal Age may be obtained from which the ridge- line extends beyond the engraved images shown on bronze drums gable walls. Furthermore, the gables are of the from North usually decorated with finials often bu t Vietna m (Lewcock & Brans 1975,Bellwood not always in the form of cross horns (Fig. 1978) (Fig. 2). This civilization 1). covering a large part ofSoutheas t Asia from Because of the perishable nature between 600 to 400 BC till the first century of timber, the main material used by the AD is characterized by the use of bronze Austronesians, it is not easy to resolve drums. A number of these drums which archaeologically how long they have been have been found in places on the mainland using pile foundation for their houses. as well as far away island s of , There is very scanty evidence from pre­ are all decorated with designs in a variety historic sites to establish with confid ence of motifs, including fauna and geometry. the source of these dwellings. According Of particular interest is the fact that the to Dumarcay (1990:2) there are two cases decoration often incorporates architectural worthy of attention. First, the excava tion of pre-historic site in the Ratchaburi regio n to the west of Bangkok has unearthed the remains of a house that have been red uced to the positioning of its piles. From materials fou nd in the vicinity of the dwelling archaeologists postu late it belongs to Neolithic Ban Keo civilization stretching from 1800 to 1300 Be. It is interesting to note that the arrangement of the piles is such that the dwelling could be reassemb led, just like many present types of dwelling in Southeast Asia. From ano ther site at , in Northeast , the positions of piles have also been discovered .Again, theyenableexperts Figure 2 : Rubbing of the tympanum of a to reconstitute the dwelling which was Dong Son bronze showing saddle­ square in plan, probably covered with split roofed,pile-built houses. woven bamboo wa lls and plastered with (Waterson 1997:18)

5 joumal a/Design and the Built Environment

2 Figure 3 : Housesrepresented on Dong Son drums(Domenie 1980; in Waterson 1997: 19) forms showing houses supported on piles in villages which may have included both (Fig. 3). dwelling houses and some kind of public In some of the Javanese temples of structure; that their houses were raised on the ninth to four teenth century, there are posts, the floor being reached by means of friezes clearly depicting several types of a ladder; and that the roof mus t have been pile-built hou ses with extended gable gabled because of the existence of a ridge line indicating the people's practise of pole. those periods, although most buildin gs From such linguistic reconstruction on the island nowadays directly sit on the experts can deduce a conclusion that gro und.While Waterson (1997:1) attr ibut es raised floor const ruction might have the adoption of ground-built structures to developed bot h in mainland and insular Indian influence many scholars believe it Southeast Asia since the later Neolithic is caused by more practical constraint, that period (Waterson 1997:14). is the scarcity of timber as the result of The earliest attempt to draw rampant deforestation. It is widely known conclusions from similarities of due to rapid increase of population, the architectural styles in Southeast Asia, island of for the last few centuries has Melanesia and Oceania including their become one of the most densely populated links with Japan and Madagascar was first places on ear th with very limited areas made by Vroklage (Waterson 1997:20). He for the common people to access natural assembled sketches of fifteen indigenous timber. houses from the region, most of which Blust (1976) recons truc tion of the have pile foundation, saddled back roof Malayo-Polynesian language subgroups and gable horns. Based on those examples include term s such as ridge-pole, rafter, he hypothesized the frequent appearance thatch, house post, storag e rack above of curved roofs with pointed ends as the hearth, notched log ladder, public symbolizing the boatsused by theancestors buildings etc. From these reconstructed of theseseafaring peopleswhenthey spread terms Blust draws a conclusion that throughout the islands. Using Vroklage' s speakers of these languages already sett led theory as a starting point Lewcock and

6 Austrol/csiall uernacuiararchitectureandthe IseSluineO! Jal' flI l

Brans(1975)fur ther studied the role of boa t eth nic groups in Indonesia in naming parts as an architectural symbol and made some of their houses with 'mast', 'sail', 'rudder' interesting observations how the features etc, and calling their village heads and of the boat have been incorporated into other important persons the equivalent the struc tu re and symbolism of the hou se of 'ship's captain', 'steersman', etc. This types. According to them, the influence asp ect of Vroklage's argument has also on the design of build ings is reflected at been suppor ted by Lewcock and Brans least in nin e different ways. Firstly, the by bringing much lingu istic evidence to form of the stored boat resembles the show the multitude of boat symbolism in spirit houses and communal rice stores of nom enclature and use. Vroklage further the Toraja peopl e in the island of Celebes. theor ized that straight ridge-line evolved Secondly, the frequent appearance as degenerated version of the originally of curved roof that reminds one of a curved ones due to people's laziness. boat with upcurving stem and prow as However, interesting as they are, a number mentioned above. The house of the , of scholars feel the arguments are weak, Minangkabau and Pasemah people on the while Waterson describes it as 'dubious'. island of belong to this category. Thirdly, the overall form of the building The Jap anese Lan guage & Culture looks like a boa t in full sail, as in the case The majority of Western scholars of the Lio district houses in , in the believe tha t the Jap anese language East Indonesian arc hipelago. Fourthly, belongs to the Altaic family, together with in some eastern Indonesian islands the Turkish the most westerly member, Azeri house is bu ilt on a platform that appears in Azerbaijan, Turkmen in Turkmenia, to be carried on two boats reminiscent Kazak h in Khaza khstan, Kirghiz in of ceremonial boat which is mad e up of Kirghystan, Uzbec in Uzbekistan, Uigu r two boats joined toge ther by a platform. in Western China, Mongolian in Mongolia Fifthly, the people on the island of and Korean in Korea. However, for many Flores build a woven representation of a years there have bee n ongoing debates boat and fixed it to the ridge of their house. among linguists abo ut its real sta tus and Sixthly, in Tanimbar and Ende district many hypotheses have been proposed that of Flores the vernac ular houses have a link Japanese with other languages. large-r idge piece representing a boat. One school of tho ught theorizes that This type of expression of the dominant the Japanese is a Southeast As ian langu age symbol of the boat is widespread not only related to Vietnamese, Tibetan, Burmese or throughout Southeast Asia and East Asia the Tamil languages of Southern Ind ia and but as far north as China and Japan (p.112). Sri Lanka . Yet another dissenting group of Seventhly, the Manggarai people of West experts of which Labb erton (1925) was on e Flores build their house with a roof in oftheearliest proponents, areof the opinion the form of a boat upside down. Eightl y, that there is a link between the Japanese also in Flores a village called Tondo has with the Austronesian family of languages its houses arranged in su ch a way that such as Tagalog, Malay, Javanese, Maori, the overall pla n looks like that of a boat. Tongan, etc (Ishizawa 2007). Even more Lastly, in Ambon as well as some oth er extreme, Benedict (1986) proposed a new eastern Indonesian islands, the meeting theory in which he reclassified it as a place is often shaped like a boat. member of the Austronesian family, but Beside physical resemblances, most scholars disagreed with this view Vroklage supported his argument by citing due to the absence of strong evidence. some boat vocabulary use d by numerous Nowadays, many lingu ists including

7 [ournalof Designand theBuilt Enoironment

Japanese are beginning to accept there Vernacular Architecture of Japan are indications that in the very early days In the course of discussing the boat the Japanese language was influenced by as an architectural symbol in Southeast Austronesian substratum. Considering Asia that has been summarized above, the close proximity and slight similarity in Lewcock and Brans (1975: 112-5) made physical appearance be tween the people some reference to China and Japan where of Taiwan and the south-western areas according to them its provenance has of Japan such as the Ryu kyu Islands and been forgotten. However, they are quite Kyushu, the latter view seems to be quite emphatic tha t in the case of the Japanese plausible. Although as yet there is no there is a strong link with the Dong Son conclusive archaeological evidence, it is culture discussed earlier. From the early postulated tha t some prehistoric cultural bronze bells and the clay tomb models, excha nge had taken place between both from circa 1" and 2"d century AD, it is speakers of proto-Austronesian and Proto­ evident that building representation of the [aponic languages without significant periods closely related to the Austronesian ethnic intermixture (Bellwood 1978). vernacular (Fig. 4 ) Since the 1970's a theory that has Domenig (1980) proposes a theory been gaining momentum in Japan is that tha t the origins of the Austronesian style of the Japanese languages are actually a architecture developed in Southern China mixture between Altaic and Austronesian during the Neolithic period when it wasnot languages. This theory which was first yet culturally "Chinese", because northern proposed by Polianov (1918) is now Chinese influences on ly came to the south supported by notable Japanese lingu ists from the Han period (206 BC-AD 220) Murayama, Sakiyama and Itabas hi onward. The cultures of Southern China (Ishizawa 2007). The "hybrid" theory that during tha t time were closer in character accepts the relationship to the Alta icfam ily, but also hypothesizes influence from Austronesian languages is now getting increasingly stronger support (Miyagawa 2007). Briefly, they believe Japanese is a mixture between Altaic & Austronesian. Many Japanese scientists and archaeologists now agree that the Japanese 2 culture is related to the Yayoi immigrant people who came to Japan in 400 BC from mainland Asia, some say from Korea, but others speculate from Southern China via Taiwan. The name Yayoi is given after an 3 4 archaeologica l site in southwest Honshu from where the remains of this culture were firs t known. It was these people who introduced rice cultivation and raised floor construction which was first intended for 5 6 rice granaries in order to protect grains from rats and dampness (Waterson Figure 4 : Pictures ofhouses incise d on object 1997:17). of bronze, Japan (From Domenic 1980; in Waterson 1997:t6)

8 Austronesian oemacuta rarchitecture andtileIse SlIritleofJapan

• 3 • • • Figure 5: Domenig's proposed reconstruction of the development of pile building and the saddle roof from prehistoric pit dwellings in Japan (From Domenig 1980; in Waterson 1997:1 6)

to that of the Southeast Asian world and it religious and cultural influences from was these cultures that became the source China. of influen ce on the Bronze Age culture of Dong Son with its centre in North Vietnam The Grand Shrine of Ise as well as the developm ents in Japa n. The Grand Shrine of Ise, commonly Domenig's theory, which is based on referred as the Ise Shrine, is probably the reconstructions of Neolithic pit dwellings, best known Jap anese vernacular buildings postulates that pile building and saddle in the world (Fig. 6).Located in the city roof evolved from 'a progression from a of Ise, in southern Honshu amid a dense primitive tepee-shaped structure of poles forest of giant cryptomeria trees, this set on the ground and overlapping on the oldest temple in Japan is actua lly a shrine top' (Waterson 1997:15) (Fig. 5). complex consisting of over one hundred Injapan, the evolution of pit dwellings individu al shr ines. They may be di vided to becoming structures on piles with into two groups of bu ildings: the Inner simple sadd le roof and later with gable Shrine dedicated to the Sun Goddess and roof is associated with the Yayoi people of the Ou ter Shrine dedicated to the Goddess Honshu mentioned above during the late of Abu ndant Food. Each gro up comprises Neolithic and early Metal Age period. a number of buildings, includ ing ancillary Domen ig's theory opens up a new shrines, workshops, storehouses, etc.These horizon for studies on the link between shrines are the holiest and most important vernacular architecture of Austronesia Shinto shrines in Japan wh ich according to and Japan. In her book 'The Living official chronology were first constructed House', Waterson (1997:15) highlight s her in the year 4 Be. However, most historians observation thatsomefeaturesoftraditional believe it was seve ral hundred years later, Japanese architectu re are so strongly probably 690 in AD, when the shrines were Southeast Asian and speculate there mu st first built in their present form . This means have been some kind of historical link the design dates back to the time prior to between them. For comparative purposes the introd uction of Chinese and Buddhist the Ise Shrine complex has been chosen influences on architecture which have now to represent an interesting example of completely overshadowed the indigenous how the Japanese indigenous architecture architecture of the Japanese archipelago. looked like before the ad ven t of foreign

9 Journala/Des ign and tile Built Enoironment

Figure 6 : Images of some structures in the Grand Shrine of Ise, Japan Source : Wikipedia 2007.

Traditionally, every twenty years About the shrines which are all the shrine is renewed by demolishing constructed of natural wo od, WitcOlnbe and rebuilding it with exactly the same (2007:2) draws our attention to the specifications and construction details existence of a special post known as shin­ (Witcombe 2007, Waterson 1997). The no-ntihashirn which literally means ' the trad ition that was started in seventh august column of the heart,' or more freely century AD during the reign of Emperor translated as 'sacred central pose, over Ternmu, the first emperor to rule over a and around which the new shrine will united Japan, has been faithfully practised be erected. The remnant of this primitive and until now the temple has been renewed symbolism is still widely pra ctised in many sixty times. The current buildings, restored indigenous houses in Southeast Asia. in 1993,are the 61" repetition to date which Witcombe further says the cham bers of will be rebuilt in 2013 (Wikipedia). the shrines are raised on timb er piles while

10 Austronesian vernacular architecture and the lee Shrine of[apan the roof is not supported by the walls even Chen Voon Fee (ed.), (1998). "The Encqclopedi« though the rafters do rest on purlins, The of Malaysia, Vol.5:Arcliitectl/re",Archipelago ridge beam is carried by two free-standing Press, Singapore. columns at either end, reminding us of the Dumarcey, Jacques (1990):'Tlie House ill SOl/Iii Toraja indigenous house in and EastAsia",Oxford University Press, Singapore. men's ceremonial house from Karnari, Papua . Fur thermore, just Firth,Raymond (ed.) (1960). "Mall andCulture", like in many Austronesia n houses, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London. the poles are buried directly into the ground without any foundation. Another Fox, James J.(ed.) (1993). "Inside Austrcnesian interesting feature is the distinctive roof Houses: Perspectives 011 Domestic Designs for bea ms which project like horn s over the Liuing", Canberra. ridge of the roof resembling one of the Gibbs, P. (1987). "Bllildillg a Malay House", most recurring motifs of decorative gable­ Oxford University Press, Singapore. end finials on many houses in Southeast Asia. As observed by Lewcock and Brans Ishizawa, Takeshi, (2007) "Kontroocrsi earlier, the detail treatment of the ridge tentong asal-uslll bnhasa jepallg: bnhasa jepnllg itse lf represents a boat just like in many ada JlIl bwlgall dengcn bahasa Allstrollesia?, eastern Indonesian houses, even though in Universitas 17 Agustus (UNTAG), Surabaya. japan its origin has been forgo tten. available at http://wwIV.02.246.ne.jp/-semar From the above images and deliberations, it is obv ious that overall Izikowitz,KG. & Sorensen, P (ed.) (1982). "The House ill Enst and Southeast Asia: Allthropological the architectural style of Ise Shrine and Architectural Aspects", Scandinavian buildings looks strongly reminiscent of the Institute of Asian Studies, Cu rzon Press, Austronesian vernacular architecture. This London. is most probably due to the historical and cu ltural links in the early days between the Koentjaraningrat (1985). 11 Mmlllsin dan people of Taiwa n the or iginal home of the Keblldnynnll di tndonesin", Djambatan, Jakarta. Austronesian and southern japan, before Northern Chinese influence profoundly ------(1996). "Pengcntar Alllropologi permeates variou s aspects of the japanese 1", Rineka Cipta, Jakarta. culture. Lim Jee Yuan (1987). "The Malay House. Rediscovering Malaysia 'sIndigenous Shelter References System", Institut Masyarakat, Penang.

Alfian (ed.) (1985)."PersepsiMasyarakal Telltallg Lewcock R & Brans G. (1975). "The Boat as all KeblldaY{/(/ll", Gramedia, Jakarta. Architecturnl Symbol" in Oliver,P.(ed.)"Shelter, Sign & Symbol", Berrie & Jenkins, London, Bellwood, P.(1978)."Mail'SConqneetojthe Pacific: pp107-116. ThePreMhis tory of Southeast Asia and Oceania" Collins, Auckland. Oliver,P.(ed.)(1975). "Sheller, Sign mIdSymbol", Berrie & Jenkins, London. ------(1985). "Prehistory of the Indo­ Malaysian Archipelago"1 Academic Press, Miyagawa, Shigeru, (2007). "The [apanese North Ryde, New South Wales: Language", Massachusetts Institute of Technology.htt p:/ / web.mil.edu / j pnet / ------(2000). "Pra-Sejarah Kepulauan articles/JapaneseLanguagc.html Indo-Malaysia, Gramedia, Jakarta.

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Walerson, R., (1997). "Tile Livillg HOllse: All Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (2007). "lee AII/hropology of Archilecillre ill Souih-Eas! Asia", Shrine", available at http://en.wikipedia.org/ Oxford University Press, Singapore. wiki ! Grand_Shrine_oCIse

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (2007). Witcombe, C.L. (2007). "Shrine al tee. Japall", "A lIstrOtles;all ulIIguage", available at http:// Sweet Briar College, USA. Available at http:/ / e n .w l ki pe dia.org! wiki! Austrone sian wttcornbe.sbc.edu/sacredplaces! ise.html langua ges.

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (2007). "Allaic lallgllages", available at http:/ /en.wikipedia. org/ wiki/ Allaie_languages

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