Editing Grammatical number (section)

===Trial===

The trial number denotes exactly three items. For example, in [[Awa language (Papua New Guinea)|Awa]]:<ref>{{cite book |author-last1=Loving |author-first1=Richard |author-last2=Loving |author-first2=Aretta |editor-last=McKaughan |editor-first=Howard |year=1973 |title=The Languages of the Eastern Family of the East New Guinea Highland Stock |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/rosettaproject_awb_morsyn-2/page/n1/mode/2up |series=Anthropological Studies in the Eastern Highlands of New Guinea, vol. 1 |location=Seattle |publisher=University of Washington Press |chapter=A Preliminary Survey of Awa Noun Suffixes |pages=19–30 [20] |isbn=0-295-95132-X }}</ref>

*{{lang|awb|iya}} - "dog" (singular)
*{{lang|awb|iya'''tade'''}} - "two dogs" (dual)
*{{lang|awb|iya'''tado'''}} - "three dogs" (trial)
*{{lang|awb|iya'''madi'''}} - "dogs" (plural)

It is rare for a language to mark the trial on nouns,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://grambank.clld.org/parameters/GB165#2/21.0/151.9 |title=Feature GB165: Is there productive morphological trial marking on nouns? |last=Skirgård |first=Hedvig |date=2023-04-19 |website=Grambank |version=1.0.3 |publisher=The Grambank Consortium |access-date=2024-03-16 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240316083655/https://grambank.clld.org/parameters/GB165#2/21.0/151.9 |archive-date=2024-03-16 |doi=10.5281/zenodo.7844558 |quote=Trial marking is not common...absent[:] 2125...present[:] 8 }}</ref> and some sources even claim that trial marking on nouns does not exist.<ref name="Acquaviva2022">{{cite book |last1=Acquaviva |first1=Paolo |last2=Daniel |first2=Michael |author-link2=Michael Daniel (linguist) |editor-last1=Acquaviva |editor-first1=Paolo |editor-last2=Daniel |editor-first2=Michael |editor-link2=Michael Daniel (linguist) |year=2022 |chapter=Number in Grammar: Results and Perspectives |title=Number in the World's Languages: A Comparative Handbook |series=Comparative Handbooks of Linguistics, vol. 5 |location=Berlin |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |pages=833–910 [868] |isbn=978-3-11-056069-5}}</ref><ref name="Velupillai2012">{{cite book |last=Velupillai |first=Viveka |year=2012 |title=An Introduction to Linguistic Typology |location=Amsterdam |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company |page=161 |isbn=978-90-272-7350-5 }}</ref> However, it has been recorded for a few languages; besides Awa, [[Arabana language|Arabana]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Hercus |first=Luise A. |author-link=Luise Hercus |year=1994 |title=A Grammar of the Arabana-Wangkangurru Language, Lake Eyre Basin, South Australia |series=Pacific Linguistics: Series C - no. 128 |location=Canberra |publisher=Australian National University |pages=64 |isbn=0-85883-425-1}}</ref><ref name="Hercus1966">{{cite journal |last=Hercus |first=L. A. |author-link=Luise Hercus |date=1966 |title=Some Aspects of the Form and Use of the Trial Number in Victorian Languages and in Arabana |journal=Mankind |volume=6 |issue=8 |pages=335–337 |doi=10.1111/j.1835-9310.1966.tb00370.x |access-date=2023-12-04 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1835-9310.1966.tb00370.x|url-access=subscription }}</ref> [[Kiwai language|Urama]],<ref>{{cite book |author-last1=Brown |author-first1=Jason |author-last2=Muir |author-first2=Alex |author-last3=Craig |author-first3=Kimberley |author-last4=Anea |author-first4=Karika |year=2016 |title=A Short Grammar of Urama |url=https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/111328/3/BrownEtAl-2016-UramaGrammar.pdf |series=Asia-Pacific Linguistics 32 |location=Canberra |publisher=Australian National University |pages=25–27 |isbn=978-1-922185-22-8 |access-date=2024-03-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240107232500/https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/111328/3/BrownEtAl-2016-UramaGrammar.pdf |archive-date=2024-01-07 }}</ref> and [[Angaataha language|Angaataha]] have trial number.<ref>{{cite report |author-last1=Eko |author-first1=Robert |author-last2=Graham |author-first2=Mack |date=2014 |title=Tentative Grammar Description for the Angaataha Language Spoken in Morobe Province |url=https://www.sil.org/system/files/reapdata/68/79/30/68793084489869111853398100027121511296/Angaataha_Tentative_Grammar_Description_final.pdf |publisher=SIL International |page=9 |access-date=2024-03-16 |archive-date=2023-12-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231208134706/https://www.sil.org/system/files/reapdata/68/79/30/68793084489869111853398100027121511296/Angaataha_Tentative_Grammar_Description_final.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> It is much more common for a language to have trial pronouns,<ref name="Acquaviva2022" /><ref name="Velupillai2012" /> the case for the Austronesian languages of [[Wakasihu language|Larike]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Laidig |first1=Wyn D. |last2=Laidig |first2=Carol J. |date=1990 |title=Larike Pronouns: Duals and Trials in a Central Moluccan Language |series=A Special Issue on Western Austronesian Languages |journal=Oceanic Linguistics |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=87–109 [90] |doi=10.2307/3623187 |jstor=3623187 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Corbett |first=Greville G. |author-link=Greville G Corbett |year=2004 |orig-year=2000 |title=Number |series=Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=21 |isbn=0-511-01591-7 }}</ref> [[Tolai language|Tolai]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Mosel |first=Ulrike |author-link=Ulrike Mosel |year=1984 |title=Tolai Syntax and its Historical Development |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/160608413.pdf |series=Pacific Linguistics, Series B - no. 92 |location=Canberra |publisher=Australian National University |pages=41, 93–94, 108 |isbn=0-85883-309-3 |access-date=2024-01-26 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240126061458/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/160608413.pdf |archive-date=2024-01-26 }}</ref> [[Raga language|Raga]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Crowley |first=Terry |author-link=Terry Crowley (linguist) |editor-last1=Lynch |editor-first1=John |editor-link1=John Lynch (linguist) |editor-last2=Ross |editor-first2=Malcolm |editor-link2=Malcolm Ross (linguist) |editor-last3=Crowley |editor-first3=Terry |editor-link3=Terry Crowley (linguist) |year=2011 |orig-year=2002 |title=The Oceanic Languages |series=Routledge Language Family Series |chapter=Raga |location=London |publisher=Routledge |pages=626–637 [633] |isbn=978-0-203-82038-4}}</ref> and [[Wamesa language|Wamesa]].<ref>{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |last=Gasser |first=Emily Anne |year=2014 |title=Windesi Wamesa Morphophonology |url=https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=ling_graduate |pages=192-193, 194n21, 249-250 |publisher=Yale University |access-date=2024-01-26 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230108075941/https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=ling_graduate |archive-date=2023-01-08 }}</ref> A minimal example is [[Nukna language|Nukna]], which has only a single trial pronoun, {{lang|klt|nanggula}}, which can be either 2nd or 3rd person.<ref>{{cite book |last=Taylor |first=Matthew A. |year=2015 |title=Nukna Grammar Sketch |series=Data Papers on Papua New Guinea Languages, vol. 61 |url=https://www.sil.org/system/files/reapdata/15/08/75/150875318491925844995926613370844010827/Nukna_Grammar_Sketch_A5.pdf |url-status=live |location=Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea |publisher=SIL-PNG Academic Publications |pages=38–39 |access-date=2024-01-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231208154404/https://www.sil.org/system/files/reapdata/15/08/75/150875318491925844995926613370844010827/Nukna_Grammar_Sketch_A5.pdf |archive-date=2023-12-08 |isbn=978-9980-0-3990-3 }}</ref> The trial may also be marked on verbs, such as in [[Lenakel language|Lenakel]].<ref>{{cite book |author-last=Lynch |author-first=John |author-link=John Lynch (linguist) |year=1978 |title=A Grammar of Lenakel |url=https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/146494/1/PL-B55.pdf |series=Pacific Linguistics, Series B - No. 55 |location=Canberra |publisher=Australian National University |pages=55–58 |access-date=2024-03-16 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221013104723/https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/146494/1/PL-B55.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-13 |isbn=0-85883-166-X }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Larike pronouns
|-
!
! Singular
! Dual
! Trial
! Plural
|-
! First (exc.)
| {{lang|alo|aʔu}}
| {{lang|alo|arua}}
| {{lang|alo|aridu}}
| {{lang|alo|ami}}
|-
! First (inc.)
| -
| {{lang|alo|itua}}
| {{lang|alo|itidu}}
| {{lang|alo|ite}}
|-
! Second
| {{lang|alo|ane}}
| {{lang|alo|irua}}
| {{lang|alo|iridu}}
| {{lang|alo|imi}}
|-
! Third
| {{lang|alo|mane}}
| {{lang|alo|matua}}
| {{lang|alo|matidu}}
| {{lang|alo|mati}}
|}

While the dual can be obligatory or facultative, according to [[Greville G Corbett|Greville Corbett]] there are no known cases of an obligatory trial, so the trial might always be facultative. However, languages may have both a facultative dual and a facultative trial, like in Larike, or an obligatory dual and a facultative trial, like in [[Ngan'gi language|Ngan'gi]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Corbett |first=Greville G. |author-link=Greville G Corbett |year=2004 |orig-year=2000 |title=Number |series=Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=22n15, 43–45 |isbn=0-511-01591-7 }}</ref>

Most languages with a trial are in the Austronesian family, and most non-Austronesian languages with a trial are nearby in Oceania.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cysouw |first=Michael |year=2009 |orig-year=2003 |title=The Paradigmatic Structure of Person Marking |series=Oxford Studies in Typology and Linguistic Theory |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=197 |isbn=978-0-19-925412-5}}</ref> The latter category includes the Austronesian-influenced [[English-based creole languages|English creole]] languages of [[Tok Pisin]],<ref name="Verhaar1995">{{cite book |last=Verhaar |first=John W. M. |year=1995 |title=Toward a Reference Grammar of Tok Pisin: An Experiment in Corpus Linguistics |location=Honolulu |publisher=University of Hawaiʻi Press |series=Oceanic Linguistics Special Publication no. 26 |pages=19–20 |isbn=978-0-8248-1672-8}}</ref> [[Bislama]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Crowley |first=Terry |author-link=Terry Crowley (linguist) |year=2004 |title=Bislama Reference Grammar |series=Oceanic Linguistics Special Publications |publisher=University of Hawai'i Press |location=Honolulu |volume=31 |pages=26, 46–47 |jstor=20006778|isbn=978-0-8248-2880-6}}</ref> and [[Pijin language|Pijin]].<ref>{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |last=Beimers |first=Gerry David |year=2008 |title=Pijin: A Grammar of Solomon Islands Pidgin |url=https://rune.une.edu.au/1959.11/2367 |pages=92, 236–237 |publisher=University of New England |access-date=2023-12-04}}</ref> In Australia, the trial can also be found in [[Australian Aboriginal languages|Aboriginal languages]] of many different language families.{{efn|This includes:
{{columns-list|gap=0em|
*[[Pama–Nyungan languages|Pama–Nyungan]] - [[Arabana language|Arabana]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Hercus |first=Luise A. |author-link=Luise Hercus |year=1994 |title=A Grammar of the Arabana-Wangkangurru Language, Lake Eyre Basin, South Australia |series=Pacific Linguistics: Series C - no. 128 |location=Canberra |publisher=Australian National University |pages=64–66, 91–92, 105, 109, 121–122, 124, 127 |isbn=0-85883-425-1}}</ref><ref name="Hercus1966"/>
*[[Macro-Gunwinyguan languages|Macro-Gunwinyguan]] - [[Anindilyakwa language|Anindilyakwa]]<ref>{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |last=van Egmond |first=Marie-Elaine |year=2012 |title=Enindhilyakwa Phonology, Morphosyntax and Genetic Position |url=https://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/handle/2123/8747 |page=85-86, 107-108, 138, 388 |publisher=University of Sydney |access-date=2024-01-04}}</ref><ref name="Corbett2000p22">{{cite book |last=Corbett |first=Greville G. |author-link=Greville G Corbett |year=2004 |orig-year=2000 |title=Number |series=Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=22 |isbn=0-511-01591-7 }}</ref>
*[[Iwaidjan languages|Iwaidjan]] - [[Amurdak language|Amurdak]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Mailhammer |first=Robert |editor-last1=Hanna |editor-first1=Patrizia Noel Aziz |editor-last2=Smith |editor-first2=Laura Catharine |year=2022 |title=Linguistic Preferences |series=Trends in Linguistics Studies and Monographs, vol. 358 |location=Berlin |publisher=Mouton de Gruyter |chapter=Amurdak Intersyllabic Phonotactics and Morphophonemic Alternations as Motivated by the Contact Law |pages=49–70 [58] |isbn=978-3-11-072146-1 }}</ref>
*[[Western Daly languages|Western Daly]] - [[Marrithiyel language|Marrithiyel]]<ref>{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |last=Green |first=Ian |year=1989 |title=Marrithiyel, A Language of the Daly River Region of the Northern Territory |url=https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/10926 |pages=1, 74-75, 138-139 |publisher=Australian National University |access-date=2023-11-24 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221224075849/https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/10926/6/Green%20I%20Thesis%201989.pdf |archive-date=2022-12-24}}</ref>
*[[Southern Daly languages|Southern Daly]] - [[Ngan'gi language|Ngan'gi]]<ref>{{cite journal |last=Blythe |first=Joe |date=2013 |title=Preference Organization Driving Structuration: Evidence from Australian Aboriginal Interaction for Pragmatically Motivated Grammaticalization |url=https://www.linguisticsociety.org/sites/default/files/Lg_89_4_Blythe.pdf |journal=Language |volume=89 |issue=4 |pages=883-919 [889-890, 895] |doi=10.1353/lan.2013.0057 |hdl=11343/43148 |s2cid=1574534 |access-date=2023-12-04 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204172821/https://www.linguisticsociety.org/sites/default/files/Lg_89_4_Blythe.pdf |archive-date=2023-12-04}}</ref>
*[[Wagaydyic languages|Wagaydyic]] - [[Wadjiginy language|Wadjiginy]]<ref>{{cite thesis |degree=MA |last=Ford |first=Lysbeth Julie |year=1990 |title=The Phonology and Morphology of Bachamal (Wogait) |url=https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/10815/8/Ford_L_Master_1990.pdf |page=95-98 |publisher=Australian National University |access-date=2023-11-29 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200303061205/https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/10815/8/Ford_L_Master_1990.pdf |archive-date=2020-03-03}}</ref>
*[[Worrorran languages|Worrorran]] - [[Worrorra language|Worrorra]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Clendon |first=Mark |year=2014 |title=Worrorra: A Language of the North-West Kimberley Coast |location=Adelaide |publisher=University of Adelaide Press |pages=155–156, 210–214, 224–225, 235 |isbn=978-1-922064-59-2}}</ref>
*Possible [[language isolate]] - [[Giimbiyu language|Giimbiyu]]<ref name="Bach2023">{{cite book |last1=Bach |first1=Xavier |last2=Round |first2=Erich R. |editor-last=Bowern |editor-first=Claire |editor-link=Claire Bowern |year=2023 |chapter=Suppletion |title=The Oxford Guide to Australian Languages |series=Oxford Guides to the World's Languages |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=328-343 [331] |doi=10.1093/oso/9780198824978.003.0029 |isbn=978-0-19-882497-8 }}</ref>
}}}} In Indonesia, trial pronouns are common in the storytelling of [[Abun language|Abun]], a possible language isolate.<ref name="Berry1999">{{cite book |last1=Berry |first1=Keith |last2=Berry |first2=Christine |year=1999 |title=A Description of Abun: A West Papuan Language of Irian Jaya  |series=Pacific Linguistics: Series B - no. 115 |location=Canberra |publisher=Australian National University |pages=44–45 |isbn=0-85883-482-0}}</ref> In the Solomon Islands, trial pronouns are used very frequently in [[Touo language|Touo]], either a [[Central Solomon languages|Central Solomon language]] or a language isolate. As a result, bilingual speakers of Touo and Pijin will use trial pronouns a lot more commonly in Pijin than other speakers, for whom the trial is usually a lot less common than the dual.<ref>{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |last=Beimers |first=Gerry David |year=2008 |title=Pijin: A Grammar of Solomon Islands Pidgin |url=https://rune.une.edu.au/1959.11/2367 |pages=31 |publisher=University of New England |access-date=2023-12-04}}</ref> A very rare example of a spoken language with the trial (in both pronouns and verbs) outside of Oceania is [[Tangsa language|Muklom Tangsa]], spoken in northeast India.<ref>{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |last=Mulder |first=Mijke |year=2020 |title=A Descriptive Grammar of Muklom Tangsa |url=https://opal.latrobe.edu.au/ndownloader/files/24866600 |pages=156-158, 173-174, 262-265, 279, 282-284 |publisher=La Trobe University |access-date=2024-01-22 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240122174953/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/figshare-production-eu-latrobe-storage9079-ap-southeast-2/24866600/Thesis.pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIARRFKZQ25KW2DIYRU/20240122/ap-southeast-2/s3/aws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20240122T174952Z&X-Amz-Expires=10&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=41cf952ea3f02f46ec2794d850ac63428b4ffbd04c8b0b3a9c043d276fb72c70 |archive-date=2024-01-22}}</ref>