Editing Grammatical number (section)

===Quadral===

The quadral number denotes exactly four items. Apparent examples of its use are almost entirely confined to pronouns, and specifically those in the languages of Oceania or in [[sign language]]s. It has been contested whether the quadral truly exists in natural language; some linguists have rejected it as an extant category,<ref>See:
*{{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=26–30 |isbn=0-511-01591-7 }}
*{{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 |pages=200–203 |isbn=978-0-19-925412-5}}
*{{cite journal |last=Harbour |first=Daniel |date=2014 |title=Paucity, Abundance, and the Theory of Number |url=https://www.linguisticsociety.org/sites/default/files/185-229.pdf |journal=Linguistic Society of America |volume=90 |issue=1 |pages=185-229 [187, 191, 205, 223n38] |doi=10.1353/lan.2014.0003 |s2cid=120276362 |access-date=2024-01-04 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160705191935/https://www.linguisticsociety.org/sites/default/files/185-229.pdf |archive-date=2016-07-05 }}
*{{cite book |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 |location=London |publisher=Routledge |pages=35 |isbn=978-0-203-82038-4}}
</ref> while others have accepted it.<ref>See:
*{{cite book |last1=Bender |first1=Byron W. |author-link1=Byron W. Bender |last2=Capelle |first2=Alfred |last3=Pagotto |first3=Louise |year=2016 |title=Marshallese Reference Grammar |location=Honolulu |publisher=University of Hawaiʻi Press |series=PALI Language Texts: Micronesia |pages=172–174 |isbn=978-0-8248-5993-0 |jstor=j.ctvsrh2m}}
*{{cite book |last=Blust |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Blust |year=2013 |orig-year=2009 |edition=2nd |title=The Austronesian Languages |series=Pacific Linguistics 602 |location=Canberra |publisher=Australian National University |pages=67, 318–319, 332 |isbn=978-0-85883-602-0}}
*{{cite book |last1=Kimmelman |first1=Vadim |last2=Burkova |first2=Svetlana |last3=Filimonova |first3=Elizaveta |editor-last1=Acquaviva |editor-first1=Paolo |editor-last2=Daniel |editor-first2=Michael |editor-link2=Michael Daniel (linguist) |year=2022 |chapter=Number in Russian Sign Language |title=Number in the World's Languages: A Comparative Handbook |series=Comparative Handbooks of Linguistics, vol. 5 |location=Berlin |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |pages=805–832 [809–811] |isbn=978-3-11-056069-5}}
*{{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> Some languages that have previously been described as having a quadral, like Sursurunga, have since been reanalyzed as having a paucal instead.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hutchisson |first=Don |editor-last=Wiesemann |editor-first=Ursula |year=1986 |chapter=Sursurunga Pronouns and the Special Uses of Quadral Number |title=Pronominal Systems |location=Tübingen, Germany |publisher=Gunter Narr |series=Continuum: Schriftenreihe zur Linguistik, bd. 5 |pages=1–20 |isbn=3-87808-335-1}}</ref><ref name="Corbett2000p26"/>

Like trial forms, quadral forms of pronouns have been said to be attested in the Melanesian pidgins of Tok Pisin,<ref name="Verhaar1995"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Crystal |first=David |author-link=David Crystal |year=2000 |title=Language Death |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=58 |isbn=978-0-521-01271-3}}</ref> Bislama,<ref name="Tryon1987">{{cite book |last=Tryon |first=Darrell T. |author-link=Darrell Tryon |year=1987 |title=Bislama: An Introduction to the National Language of Vanuatu |series=Pacific Linguistics: Series D - no. 72 |location=Canberra |publisher=Australian National University |page=19 |isbn=0-85883-361-1 |url=https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/263015/1/PL-D72.pdf |access-date=29 April 2024}}</ref> and Pijin.<ref>{{cite book |last=Jourdan |first=Christine |editor-last1=Burridge |editor-first1=Kate |editor-link1=Kate Burridge |editor-last2=Kortmann |editor-first2=Bernd |year=2008 |chapter=Solomon Islands Pijin: Morphology and Syntax |title=Varieties of English |volume=3, The Pacific and Australasia |location=Berlin |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |pages=467–487 [474] |isbn=978-3-11-019637-5}}</ref> However, while these are grammatically possible, they are rare, and plural forms are almost always used in their place.

Many different sign languages have been explicitly described as having quadral pronoun forms.{{efn|This includes:

{{columns-list|gap=0em|colwidth=20em|
*[[American Sign Language]]<ref name="Baker1980">{{cite book |last1=Baker-Shenk |first1=Charlotte |last2=Cokely |first2=Dennis |year=1991 |orig-year=1980 |title=American Sign Language: A Teacher's Resource Text on Grammar and Culture |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Gallaudet University Press |pages=213–214, 370 |isbn=0-930323-84-X}}</ref><ref name="Neidle2015">{{cite book |last1=Neidle |first1=Carol |last2=Nash |first2=Joan Cottle Poole |editor-last1=Jepsen |editor-first1=Julie Bakken |editor-last2=De Clerck |editor-first2=Goedele |editor-last3=Lutalo-Kiingi |editor-first3=Sam |editor-last4=McGregor |editor-first4=William B. |editor-link4=William B. McGregor |year=2015 |chapter=American Sign Language |title=Sign Languages of the World: A Comparative Handbook |location=Berlin |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |pages=31–70 [46] |isbn=978-1-61451-796-2}}</ref>
*[[Argentine Sign Language]]<ref name="Caceres2017">{{cite thesis |degree=MA |last=Caceres |first=Roman |year=2017 |title=Lexical Categories in {{lang|es|Lengua de Señas Argentina|cat=no}} |url=https://commons.und.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3104 |pages=123–124, 212 |publisher=University of North Dakota |access-date=2024-01-24 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230424124627/https://commons.und.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3104&context=theses |archive-date=2023-04-24 }}</ref>
*[[Brazilian Sign Language]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Almeida-Silva |first1=Anderson |last2=Taveira da Cruz |first2=Ronald |last3=Martins-Paraguassu |first3=Nize |editor-last=Quadros |editor-first=Ronice Müller de |year=2020 |chapter=Evidence for Determiners (Articles) in Brazilian Sign Language: An Analysis of the Syntactic-Semantic Evidence Found in Nominals |title=Brazilian Sign Language Studies |series=Sign Languages and Deaf Communities, vol. 11 |location=Berlin |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |pages=155–175 [162] |isbn=978-1-5015-1640-5}}</ref>
*[[British Sign Language]]<ref name="Sutton1999">{{cite book |last1=Sutton-Spence |first1=Rachel |last2=Woll |first2=Bencie |author-link2=Bencie Woll |year=1999 |title=The Linguistics of British Sign Language: An Introduction |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=42–43 |isbn=978-0-521-63142-6}}</ref>
*[[Czech Sign Language]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Macurová |first1=Alena |last2=Bímová |first2=Petra |date=2001 |title=Poznáváme Český Znakový Jazyk II. (Slovesa a Jejich Typy) |url=http://dspace.specpeda.cz/bitstream/handle/0/670/285-304.pdf |journal=Speciální Pedagogika |language=cs |volume=11 |issue=5 |pages=285–296 [286] |access-date=2023-11-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120091219/http://dspace.specpeda.cz/bitstream/handle/0/670/285-304.pdf |archive-date=2022-01-20}}</ref>
*[[German Sign Language]]<ref name="Illmer2019a">{{cite conference |last=Illmer |first=Britta |title=The Trial Caught in the Middle. An Analysis of the Trial in DGS as a Phenomenon Between Dual and Paucal |conference=13th Conference of Theoretical Issues in Sign Language Research (TISLR13) |pages=251–252 |year=2019 |location=Hamburg, Germany |url=https://fiona.uni-hamburg.de/82b0d2a4/conferencehandbook.pdf#page=253 |access-date=2024-01-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240125202213/https://fiona.uni-hamburg.de/82b0d2a4/conferencehandbook.pdf#page=253 |archive-date=2024-01-25 }}</ref><ref name="Illmer2019b">{{cite AV media |last=Illmer |first=Britta |date=September 27, 2019 |title=The Trial Caught in the Middle. An Analysis of the Trial in DGS as a Phenomenon Between Dual and Paucal |type=Video presentation |language=gsg, en |url=https://fiona.uni-hamburg.de/82b0d2a4/tislr13signopsisbrittaillmer.mp4 |access-date=2024-01-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240125173747/https://fiona.uni-hamburg.de/82b0d2a4/tislr13signopsisbrittaillmer.mp4 |archive-date=2024-01-25 |format=MP4 |location=Hamburg, Germany |publisher=13th Conference of Theoretical Issues in Sign Language Research (TISLR13), University of Hamburg }}</ref>
*[[Hong Kong Sign Language]]<ref>{{cite thesis |degree=MPhil |last=Lam |first=Wai-sze |year=2003 |title=Verb Agreement in Hong Kong Sign Language |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/48540099.pdf |page=208 |publisher=Chinese University of Hong Kong |access-date=2023-08-01 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190320015142/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/48540099.pdf |archive-date=2019-03-20}}</ref>
*[[Jamaican Sign Language]]<ref name="Cumberbatch2015">{{cite book |last=Cumberbatch |first=Keren |editor-last1=Jepsen |editor-first1=Julie Bakken |editor-last2=De Clerck |editor-first2=Goedele |editor-last3=Lutalo-Kiingi |editor-first3=Sam |editor-last4=McGregor |editor-first4=William B. |editor-link4=William B. McGregor |year=2015 |chapter=Jamaican Sign Language |title=Sign Languages of the World: A Comparative Handbook |location=Berlin |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |pages=511–527 [517] |isbn=978-1-61451-796-2}}</ref>
*[[Jamaican Country Sign Language|Konchri Sain]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Cumberbatch |first=Keren |editor-last1=Jepsen |editor-first1=Julie Bakken |editor-last2=De Clerck |editor-first2=Goedele |editor-last3=Lutalo-Kiingi |editor-first3=Sam |editor-last4=McGregor |editor-first4=William B. |editor-link4=William B. McGregor |year=2015 |chapter=Konchri Sain |title=Sign Languages of the World: A Comparative Handbook |location=Berlin |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |pages=553–565 [559] |isbn=978-1-61451-796-2}}</ref>
*[[Levantine Arabic Sign Language]]<ref name="Versteegh2009">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Hendriks |first1=Bernadet |last2=Zeshan |first2=Ulrike |author-link2=Ulrike Zeshan |editor-last1=Versteegh |editor-first1=Kees |editor-link1=Kees Versteegh |editor-last2=Eid |editor-first2=Mushira |editor-last3=Elgibali |editor-first3=Alaa |editor-last4=Woidich |editor-first4=Manfred |editor-last5=Zaborski |editor-first5=Andrzej |year=2009 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Arabic Language And Linguistics |title=Sign Languages |volume=4, Q-Z |location=Leiden, Netherlands |publisher=Brill |pages=222–235 [228] |isbn=978-90-04-14476-7}}</ref>
*[[New Zealand Sign Language]]<ref>{{cite book |last=McKee |first=Rachel |year=2015 |title=New Zealand Sign Language: A Reference Grammar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fbexCQAAQBAJ&pg=PP48 |location=Wellington, New Zealand |publisher=Bridget Williams Books |at=p. [13] of Chapter 2 (no page numbers) |isbn=978-1-927277-30-0}}</ref>
*[[Russian Sign Language]]<ref name="Kimmelman2022">{{cite book |last1=Kimmelman |first1=Vadim |last2=Burkova |first2=Svetlana |last3=Filimonova |first3=Elizaveta |editor-last1=Acquaviva |editor-first1=Paolo |editor-last2=Daniel |editor-first2=Michael |editor-link2=Michael Daniel (linguist) |year=2022 |chapter=Number in Russian Sign Language |title=Number in the World's Languages: A Comparative Handbook |series=Comparative Handbooks of Linguistics, vol. 5 |location=Berlin |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |pages=805–832 [809–811] |isbn=978-3-11-056069-5}}</ref>
*[[Ugandan Sign Language]]<ref name="Lutalo2014">{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |last=Lutalo-Kiingi |first=Sam |year=2014 |title=A Descriptive Grammar of Morphosyntactic Constructions in Ugandan Sign Language (UgSL) |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/20544623.pdf |pages=197–199 |publisher=University of Central Lancashire |access-date=2023-07-31 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731103151/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/20544623.pdf |archive-date=2023-07-31}}</ref>
}}}}{{efn|Other sign languages have been described as having pronouns for exactly four referents without being explicitly described as having a quadral. This includes [[Auslan]], [[Danish Sign Language]],<ref>{{cite book |last=McBurney |first=Susan Lloyd |editor-last1=Meier |editor-first1=Richard P. |editor-last2=Cormier |editor-first2=Kearsy |editor-last3=Quinto-Pozos |editor-first3=David |year=2002 |chapter=Pronominal Reference in Signed and Spoken Language: Are Grammatical Categories Modality-Dependent? |title=Modality and Structure in Signed and Spoken Languages |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=329–369 [340] |isbn=0-521-80385-3}}</ref> and [[Icelandic Sign Language]].<ref>{{cite thesis |degree=MA |last=Þorvaldsdóttir |first=Kristín Lena |year=2011 |title={{lang|is|Sagnir í Íslenska Táknmálinu: Formleg Einkenni og Málfræðilegar Formdeildir|cat=no}} |language=is |url=https://skemman.is/bitstream/1946/9997/4/Sagnir%20i%20%20%20%20%20%20taknm%c3%a1lum_MA%20ritgerd_KL%c3%9e%202011.pdf |page=13 |publisher=University of Iceland |access-date=2024-01-25 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230103052532/https://skemman.is/bitstream/1946/9997/4/Sagnir%20i%20%20%20%20%20%20taknm%C3%A1lum_MA%20ritgerd_KL%C3%9E%202011.pdf |archive-date=2023-01-03}}</ref>}} [[Estonian Sign Language]] has even been described as having the quadral for nouns.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Miljan |first=Merilin |date=2003 |title=Number in Estonian Sign Language |url=https://kirj.ee/wp-content/plugins/kirj/pub/Trames-3-2003-203-223_20230313133502.pdf |journal=TRAMES |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=203–223 [206–209] |doi=10.3176/tr.2003.3.04 |s2cid=146721613 |access-date=2023-07-31 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731084205/https://kirj.ee/wp-content/plugins/kirj/pub/Trames-3-2003-203-223_20230313133502.pdf |archive-date=2023-07-31}}</ref>

[[Marshallese language|Marshallese]] has been said to have the quadral as a regular feature in its pronoun system.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bender |first=Byron W. |author-link=Byron W. Bender |year=1969 |title=Spoken Marshallese: An Intensive Language Course with Grammatical Notes and Glossary |location=Honolulu |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |series=PALI Language Texts: Micronesia |pages=5, 8–9 |isbn=0-87022-070-5}}</ref><ref name="Bender2016">{{cite book |last1=Bender |first1=Byron W. |author-link1=Byron W. Bender |last2=Capelle |first2=Alfred |last3=Pagotto |first3=Louise |year=2016 |title=Marshallese Reference Grammar |location=Honolulu |publisher=University of Hawaiʻi Press |series=PALI Language Texts: Micronesia |pages=172–174 |isbn=978-0-8248-5993-0 |jstor=j.ctvsrh2m}}</ref> While the apparent Marshallese quadral can mean exactly four, it also has an alternate rhetorical use in speeches to larger groups in order to impart a sense of individual intimacy. According to [[Greville G Corbett|Greville Corbett]], this means it is better classified as a paucal.<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=26–30 |isbn=0-511-01591-7 }}</ref> However, there is not consensus that this alternate use means Marshallese does not truly have a quadral; the final 2016 reference grammar of Marshallese by [[Byron W. Bender]], a linguist with expertise in the language, still refers to it as having a quadral.<ref name="Bender2016"/> Besides singular, dual, trial, and quadral or paucal, Marshallese additionally has two different plural forms, one for five or more and one for two or more (referred to as multiple and plural absolute respectively), creating a partially overlapping six-way number distinction.<ref name="Bender2016"/><ref name="Cowper2022">{{cite journal |last1=Cowper |first1=Elizabeth |author-link1=Elizabeth Cowper |last2=Hall |first2=Daniel Currie |date=2022 |title=Morphosemantic Features in Universal Grammar: What We Can Learn from Marshallese Pronouns and Demonstratives |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/122/article/864682/pdf |journal=The Canadian Journal of Linguistics |volume=67 |issue=3 |pages=242–266 [245–246] |doi=10.1017/cnj.2022.25 |access-date=2024-01-26 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Capell |first=Arthur |author-link=Arthur Capell |date=1962 |title=Oceanic Linguistics Today |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2739878 |journal=Current Anthropology |volume=3 |issue=4 |pages=371–428 [385] |doi=10.1086/200305 |jstor=2739878 |s2cid=144609787 }}</ref> [[Kove language|Kove]] has been recorded as having a similar pronoun system as Marshallese, with one addition: the plural (2+) is split between two categories, one for members of the same family and one for members of different families, creating a seven-way distinction.<ref>{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |last=Sato |first=Hiroko |year=2013 |title=Grammar of Kove: An Austronesian Language of the West New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea |url=https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/45198c76-a0aa-4b9c-ae00-6656ea75bfed/content |pages=113–115 |publisher=University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa |access-date=2024-03-19 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240319191554/https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/45198c76-a0aa-4b9c-ae00-6656ea75bfed/content |archive-date=2024-03-19 }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Marshallese pronouns ({{lang|mh|Rālik|italic=no}} dialect)
|-
!
! Singular
! Dual
! Trial
! Quadral<br>or Paucal
! Multiple<br>(5+)
! Plural<br>(2+)
|-
! First (exc.)
| {{lang|mh|ña}}
| {{lang|mh|kōmro}}
| {{lang|mh|kōmjeel}}
| {{lang|mh|kōm(je)eañ}}
| {{lang|mh|kōmwōj}}
| {{lang|mh|kōm}}
|-
! First (inc.)
| -
| {{lang|mh|kōjro}}
| {{lang|mh|kōjjeel}}
| {{lang|mh|kōjeañ}}
| {{lang|mh|kōjwōj}}
| {{lang|mh|kōj}}
|-
! Second
| {{lang|mh|kwe}}
| {{lang|mh|koṃro}}
| {{lang|mh|koṃjeel}}
| {{lang|mh|koṃ(je)eañ}}
| {{lang|mh|koṃwōj}}
| {{lang|mh|koṃ}}
|-
! Third
| {{lang|mh|e}}
| {{lang|mh|erro}}
| {{lang|mh|erjeel}}
| {{lang|mh|er(je)jeañ}}
| {{lang|mh|erwōj}}
| {{lang|mh|er}}
|}

A few other languages have also been claimed to have quadral pronouns. [[Robert Blust]] and others have said they exist in some of the Austronesian [[Kenyah languages]], specifically the highland Lepoʼ Sawa dialect spoken in [[Long Anap]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Blust |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Blust |year=2013 |orig-year=2009 |edition=2nd |title=The Austronesian Languages |series=Pacific Linguistics 602 |location=Canberra |publisher=Australian National University |pages=67, 318–319 |isbn=978-0-85883-602-0}}</ref><ref name="Smith2017">{{cite journal |last=Smith |first=Alexander D. |date=2017 |title=Reconstructing Proto Kenyah Pronouns and the Development of a True Five Number System |url=https://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/1880536c-4922-4669-a999-62f363b6b56d/content#page=57 |journal=Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society |publisher=University of Hawai‘i Press |volume=JSEALS Special Publication No. 1, ''Issues in Austronesian Historical Linguistics'' |pages=48–66 |access-date=2023-08-05 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230805125809/https://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/1880536c-4922-4669-a999-62f363b6b56d/content |archive-date=2023-08-05 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Soriente |first=Antonia |date=2018 |title=Deixis in Borneo: Kenyah and Punan |url=https://www.ethnorema.it/wp-content/uploads/14-03-Soriente.pdf |journal=Ethnorêma |volume=14 |pages=1–34 [25] |doi=10.23814/ethn.14.18.sor |access-date=2024-01-02 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230311024950/https://www.ethnorema.it/wp-content/uploads/14-03-Soriente.pdf |archive-date=2023-03-11 }}</ref> There seems to be no other published sources of info on this dialect's pronouns, and an investigation into the lowland Lebo’ Vo’ dialect has revealed a paucal instead of a quadral.<ref name="Smith2017"/> A quadral claim has also been made for the animate demonstrative pronouns in [[Nauruan language|Nauruan]].<ref>{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |last=Hughes |first=Kevin |year=2020 |title=The Synchronic and Diachronic Phonology of Nauruan: Towards a Definitive Classification of an Understudied Micronesian Language |url=https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4653&context=gc_etds |page=261 |publisher=City University of New York |access-date=2024-01-02 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230502140936/https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4653&context=gc_etds |archive-date=2023-05-02 }}</ref> Outside the Austronesian family, [[Abun language|Abun]] storytelling reportedly frequently contains quadral pronouns in addition to trial ones.<ref name="Berry1999"/> Perhaps the only known spoken language outside Oceania to have a claimed quadral is [[Apinayé language|Apinayé]] of Brazil, recorded as having a third person pronominal prefix meaning "they four", although this has been little researched or described.<ref>{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |last=Callow |first=John Campbell |year=1962 |title=The Apinayé Language: Phonology and Grammar |url=https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/29420/1/10731576.pdf |page=115n3 |publisher=University of London |access-date=2023-11-24 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615133017/https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/29420/1/10731576.pdf |archive-date=2020-06-15}}</ref><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=197n5 |isbn=978-0-19-925412-5}}</ref>

In some Austronesian languages with a singular/dual/trial/plural pronoun system, the plural forms are etymologically related to the number four. This has led to suggestions or assertions that historically a true quadral did exist, but it has since morphed into a plural form.{{efn|This has been claimed for Tolai,<ref>{{cite book |last=Krifka |first=Manfred |author-link=Manfred Krifka |editor-last1=Brandt |editor-first1=Patrick |editor-last2=Fuss |editor-first2=Eric |year=2006 |chapter=A Note on the Pronoun System and the Predicate Marker in Tok Pisin |title=Form, Structure, and Grammar: A Festschrift Presented to Günther Grewendorf on Occasion of His 60th Birthday |series=Studia Grammatica 63 |location=Berlin |publisher=Akademie Verlag |pages=79–91 [80] |isbn=978-3-05-004224-4}}</ref> [[Konomala language|Konomala]], [[Patpatar language|Patpatar]], [[Kandas language|Kandas]], [[Siar-Lak language|Siar]],<ref name="Ross1988">{{cite book |last=Ross |first=M. D. |author-link=Malcolm Ross (linguist) |year=1988 |title=Proto Oceanic and the Austronesian Languages of Western Melanesia |series=Pacific Linguistics: Series C - no. 98 |location=Canberra |publisher=Australian National University |pages=101, 334, 344 |isbn=0-85883-367-0}}</ref> [[Mandara language|Tabar]], [[Label language|Label]], [[Gao language|Gao]], [[Kwamera language|Kwamera]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Capell |first=A. |author-link=Arthur Capell |editor-last=Sebeok |editor-first=Thomas A. |editor-link=Thomas Sebeok |year=1971 |chapter=The Austronesian Languages of Australian New Guinea |title=Current Trends in Linguistics |volume=8, Linguistics in Oceania. Bk. 1, Indigenous Languages |location=The Hague |publisher=Mouton |pages=240–340 [260–262] |lccn=64-3663 |oclc=8682227}}</ref> [[Ma'ya language|Ma'ya]], [[Matbat language|Matbat]],<ref>{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |last=Kamholz |first=David Christopher |year=2014 |title=Austronesians in Papua: Diversification and Change in South Halmahera–West New Guinea |url=https://escholarship.org/content/qt6nj8g0b3/qt6nj8g0b3.pdf |page=120 |publisher=University of California, Berkeley |access-date=2023-08-05 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220426161839/https://escholarship.org/content/qt6nj8g0b3/qt6nj8g0b3.pdf |archive-date=2022-04-26 }}</ref> 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 [99] |doi=10.2307/3623187|jstor=3623187 }}</ref> Wamesa,<ref>{{cite book |last=Capell |first=A. |author-link=Arthur Capell |editor-last=Wurm |editor-first=S. A. |editor-link=Stephen Wurm |year=1976 |chapter=General Picture of Austronesian Languages, New Guinea Area |title=New Guinea Area Languages and Language Study |volume=2, Austronesian Languages |series=Pacific Linguistics: Series C - no. 39 |location=Canberra |publisher=Australian National University |pages=5–52 [44] |isbn=0-85883-155-4}}</ref> Ambai,<ref name="Silzer1983"/> [[Loniu language|Loniu]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Hamel |first=Patricia J. |year=1994 |title=A Grammar and Lexicon of Loniu, Papua New Guinea |series=Pacific Linguistics: Series C - no. 103 |location=Canberra |publisher=Australian National University |page=52 |isbn=0-85883-410-3 }}</ref> [[Kenyah languages|Badeng]],<ref name="Smith2017"/> and [[Baluan-Pam language|Paluai]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Schokkin |first=Dineke |year=2020 |title=A Grammar of Paluai: The Language of Baluan Island, Papua New Guinea |series=Pacific Linguistics vol. 663 |location=Berlin |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |page=120 |isbn=978-3-11-067513-9}}</ref> Some of these languages may be more accurately described as having a singular/dual/paucal/plural system, where the paucal markers are etymologically related to the word for three and the plural markers are related to the word for four.}} It has thus been hypothesized that the quadral existed in [[Proto-Oceanic language|Proto-Oceanic]]<ref name="Ross1988"/> and Proto-Southern Vanuatu.<ref>{{cite conference |last=Kikusawa |first=Marco |title=On the Development of Number Systems in Oceanic Pronouns |conference=6th International Conference on Oceanic Linguistics (COOL6) |pages=1–38 |year=2006 |location=Port Vila, Vanuatu |url=https://www.academia.edu/6062716 |access-date=24 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231124080210/https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/32987772/Kikusawa__R._2007._On_the_development_of_number_systems_in_Oceanic_pronouns-libre.pdf?1393928927=&response-content-disposition=attachment%3B+filename%3DOn_the_Development_of_Number_Systems_in.pdf&Expires=1700813402&Signature=SD6lXl9OtiD-pe4KeooMEaSQrI6XRIyGdcMAKOv0xjGkwd0iKWDUcDwaHbla61LjhTcVwmXMSLXIa-hj1QwXcE79AIq7LihxpBS4Y~piYWiqHVxD4gWjaHgykr47kr4O7LfcTVFVcqzOtDshklAuPBxyR~6wirFWn3R6H-eYv-xAbyc7ZDULYhRa2esk~6rnnKPS-2cIXufD1KabW-uemp72oy3ce2QV5u6wNPRPTjSNi86PuFUCnFiLoa2B1wIkTjtHdEIqQ3F1LN83y~YMG2CgwJKhx~mRoujcyTBJcp314WQLcgHKpNP6HfgkyLKST0u1zD~uTv9bUO06nnJt~A__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA |archive-date=24 November 2023}}</ref>