Indefinite Pronouns

Observation

ᓂᐧᐋᐸᒫᐤ ᓀᑌᐦ ᐊᐧᐁᓐ᙮		niwaapimaau naataah awaan.	I can see someone over there.	animate
ᓂᐧᐋᐱᐦᑖᓐ ᓈᑖᐦ ᒑᐧᑳᓐ᙮		niwaapihtaan naataah chaakwaan.	I can see something over there.	inanimate

ᐊᐧᐋᓐ awaan and ᒑᐧᑳᓐ chaakwaan in the examples above are called “indefinite pronouns”. The words ᐊᐧᐋᓐ awaan and ᒑᐧᑳᓐ chaakwaan are polysemic between three English meanings: 1) ‘someone’ and ‘something’, 2) ‘a person’ and ‘a thing’, 3) ‘who’ and ‘what’ (see interrogative pronouns)’.

	Proximate				Obviative
	singular		plural		singular		plural
Animate		ᐊᐧᐋᓐ		ᐊᐧᐋᓂᒌ		ᐊᐧᐋᔨᐤᐦ		ᐊᐧᐋᔨᐤᐦ
		awaan		awaanichii		awaayiuh		awaayiuh
Inanimate		ᒑᐧᑳᓐ		ᒑᐧᑳᓂᐦᐄ		ᒑᐧᑳᔨᐤ		ᒑᐧᑳᔨᐤᐦ
		chaakwaan		chaakwaanihii		chaakwaayiu		chaakwaayiuh

ᐊᐧᐋᓐ awaan and ᒑᐧᑳᓐ chaakwaan can sometimes be the equivalent of the English nouns ‘person’ or ‘thing’. Compare the sentences below where they can be translated either by an English pronoun or an English noun.

ᓂᐧᐋᐱᒫᐤ ᐊᐧᐋᓐ᙮		niwaapimaau awaan.	I see someone/a person.
ᓂᐧᐋᐱᐦᑖᓐ ᒑᐧᑳᓐ᙮		niwaapihtaan chaakwaan.	I see something/a thing.

Like a noun, ᒑᐧᑳᓐ chaakwaan takes nominal inflection in possessive constructions.

ᓂᒑᐧᑳᓂᒻᐦ

nichaakwaanimh

my things

(see also quantifiers)