Datapoint Early Sranan/Indefinite pronouns

The forms soma (< English somebody) 'person' and sani (< English something) 'thing' can express the indefinite pronouns 'someone' and 'something' by themselves, or are preceded by the INDF.SG article wan. In case of the latter, the combination is sometimes written as one word. It can be difficult to distinguish between a nominal and a pronominal interpretation.

Values

Generic-noun-based indefinites

Example 1-66:
Effi mi ben lukku wan somma, mi goweh, mi takki: Kroboi!
Efi
if
mi
1sg
ben
pst
luku
visit
wan
indf.sg
soma,
person
mi
1sg
gwe,
go.away
mi
1sg
taki:
say
kroboi!
goodbye
When I visit somebody, and I go away, I say: Goodbye!

Source: Schumann 1783: 91

Example 1-67:
(wan) soma; (wan)sani
(wan)
(indf.sg)
soma;
person
(wan)sani
(indf.sg)thing
someone; something

Source: Schumann 1783: 160, 239, 240

Example 1-68:
Da no sanie foe takie tangie.
Da
it.be
no
neg
sani
(some)thing
fu
for
taki
say
tangi.
thanks
It isn’t something to say thanks for.
Dutch: Het is geen dankens waard. [op.cit.]

Source: Weygandt 1798: 102

Example 1-69:
Somma gi ju wansanni, ju musse takki tangi.
Soma
someone/person
gi
give
yu
2sg
wansani,
indf.sg.thing
yu
2sg
musu
must
taki
say
tangi.
thanks
When someone gives you something, you have to say thanks.
German: Wenn dir jemand was gibt, so must du danken. [op.cit.]

Source: Schumann 1783: 160

Confidence:
Very certain