Datapoint Afrikaans/Indefinite pronouns

'Somebody' is iemand, which is related to the generic noun man 'man'. 'Something' is not related to a generic noun or to an interrogative: it is iets. So iets is a special indefinite. Nevertheless, both iemand and iets carry the prefix ie-, which also shows up in iewers ('somewhere').

Values

Generic-noun-based indefinites Frequency: 50.0%

Example 29-31:
Daar het iemand geroep.
Daar
there
het
pst
iemand
somebody
ge-roep.
ptcp-called
Somebody called.

Source: Ponelis 1979: 99

Confidence:
Very certain

Special indefinites Frequency: 50.0%

Example 29-32:
Iets het verkeerd geloop.
Iets
something
het
pst
verkeerd
wrong
ge-loop.
ptcp-gone
Something went wrong.

Source: Ponelis 1979: 100

Confidence:
Very certain