INDEFINITE PRONOUNS

INDEFINITE PRONOUNS

Words for 'some/somebody/something'
...

nakkvarr 'some/somebody'

masc. fem. neut.
sing.
nom. nakkvarr/nökkurr nökkur nakkva(r)t/nökkut
gen. nakkvars/nökkurs nakkvarrar/nökkurrar nakkvars/nökkurs
dat. nökkurum nakkvarri/nökkurri nökkuru
acc. nakkvarn/nökkurn nakkvara/nökkura nakkva(r)t/nökkut
plur.
nom. nakkvarir/nökkurir nakkvarar/nökkurar nökkur
gen. nakkvarra/nökkurra nakkvarra/nökkurra nakkvarra/nökkurra
dat. nökkurum nökkurum nökkurum
acc. nakkvara/nökkura nakkvarar/nökkurar nökkur

einhverr 'some/somebody' is composed from the numeral/pronoun einn 'one' and the pronoun hverr 'each', and is inflected just like hverr, but in the nominative singular the first part einn is also inflected, i.e. nom. masc. einnhverr, fem. einhver, neut. eitthvat, but gen. masc. and neut. einhvers, fem. einhverjar.	sumr 'somebody' is inflected just like an adjective.

Words for 'no/nobody/nothing'
...

engi 'nobody'
The word engi has a quite irregular inflection. Originally this word was composed from the word einn 'one' and the negative particle gi, i.e. 'not one'. The masc. nom. form was thus einngi, the gen. einski, the dat. einungi etc., and many of these forms like this do exist, but the inflection was changed to a more normal one, with the endings last. This change was not completely finished so there are many older forms attested, like einungi.
The forms in the simplified paradigm below are some very common ones, with an inflection almost like normal adjectives. The stem has many variants; here it's eng- all the way, but it can also be eing-, øng-, engv- or øngv-.

masc. fem. neut. masc. fem. neut.
sing. plur.
nom. engi/einginn eingi ekki/etki engir engar engi
gen. enskis engrar enskis engra engra engra
dat. engum engri engu engum engum engum
acc. engi/engan enga ekki/etki enga engar engi

neinn 'no/nobody'
is inflected just like einn 'one'.

hvergi 'none' and hvárgi 'neither'
are inflected like hvergi and hvárgi in the meaning 'each' (below).

	sing.
nom.	manngi
gen.	mannskis
dat.	mannigi
acc.	manngi

manngi 'nobody'
is found (almost) only in poetry. It's composed from the noun maðr 'man' and the negative particle gi, and means literally 'no man'. There are no pluralforms.

vetki 'nothing'
is inflected like this:

	sing.
nom.	vetki
gen.	vettugis
dat.	vettugi
acc.	vetki

Words for 'each'
...

hverr 'each' and hvárr 'each (of two)'
are inflected like their interrogative versions hverr and hvárr, which mean 'which' and 'which (of two)' (see interrogative pronouns). Since the meanings can be confused the particle gi can be added (see hvergi and hvárgi below). To hvárr can also be added a tveggja 'of the two of them' – hvárrtveggja –, and tveggja could in turn be inflected (see hvárrtveggi below).

hvergi 'each' and hvárgi 'each (of two)'
are composed of the pronouns hverr and hvárr respectively, and the particle gi which here has an other meaning than the negative meaning in engi.

	masc.	fem.	neut.		masc.	fem.	neut.
	sing.				sing.
nom.	hvergi	hvergi	hver(t)ki	nom.	hvárgi	hvárgi	hvár(t)ki
gen.	hverskis	hverigrar	hverskis	gen.	hvárskis	hvárigrar	hvárskis
dat.	hverjungi/ hverigum	hverigri	hverigu	dat.	hvárungi/ hvár(i)gum	hvárigri	hvárugi/ hvárigu
acc.	hverngi	hveriga	hver(t)ki	acc.	hvárngi	hvár(i)ga	hvár(t)ki
	plur.				plur.
nom.	hverigir	hverigar	hver(i)gi	nom.	hvár(i)gir	hvár(i)gar	hvárgi
gen.	h v e r i g r a			gen.	h v á r i g r a
dat.	h v e r j u n g i / h v e r i g u m			dat.	h v á r u n g i / h v á r (i) g u m
acc.	hveriga	hverigar	hver(i)gi	acc.	hvár(i)ga	hvár(i)gar	hvárgi

hvárrtveggi 'each (of two)'
originally consisted of the pronoun hvárr and the gen. of the numeral tveir which enhanced the meaning 'of two'. This tveggja could be inflected as a weak ja-stem adjective, which does not keep the first part hvárr from being inflected.

Words for 'whoever', 'whatever'

Hvergi and hvárgi also have the meaning 'who ever' (se these words above).

	sing.
nom.	hvatki
gen.	hvesskis
dat.	hvígi
acc.	hvatki

hvatki 'whatever'
is composed from the pronoun hvat 'what' and the particle gi.

hvatvetna 'whatever'
is composed from hvat 'what' and the genitiv plural of véttr 'being, thing', and literally means 'what of (all) things'.

	sing.
nom.	hvatvetna
gen.	hversvetna
dat.	hvívetna
acc.	hvatvetna

Nakkvarr is a contraction of the pre-ON. phrase *ne wait eka hwarjaR 'I don't know who'.
Engi is the numeral einn with the particle gi attached. This particle was originally just emphatic (like Goth. hun and Sanskr. cana), but was only used in negative phrases and was therefore thought of as a negation (cf. Fr. pas, in stead of ne ... pas).
Neinn is einn negated with the real negation ne (OEngl. ne, Sanscr. na etc.), cf. OEngl. nán > Engl. none.
Hvárgi, manngi and vetki are all negated with the particle gi. The first part of hvárgi is the interrogative pronoun hvárr 'which one (of the two)', the first part of manngi is the noun maðr (with the stem mann-) 'man' (i.e. 'not a man'), and the first part of vetki is the noun vættr 'thing, being' (i.e. 'not a thing/being').
Hverr and hvárr were originally *ga-hwarjaz and *ga-hwaþaraz (OEng. gehweðer), but the *ga- was lost in North Germanic. To prevent confusion the particle gi was added in stead, but with no negative meaning!