IPQ: The stem of indefinite pronouns is identical to that of interrogative pronouns.
that what
‘what is that?’ (S. D.)
that something
‘that is something’ (S. D.)
who home-come.prs.3sg
‘Who is coming home?’ (S. D.)
somebody home-come.prs.3sg
‘Somebody is coming home’ (S. D.)
The Northern Mansi interrogative and indefinite pronouns derive from the same stem, but synchronically they do not show any relationship. Those interrogative and indefinite pronouns which do not refer to people have the stem ma- (1-2), while the χō– stem is used when the referent is a person (3-4) (Rombandeeva 1973, Riese 2001).