| Affix function | number of borrowed affixes |
|---|---|
Information and examples are from Alvre (2002) (see also Raun 1964; Laanest 1982), which is, however, specifically about indefinite‑marking elements, and there is no information whether any other affix was borrowed. The following set of borrowed forms refers to the Karelian Tikhvin variety, similar but in different ways overlapping sets were borrowed in the closely related Karelian Tver variety, Karelian Valdai variety, Livvi‑Karelian (Olonets Karelian), Veps, Wotic, and Ludic. All suffixes are used to form indefinite pronouns and adverbs.
6 indefinite‑marking suffixes
‑bį ~ ‑bi̬ ‘indefinite’, e.g. kenen bį ‘whoever’, ku·ibi̬ ‘in whatever way’
‑bui(ť) ~ ‑buit’en(a) ‘indefinite’, e.g. miľľä‿bui ripakolla ‘with any kind of cloth’, miśśä‿buitėḛ ‘anywhere’, miťüš‿buiť ‘anyone’
‑i ‘indefinite’, e.g. keľľä‿i jōlu ‘nobody has’, i ruadua ei miäii̯ ‘and there is no work whatsoever’
‑ńi ~ ‑ni ‘indefinite’, e.g. ruvetti͔ḭ valamaa̰ reŋgilöiľľa da ken miľľä‿ńi ‘they began to pour with buckets or anyone with anything’, možot muissat, miśśä ńi näit ‘maybe you can remember having seen it somewhere?’
‑ńibuť ~ ‑ńibit ‘indefinite’, e.g. on ken‿ńibuť üökšun ‘somebody was wrong’
‑to ‘indefinite’, e.g. miďä to šano ‘he/she said something’, poiga šinä miśśä‿to meiľä on ‘the boy is there somewhere with us’, kuin‿to ‘in any way’