The expression of certainty / uncertainty using the word “odin (one)” in Russian in comparison with the Chinese counterpart

Purpose. When discussing the phenomenon of the pronominalization of Russian numerals, the most discussed word is “odin (one)”, which is often used as an indefinite pronoun. However, in fact, the word “odin (one)” is capable of expressing a definitive meaning depending on the context and situation. In this respect, a similar phenomenon is ob served in the Chinese language. Unlike the Chinese word “一 (yi)”, which is used mainly in the function of pronouns and numerals, the Russian word “odin (one)” is able to perform the functions of different parts of speech. Based on a large number of examples, the article examines the semantic features of the opposition “certainty / uncertainty”, reveals the ways of expressing this opposition using the word “odin (one)” in the Russian language in comparison with the Chinese counterpart “一 (yi)”.Results. The pronominalization of the numeral word “odin (one)” is a phenomenon of grammaticalization, as a result of which there is a semantic reduction, a change in grammatical categories and syntactic functions.Conclusion. The similarity of the expression of indefinite meaning in Russian and Chinese is explained by the fact that there is no regular expression of uncertainty in both languages, the category of certainty / uncertainty is realized mainly by lexical means.