What does なにか mean in this sentence?


> そのきつねが **なにか** しきりと前{まえ}あしで顔{かお}をこすっているかと思{おも}うと、 **なにか**
> 草の葉{は}を頭{あたま}にのっけて、ちゅう帰{かえ}りのようなことをした。

How is なにか used in this sentence? It is used twice, but it doesn't seem to
mean "something" in this case. The sentence is from a story called "小学生ときつね"

Thank you




At its most pure, なにか on its own does mean "something/anything/whatever".
However, it can also be used generally to express many forms of vagueness,
typically indicated by the English marker word "some", especially when
combined with the true subject of the statement. Think "some kind/sort of
[thing]", and "somehow" as a lead-in.

* * *

## [Example
1](https://books.google.com/books?id=hetODQAAQBAJ&pg=PA130#v=onepage&q&f=false)

Johnはなにかを買った  
"John bought something"

Johnはなにか本を買った  
"John bought some book"

## [Example
2](https://books.google.com/books?id=FvVkCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA33&lpg=PA33#v=onepage&q=nanika&f=false)

なにかものたらない  
"This is incomplete somehow"

(The source also demonstrates informal/shorthand/dialect usage なんか)

* * *

You can think of the general purpose of なにか as the concept "[something] I
can't quite put my finger on".




At its most pure, なにか on its own does mean "something/anything/whatever".
However, it can also be used generally to express many forms of vagueness,
typically indicated by the English marker word "some", especially when
combined with the true subject of the statement. Think "some kind/sort of
[thing]", and "somehow" as a lead-in.

* * *

## [Example
1](https://books.google.com/books?id=hetODQAAQBAJ&pg=PA130#v=onepage&q&f=false)

Johnはなにかを買った  
"John bought something"

Johnはなにか本を買った  
"John bought some book"

## [Example
2](https://books.google.com/books?id=FvVkCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA33&lpg=PA33#v=onepage&q=nanika&f=false)

なにかものたらない  
"This is incomplete somehow"

(The source also demonstrates informal/shorthand/dialect usage なんか)

* * *

You can think of the general purpose of なにか as the concept "[something] I
can't quite put my finger on".

