# a while



## ThomasK

The previous question about adversative "while" reminds me of the word "while", which we no longer use in Dutch, except in the conjunction "terwijl". It means a short moment of course. What words do you use to refer to those whiles in your language? 

Dutch : _moment_, but especially _*ogenblik*_ (something like _a glance of the eye_), also (in the phrase: _in een_)_ *oogwenk*_ (_wenk_: sign or movement, I gather, but not quite clear here). 

How poetical is your language? ;-)


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## Maroseika

In Russian we have analog of Dutch ogenblick: *миг, мгновение*. _Миг _literally means a singular act of blinking, from _мигать _ - to screw up one's eyes < PIE *meigh- - to flicker.
*Миг *is a cognate of:
Ancient-Prussian _maiggun _- sleep (< shutting  eyes)
Middle Dutch _micken _- to watch
Dutch _mikken _- to aim.


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## ThomasK

Really? How interesting !


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## DearPrudence

In French, we're not poetical of course:
*"un moment, un instant"*

We have "en un clin d'œil" (in the blink of an eye), but it's more just to say: very quickly only.


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## hui

*Finnish:*
_- kotva _(can also mean a longer time)
_- tovi _(can also mean a longer time)
_- tuokio
__- hetki = _a moment
_- hetkinen (_diminutive form of _hetki)_
_- silmänräpäys = _blink of an eye


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## jazyk

In Portuguese: momento (moment), instante (instant), segundo (second), minuto (minute), minutinho (lit. a little minute), átimo (a while, a rare word, I would say).


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## ThomasK

@ sakvaka: would you have any idea of the roots of the words? 
@ Jazyk: any idea about the origin of átimo ?


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## bibax

I never realized that the Czech word *chvíle* (chwila in Polish and Sorbian, chvíľa in Slovak; ch is pronounced like in German Bach) and the English word *while* are in fact the same word. The West Slavic chvíle/chwila is an old loanword from OHG *hwila*, in Modern German *die Weile* (*weil* means _because, since_).

In Czech we have:

chvíle (from OHG), dim. chvilka, chvilička, chvilenka;

moment (obviously from Latin), dim. momentík, momentíček;

okamžik (oka-mžik, perhaps a calque from German Augenblick), dim. okamžíček;


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## jazyk

> @ Jazyk: any idea about the origin of átimo ?


From Greek en atomos, atom (something that cannot be divided) via Latin in atomo. Interestingly, in Modern Greek átomo (άτομο) means person.


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## ThomasK

Great. And _atomo_ in Greek looks like _individual_, not to be split. 

I checked the etymology of 'moment'. It has to with moving, but nothing is sure about the link with time. Etymonline.org states: 


> Some (but not OED) explain the sense evolution of the L. word by notion of a particle so small it would just "move" the pointer of a scale, which led to the transferred sense of "minute time division."


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## sakvaka

ThomasK said:


> @ hui: would you have any idea of the roots of the words?



It was hui who posted that reply. But I don't think he would get mad if I answered your question instead.

The words are (nearly) roots themselves. _Kotva_ and _hetki_ are ancient Uralic words, _tovi_ is unknown and _tuokio_ is probably Germanic (~ Sw. _dag_ 'day'). Source: Nykysuomen etymologinen sanakirja, Häkkinen 2004

Oh, and _hetki_ is a good standard expression. The others provide nice variety.


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## ThomasK

Thanks, hui-sakvaka !


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## apmoy70

Greek unfortunately is not poetic at all in this case:
«Ενώ» (e'no)-->_in the time, while_; from the Classical phrase «ἐν ᾧ» (ĕn hō) where «ᾧ» is singular dative of masculine relative pronoun «ὅς» (hŏs) in reference to «χῥόνος» ('xrhŏnŏs)-->_time_.
«Ενόσω» (e'noso)-->_inasmuch [time is omitted], while_; from the Classical phrase «ἐν ὅσῳ» (ĕn hŏsō) where «ὅσῳ» is singular dative of masculine relative pronoun «ὅσος» ('hŏsŏs), again in reference to «χῥόνος» ('xrhŏnŏs)-->_time_.


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## francisgranada

Hungarian:

_pillanat - _moment, wink 
_szempillantás_ - wink, moment 

(orig. meaning something like a "movement with the eyelashes" and then "glance of the eye")

---------------------------
_szem_ - eye
_(szem)pilla_ - eyelashes
_pillantani_ - to glance 
etc ...


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## ThomasK

Great, like Dutch then (by which I don't mean to say we have inspired you ! ;-))...


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## bibax

Czech and Hungarian were rather inspired by (Austrian) German: _"Einen Augenblick, bitte"_ was certainly a common phrase in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire.


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## francisgranada

bibax said:


> Czech and Hungarian were rather inspired by (Austrian) German: _"Einen Augenblick, bitte"_ was certainly a common phrase in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire.


 
Maybe the Dutch _ogenblik _is also from the German as it is exactly the same.


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## Montesacro

jazyk said:


> @ Jazyk: any idea about the origin of átimo ?
> 
> 
> 
> From Greek en atomos, atom (something that cannot be divided) via Latin in atomo. Interestingly, in Modern Greek átomo (άτομο) means person.
Click to expand...

 
Here it says that Italian _attimo_ (cognate of Portuguese _átimo_) is more likely to come from old High German _At-um_ ( breath)


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## francisgranada

Montesacro said:


> Here it says that Italian _attimo_ (cognate of Portuguese _átimo_) is more likely to come from old High German _At-um_ ( breath)


 
The etymological dictionary of Devoto (that's more recent than that on the net) says: "*attimo*: dal lat. _atomus_, incrociato con _optimus_..." (the lat. atomus is from the greek, of course)


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## HUMBERT0

Spanish:
In Mexico we would use for *while*… rato, momento, tantito, segundo, minuto.


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## Havfruen

Danish: *et **øjeblik*
Norwegian: _et øyeblikk_
Swedish: _ett __ögonblick_
Clearly related to the poetic Dutch, German, etc.

Danish: *et **tidspunkt*
a "time's point",  a moment or point in time

Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish: _*stund*_

in English, "*in the stroke of a pen*". -- does this exist in other languages?
"*In the blink of an eye"* Note it's *blink*, not *glance* like the other Germanic languages.


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## Orlin

Bulgarian:
- момент = moment;
- миг, мигновение = instant (мигам = to blink);
- минута = minute;
- секунда = second.


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## apmoy70

apmoy70 said:


> Greek unfortunately is not poetic at all in this case:
> «Ενώ» (e'no)-->_in the time, while_; from the Classical phrase «ἐν ᾧ» (ĕn hō) where «ᾧ» is singular dative of masculine relative pronoun «ὅς» (hŏs) in reference to «χῥόνος» ('xrhŏnŏs)-->_time_.
> «Ενόσω» (e'noso)-->_inasmuch [time is omitted], while_; from the Classical phrase «ἐν ὅσῳ» (ĕn hŏsō) where «ὅσῳ» is singular dative of masculine relative pronoun «ὅσος» ('hŏsŏs), again in reference to «χῥόνος» ('xrhŏnŏs)-->_time_.


I'm afraid I misunderstood ThomasK's query and I just gave a generic answer to how the English "while" is rendered/translated into Greek. 
"A while" is usually translated as «γιἀ λίγο» (ʝa 'liɣo)-->_for a short _[time is omitted]


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## Outsider

jazyk said:


> In Portuguese: momento (moment), instante (instant), segundo (second), minuto (minute), minutinho (lit. a little minute), átimo (a while, a rare word, I would say).


Also _bocado_, "piece", from _boca_, "mouth" (or from its Latin etymon _bucca_). A "bite", if you will... 



HUMBERT0 said:


> Spanish:
> In Mexico we would use for *while*… rato, momento, tantito, segundo, minuto.


_Rato_ (< Lat. _raptus_, according to the RAE) is an interesting Spanish word, because as far as I know it's not used in other Romance languages.


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## Favara

Catalan
_Una estona_ (a while, from Germanic _stŭnda_).
_Un moment_ (a moment, Latin _momentum_).
_Una mica/miqueta/micona_ (a bit, Latin _mica_ = bread crumb, _miqueta/micona _are diminutives).


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## ThomasK

Bites (_boca_) and now crumbles (_mica_): ah, that is quite nice ! It reminds of the English _bit_,  Dutch _beetje_, German _bisschen_, which are not temporal though but do refer to biting.


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## mataripis

Tagalog: Meanwhile= Samantala    Let's wait a _while_= maghintay tayo _sandali._


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## ThomasK

There is one I had forgotten: *"in een handomdraai"* (lit. a hand-over-turn). I'd use when fixing something: "Ik herstel [re-store] het in een handomdraai." IN the Netherlands they might use "*in een ommezien*", something like "in a look-back (around)"...


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