# to blink / wink



## Encolpius

In Hungarian, just like in English we distinguish 2 words, but I am not sure if all languages use two words.
*
to blink *= shut and open your eye very quickly as a reflex
*to wink *= shut and open your eyes as a friendly or secret sign

And would you please translate this sentence: *She winked at me*. 

Hungarian

1) blink = *pislog*
2) wink = *kacsint*
    She winked at me. = Rám kacsintott. [rám (onto me) + kacsintott (winked)]


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## Awwal12

Well, *Russian* actually uses 3 verbs:
- for blinking: моргать (morg*a*t') and мигать (mig*a*t'). By the way, the latter can mean blinking with lights as well, for example.
- for winking (to smb.): подмигивать (podm*i*givat'). It obviously shares the same root with "мигать", but is still a separate verb.


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## Encolpius

Although you'd like to consider it 3 verbs, I see only 1 verb with slight alteration.  I am searching for verbs with different etymology.


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## Awwal12

Encolpius said:


> Although you'd like to consider it 3 verbs, I see only 1 verb with slight alteration.  I am searching for verbs with different etymology.


Well, "моргать" and "мигать" surely have different etymology. The only problem is that they refer to the same phenomenon. 


> And would you please translate this sentence: She winked at me.


"Она подмигнула мне."


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## apmoy70

In Greek:
*to blink-->*«Tρεμοπαίζω» (tremo'pezo); «Τρεμοπαίξιμο» (tremo'peksimo, _noun, n._); it describes the blinking of lights as well
or
«Πεταρίζω» (peta'rizo); «Πετάρισμα» (pe'tarizma, _noun, n._); it is used mostly to describe the continuous blinking of the eye
or
«Σκαρδαμύσσω» (skarða'miso); «Σκαρδαμυγμός» (skarðami'ɣmos, _noun, m._); from ancient Greek. "In the blink of an eye": «Ασκαρδαμυκτί» (askarðami'kti)
*to wink-->*«Κλείνω το μάτι» ('klino to 'mati), lit. "close the eye"
or
«Ματάκι»* (ma'taci); lit. "small eye"
or
«Γνέφω» ('ɣnefo); «Γνέψιμο» ('ɣnepsimo, _noun, n._); it can also be used to describe the gesture we make from afar when we see someone we know

*«Ματάκι» (ma'taci, _n._) is the diminutive of the colloquial name for the eye, «μάτι» ('mati, _n._), from the Byzantine Greek «ὀμμάτιον» (o'mation, _n._), diminutive of the ancient «ὄμμα» ('omma, _n._), alternative name for eye.

[ð] is a voiced dental non-sibilant fricative
[ɣ] is a voiced velar fricative
[c] is a voiceless palatal plosive


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## sakvaka

*Finnish*: 
blink (one's eyes) - räp(ä)yttää (silmiään)
wink - iskeä silmää (lit. to hit the eye), _coll._ vinkata

She winked at me. Hän iski silmää minulle. (Hän vinkkasi minulle).


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## ThomasK

Dutch: 
She winked her eyes: _*knipogen*_ (to close tthe eyes for a second; a 'knip' does not last long, not as long as the original 'knijpen' > it must be something like the intensive form). 

She blinked: _*knipperen*_ (the same original but the iterative form (-_eren_)).


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## Rallino

In Turkish we have one verb for "to blink" and "to wink"  _*kırpmak*_.

Blinking because of light is: *kırpıştırmak*, which derives from the same root.


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## enoo

In French, it's a verb and a "phrase" (both based on clin/clign-)
to blink = cligner (des yeux) ("to blink (of the eyes)")
a wink = un clin d'œil
to wink = faire un clin d'œil ("make a wink")

She winked at me. = Elle m'a fait un clin d'œil.


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## Hutschi

In German both "zwinkern" and "blinkern" exist (very similar to the English, so I suppose both have the same root).

The default is "zwinkern".
Poetic and seldom used is "blinkern". It usually is used with an object in a phrase like the following: "Sie blinkerte mit den Augen." (literally "she blinked with her eyes") - in case of "zwinkern" this object is not necessary, but possible.)

Bot may mean as well *to blink *= shut and open your eye very quickly as a reflex as
*to wink *= shut and open your eyes as a friendly or secret sign. But mostly it is the first. If you explicitely mean the last, is is "Zuzwinkern, zublinkern".

*to blink *= shut and open your eye very quickly as a reflex - zwinkern, blinkern 
*to wink *= shut and open your eyes as a friendly or secret sign - zuzwinkern, zublinkern, seldom: zwinkern, blinkern 

If you want to make clear explicit that it is a reflex and not a sign you can add "reflektorisch", "plötzlich" (suddenly) or "unwillkürlich" (spontaneously) or similar words:

Sie zwinkerte/blinkerte unwillkürlich.

It can also be clarified by context:

Sie zwinkerte/blinkerte, als die Augentropfen ihre Wimpern berührten.

*She winked at me*. Sie *zwinkerte *mir *zu*. Poetischer und selten: Sie *blinkerte *mir *zu*. (In this context "zwinkern" can mean that she closed and opened one eye for one time, while "blinkern" means both eyes some times.)

Note that "Sie *winkte *mir *zu*" is a *false friend*. It is a gesture with the hand to greet the other one.

PS: there must have been a change of the word "winken" in German language.
There is a folk song with the line:

"Sie winkte mit den Äugelein"
"She winked at me with her little eyes."

This is only used in such fixed old phrases as far as I know or it is kept regionally.


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## bibax

mžikati/mžiknouti, zamžikati = shut and open your eye very quickly as a reflex
mžourati, zamžourati = shut and open your eye slowly as a reflex (usually used for owls and old persons)
mhouřiti, zamhouřiti, přihmouřiti = shut (not entirely) your eye as a reflex on the sharp light

mrkati/mrknouti, zamrkati = shut and open your eyes as a friendly or secret sign

She (has) winked at me. (once) = Zamrkala na mne. (perf. verb)
She was winking at me. (repeatedly, all the time) = Mrkala na mne. (imperf. verb)

a moment = okamžik (probably a calque from German: Augenblick)

(blikati/bliknouti, zablikati = to blink, only about light)


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## ThomasK

What is the root word in both verbs (_zam/ m_ ?) and what does it mean (or in all three kinds of verbs) please ? Or what about _okamžik_? What are the three parts? Thanks !


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## Awwal12

> What is the root word in both verbs (zam/ m ?) and what does it mean (or in all three kinds of verbs) please ?


Well, I don't speak Czech, but nevertheless dare to suppose that the roots are "mžik", "mžour", "mhouř" and "mrk".  Some of them strongly resemble Russian roots "mig" & "morg", as you can see. "mžour" root is surely etymologically related with the root "mžik" (the closest Russian cognate of the former is the root "жмур" in the verb "жмуриться" - "to screw up one's eyes"). "Mhouř", in turn, should be etymologically related with "mrk". The closest Russian cognates of the latter are the roots "мерк" and "мерц" (bound together with the ancient palatalization "k"->"ts") in verbs "m*e*rknut'" and "merts*a*t'" ("to grow dark" and "to flicker" respectively). Of course, I can provide only a bit of etymology and the Russian cognates; the evolution of meaning in Czech obviously was different.


> or what about okamžik?


That obviously results from "oka" (some form of pan-Slavic "oko" - "eye", which exists even in Russian as an archaic/poetic word; m.b. genitive case?) + "mžik" (see above).  In Russian it is just "мгновение" or "миг" ("mgnov*e*niye", "mig"; the both are etymologically related with the verbs "mig*a*t'" but without any reference to eyes).


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## ThomasK

Well, your knowledge of Czech seems quite OK. I was mainly asking because I was wondering whether the words/ verbs contained the word for 'eye', but they do not seem to. I can understand the growing dark and the flickering, but what precisely do you mean by "to screw up one's eyes" ? Use them in some bad way ? (Quite intriguing though... ;-))


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## Awwal12

Well, to be frank, my knowledge of Czech tends to zero, but Slavic languages are similar enough to let me make such a simple morphological analysis.  As for etymology, I use Vasmer's etymological dictionary of the Russian language as the basis (especially taking into account that it often gives Czech cognates).


> I was mainly asking because I was wondering whether the words/ verbs contained the word for 'eye', but they do not seem to.


These words surely doesn't contain the word "eye" directly, going back to another proto-Slavic roots. Of course, except "okamžik".
P.S.: By the way, "oko" and "eye"/"Auge" are clear cognates going back to the same PIE root.


> . I can understand the growing dark and the flickering, but what precisely do you mean by "to screw up one's eyes" ?


Well, that is English, not Slavic languages. 
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/screw up
Google translation
Some search results


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## jazyk

I can only think of one verb in Portuguese: _piscar._


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## sakvaka

sakvaka said:


> *Finnish*:
> blink (one's eyes) - räp(ä)yttää (silmiään)



Addition: _räpäyttää_ is the momentane derivation of _räpyttää_. _Räpytellä_ — the frequentative aspect — is also possible.  Am I messing it up too much?


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## RaLo18

Hebrew:
to blink - למצמץ (_lematsmets_).
to wink - לקרוץ (_likrots_).


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## redwine

Filipino:

to blink - kurap
to wink - kindat


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## ThomasK

I just wonder, Redwine: any link between those two? (By the way: 'Filippino' = Tagalog ?)


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## merquiades

Encolpius said:


> *
> to blink *= shut and open your eye very quickly as a reflex
> *to wink *= shut and open your eyes as a friendly or secret sign



Just to make it clear.  Blink is two eyes (involuntary or voluntary), Wink is one eye (voluntary).


In Spanish
Wink:  Guiñar el ojo
Blink:   Pestañear  (literally to eyelash)


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## ThomasK

I just thought of this (I give more specifications concerning my previous contributions): 
- to blink : *knipperen* - we use it with _*met (with)*_, as in s/he _knippert_ _met de ogen_, though I still : _zijn ogen knipperen_ does not seem should be possible.


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## XiaoRoel

En galego *chiscar* (verbo) *chisco* (substantivo). Pero se é un so ollo é *choscar/chuscar*.
In galician *chiscar* (verb) *chisco* (noun). But if it is with only one eye: *choscar/chuscar*


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## merquiades

^I con os dois ollos?
Como se pronúncia?  tchiskar?  schiskar?  o schischkar?


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## ThomasK

So strange, but we generally add _*met de ogen*_ (with the eyes) in Dutch. 

Is it because also lights can blink, like orange warning lights in traffic: _*knipperlichten*_, blinking lights, we call them.


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## merquiades

^In Spanish you can say guiñar el ojo too, and in French un clin d'oeil, but in English it would seem really weird to say you wink or blink an eye.  But besides that, as you say lights can blink on and off too, but never wink.


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## ThomasK

I did not mention _knipoog_ indeed: a wink/ _clin d'oeil_!


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## merquiades

ok, i see the difference. Not knipoog met een oog


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## phosphore

Serbian:

to blink - trepnuti, treptati
a blink - treptaj

to wink - namignuti, namigivati
a wink - mig

She winked at me. = Namignula mi je.


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## Tjahzi

I can only think of one verb in *Swedish*, namely _Blinka_, with obvious etymology.


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## Orlin

phosphore said:


> Serbian:
> 
> to blink - trepnuti, treptati BG мигам
> a blink - treptaj BG мигане
> 
> to wink - namignuti, namigivati BG (да) намигна/намигвам
> a wink - mig BG намигване
> 
> She winked at me. = Namignula mi je. BG Намигна ми/Тя ми намигна. - nejasno bez nominativne zamenice van konteksta.


Zanimljivo! Za _to wink_ bugarski koristi gotovo identične glagole dok su po meni srpski glagoli za _to blink_ lažni prijatelji s bugarskim - (да) трепна/трепвам na bugarskom znači nešto sasvim drugo (skoro 100% sam siguran da je nekako vezano za "treperiti/trepetati"), no nažalost sada ne mogu da objasnim više.
Za _a blink/a wink_ mi koristimo "obične" glagolske imenice.


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## 810senior

In Japanese, I can merely recall one single verb(瞬く _mabatak-u_) that concerned itself with blinking or winking.

The definition is here:
(1) to open and close the eyelids as quickly as you can, to blink. (it does not include whether it's concerned with friendliness or particular sign)
(2) to keep going on and off as it shines, to flicker.

On top of that to wink is used in Japanese like in almost as same as English. ウインクする_uinku s-uru_.


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## Copperknickers

Encolpius said:


> In Hungarian, just like in English we distinguish 2 words, but I am not sure if all languages use two words.
> *
> to blink *= shut and open your eye very quickly as a reflex
> *to wink *= shut and open your eyes as a friendly or secret sign



I assume this is a typo, but the main difference between blinking and winking is that blinking uses two eyes, winking only one. Blinking might be a reflex or it might be deliberate, but is always two eyes.


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## Gavril

merquiades said:


> In Spanish you can say guiñar el ojo too, and in French un clin d'oeil, but in English it would seem really weird to say you wink or blink an eye.  But besides that, as you say lights can blink on and off too, but never wink.



_To blink an eye_ doesn't sound strange to me, although for some reason _to wink an eye_ does.


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## ilocas2

Awwal12 said:


> Well, I don't speak Czech, but nevertheless dare to suppose that the roots are "mžik", "mžour", "mhouř" and "mrk".  [...]



mrk is indeed related to m*e*rknut

mhouř is not related to mrk

mhouř, mžour and mžik are all related to mig*a*t


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## mataripis

In my words encounter of Tagalog language i read twinkle of an eye in the Bible and in Tagalog it is kisapmata , the word twinkle is kisap . The blink in Tagalog is kurap as in kumurap siya bilang hudyat ( it blinks as a sign of alarming me).


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## Messquito

In Chinese both wink and blink can be denoted by 眨(ʈ͡ʂǎ), whether deliberately or not is not implied.
眨＝目(eye)+乏(lack)-->when you lack strength in your upper eyelid, you wink/blink
If you want to push the point that it's a deliberate glance(wink), you might use:
使眼色
=
使(do/make)
+
眼色(glance)(=眼(eye)+色(color); think of it as "ocular expression" compared to 臉色(facial expression=臉(face)+色(color)))


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## Dymn

Catalan:

to blink - _*parpellejar*_, from _parpella _'eyelid'

to wink - _*fer l'ullet*_, 'to do the eye' (_ullet _is the diminutive form of _ull, _i.e. 'little eye'); _*picar l'ullet*, picar _means 'to hit, to sting, to itch'


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## Ghabi

Messquito said:


> 眨＝目(eye)+乏(lack)-->when you lack strength in your upper eyelid, you wink/blink


眨 is composed of the semantic determinative 目 and the phonetic indicator 乏.


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## ahmedcowon

*In Arabic:*

to blink: رمش /ramash/ (related to the word رمش /rimsh/ "eyelash")
to wink: غمز /ghamaz/


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## Panceltic

Slovene:

mežikati (imperfective) / pomežikniti (perfective)

She winked at me = Pomežiknila mi je.

Namigovati/namigniti means "to hint" in Slovene (cf. Serbian above)


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