Where does “あっと言う間” come from?

あっと言う間 (Japanese) comes from Japanese と, from Old Japanese と, from Proto-Japonic tə, from Proto-Uralic tä — that.

あっと言う間 (Japanese): blink of an eye, in nothing flat (a very short period of time)

Definitions

  1. blink of an eye, in nothing flat (a very short period of time)

Ancestry of “あっと言う間”, step by step

あっと言う間 traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese と

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japaneseとwith; and; a particle following a phrase or...
2Old Japaneseと—
3Proto-Japonictəplace
4Proto-Uralictäthat

via Japanese 間

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese間interval; "suffixes some expressions of time to...
2Middle Chinese間—

via Japanese 言う

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese言うto say, to tell somebody; to call, to name, to...
2Proto-Japonicipu—
Every word from Proto-Uralic tä →Every word from Proto-Japonic tə →Every word from Old Japanese と →