The term luscofusco is a word of Galician-Portuguese origin that means sunrise, dawn, twilight, dusk or sunset. Some synonyms in current Galician can be "closed da noite", "cerradiña da noite", "closed de noite", "noitiña" or "xunta da noite".
The term "luscofusco" is a masculine and singular noun that is used in Galician. Two meanings are usually attributed to this word.
The first refers to the time of day, between afternoon and night, in which the sunlight disappears almost completely, giving orange and reddish tones to the environment and causing objects against the light to be perceived as shadows cut out on the horizon..
Sheltering themselves in the shadows of luscofusco, they entered the house. (Taking cover in the twilight shadows, they entered the house).
In Spanish, the first meaning of the word "luscofusco" is equivalent to twilight. Some synonyms are: dusk, dusk, and sunset.
The second meaning of "luscofusco" refers to the time of day, between night and dawn, in which the first rays of the sun are observed, allowing objects to be distinguished inaccurately, as if they were shadows.
Ao luscofusco, xa the Gauls will sing, they abandoned or place. (At dawn, when the roosters were crowing, he left the place).
In Spanish, this second meaning corresponds to the terms: sunrise, dawn.
It is necessary to highlight the fact that in Galician they use a single term for two times of the day (twilight and sunrise) when in Spanish we use two different terms.
However, these two stages of the day have several similarities that justify the use of a single word.
For example: the low incidence of light on the earth's surface, the fact that both are transitional stages (from day to night, from night to day).
Origin of the term
The word "luscofusco" is currently used in the Galician language to designate dusk and dawn.
It should be noted that in Portuguese there is a similar term, "lusco-fusco", which has more or less the same meaning.
The similarity between these terms in Galician and Portuguese is due to the fact that during the Middle Ages, these two languages formed a single linguistic unit called Galician - Portuguese.
The Galician-Portuguese Romance language in turn came from vulgar Latin that was spoken by the low people.
This linguistic unit began in Galicia and was expanding towards Portugal due to the intervention of the Christian conquerors.
The existence of some literary texts written in this language allows us to establish that Galician-Portuguese developed between the 11th and 12th centuries.
Later, during the fourteenth century, this unit separated, giving rise to two languages: Galician and Portuguese, which, although they evolved separately, still have elements in common.
References
- Galician language. Retrieved on June 12, 2017, from en.wikipedia.org.
- Origins and Brief History. Or Portal da Lingua Galega. Retrieved on June 12, 2017, from lingua.gal.
- Galician. Galician Culture Council. Retrieved on June 12, 2017, from consellodacultura.gal.
- Galician. Retrieved on June 12, 2017, from orbilat.com.
- Galcians. Retrieved on June 12, 2017, from everyculture.com.
- Galician. Retrieved on June 12, 2017, from donquijote.org.
- Luscofusco. Retrieved on June 12, 2017, from academia.gal.