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Am faca sibh riamh dol-fodha na grèine ann an àite tropaigeach? Bidh a’ ghrian a’ dol fodha gu luath. Agus cha mhair solas an latha fada an dèidh dol-fodha na grèine.

Ach smaoinichibh air Alba as t-samhradh. Bidh a’ ghrian a’ dol fodha gu mall. Mairidh solas anns an iarmailt airson ùine mhòr mus tig dorchadas ceart.

Cha bu chòir dha a bhith na iongnadh, ma-thà, gu bheil tòrr fhaclan is abairtean ann an Gàidhlig co-cheangailte ri lughdachadh an t-solais anns an adhar aig àm dol-fodha na grèine.

An toiseach – ciaradh. Bidh sinn a’ bruidhinn air ciaradh an fheasgair. Saoilidh mi gur e seann fhacal Ceilteach a th’ ann an ciar. Ach tha facal eile againn airson ciaradh an fheasgair a tha a’ tighinn bhon Bheurla Ghallta. ʼS e sin ²µ±ôò³¾²¹»å³ó.

Bidh camhanach – no camhanaich – a’ seasamh airson twilight. Canaidh sinn camhanach an latha no camhanach na maidne airson morning twilight, agus camhanach na h-oidhche airson evening twilight.Ìý

Tha am facal breac-sholas ann cuideachd, agus breacarsaich. Ann am faclair Dwelly, tha an gnìomhair ann – breac-shoillsich ‘glimmer as the twilight’. Breac-shoillsich. Tha eadar-shoillsich aig Dwelly cuideachd airson ‘glimmer, as in twilight or dawn’. Eadar-shoillsich.Ìý

Tha am facal iomall-soillse ann – iomall-soillse. Agus an fhionnairidh. Tha seanfhacal againn: Bheir fear na mocheirigh buaidh air fear na fionnairidh ‘the early riser beats the evening watcher’. Bheir fear na mocheirigh buaidh air fear na fionnairidh. Èirichibh tràth, a chàirdean!

Tha sgarthanaich ann cuideachd airson ‘dawn’ no ‘twilight’. Bha e an seo san sgarthanaich ‘he was here at dawn’.Ìý

Airson evening twilight, tha dà abairt eile ann. Liath-fheasgar – tha sin ciallach gu leòr, nach eil? Nuair a tha am feasgar a’ liathachadh. Agus iargal. Nise, ʼs e facal inntinneach a th’ ann an iargal. Tha e stèidhichte air iar – the west – far am bi a’ ghrian a’ dol fodha. Bha iar uaireigin a’ ciallachadh ‘behind’. Bha iargal o thùs a’ ciallachadh ‘remote district’ – à iar agus ³¦Ã¹±ô – the behind place. Às a sin, tha sinn a’ faighinn an fhacail iargalta – inhospitable, churlish, surly. Nach annasach e gu bheil facal grànda mar iargalta co-cheangailte ri dol-fodha na grèine, a tha uaireannan cho brèagha?

Have you ever seen the sunset in a tropical place? The sun sets quickly. And the light of the day doesn’t last long after sunset.

But consider Scotland in summer. The sun sets slowly. Light remains in the heavens for a long time before proper darkness comes.

It shouldn’t be a surprise, then, that there are many words and phrases in Gaelic connected to the lessening of the light in the sky around sunset.

To begin with – ciaradh. We speak of ciaradh an fheasgair. I reckon ciar is an old Celtic word. But we have another word for ‘dusk’ that comes from Scots. That is ²µ±ôò³¾²¹»å³ó.

Camhanach – or camhanaich – stands for twilight. We say camhanach an latha or camhanach na maidne for ‘morning twilight’, and camhanach na h-oidhche for ‘evening twilight’.

There is also the word breac-sholas, and breacarsaich. In Dwelly’s dictionary, there is the verb – breac-shoillsich ‘glimmer as the twilight’. Breac-shoillsich. Dwelly has eadar-shoillsich for ‘glimmer, as in twilight or dawn’. Eadar-shoillsich.

There is also the word iomall-soillse – iomall-soillse. And an fhionnairidh. We have a proverb: Bheir fear na mocheirigh buaidh air fear na fionnairidh ‘the early riser beats the evening watcher’. Bheir fear na mocheirigh buaidh air fear na fionnairidh. Get up early, friends!

There is also sgarthanaich for ‘dawn’ or ‘twilight’. Bha e an seo san sgarthanaich ‘he was here at dawn’.

For evening twilight, there are two other phrases. Liath-fheasgar – that’s meaningful, isn’t it? When the evening is turning grey. And iargal. Now, iargal is an interesting word. It’s based on iar – the west – where the sun sets. Iar at one time meant ‘behind’. Iargal originally meant ‘remote district’ – from iar and ³¦Ã¹±ô – the behind place. From that, we get the word iargalta – inhospitable, churlish, surly. Isn’t it unusual that an ugly word like iargalta is connected to the sunset, that is sometimes so beautiful?