后半夜——午夜之后、天亮之前的那几个小时；西语给这段没名字的时间上了户口。 The hours after midnight and before dawn — a stretch of time Spanish granted its own passport.
The hours after midnight and before dawn — a stretch of time Spanish granted its own passport. 后半夜——午夜之后、天亮之前的那几个小时；西语给这段没名字的时间上了户口。
词源etymology
从 madrugar（起早）而来，上溯拉丁语 maturare（使成熟；赶早）—— 与英语 mature 同根。成熟与起早，在拉丁语里是同一个「到时候了」。
From madrugar (to rise early), back to Latin maturare (to ripen; to hasten) — the same root as English mature. Ripening and rising early were, in Latin, one and the same “it is time.”
背景the story
皇家学院词典的定义干净利落：「午夜之后、天亮之前的时间」。 西语世界的日常词——las tres de la madrugada，凌晨三点，人人这么说。
它进这个匣子的理由与众不同：缺词的不是中文，是英语。 英语只有短语——the small hours、the wee hours——凑合到今天， 于是借西语的歌名、书名一用再用。词匣的镜子难得转向： 这一次，是中文和西语站在同一边，看英语的那个空格。
The Royal Academy’s definition is clean: “the time after midnight and before dawn.” An everyday Spanish word — las tres de la madrugada, three in the morning, as anyone would say it.
Its ticket into this box is unusual: the language missing the word is not Chinese but English, which has made do with phrases — the small hours, the wee hours — and borrows the Spanish for song titles and book titles when it wants the noun. For once the box’s mirror turns: Chinese and Spanish stand on the same side, looking at English’s blank.
中文里的邻居neighbors in chinese
中文有这个词：「凌晨」，精确同义，户口齐全； 再往回还有一整套旧钟点——「后半夜」「三更」「五更」， 更鼓把 madrugada 切成了五段计费。 这一条邻居栏因此不辨异同，只作证：这段时间值得一个名字， 两种语言各自到账，英语还在用短语垫付。
Chinese has the word: 凌晨 — exact, fully registered; and behind it a whole retired clock — 后半夜, 三更, 五更 — the night-watch drums that billed the madrugada in five installments. So this neighbors section files no contrast, only a deposition: these hours deserve a noun; two languages paid in full, and English is still fronting phrases.
The novel's best chapters all happen in the madrugada, when the phones are quiet and the truth isn't. 自拟例句 our own example, not a quotation Bakers, nurses, smugglers and new parents — the madrugada has its own workforce. 自拟例句 our own example, not a quotation 西语真词（RAE 在录）。 英文写作斜体 madrugada，多见于文学与歌名； 中文不必借——「凌晨」就是它。写夜班、写失眠、写机场早航段，随取随用。
A real Spanish word (in the RAE). In English, italicize madrugada — mostly literary and lyrical territory; in Chinese, no loan needed — 凌晨 is the word. For night shifts, insomnia and first flights, it is on call.