[tied] Re: Slavic "drag-"

richard,
"tserk." undoubtedly means church-slavonic in the quoted link.

jim,
as for dal' - his dictionary is considered to be one of the richest
dictionaries of the russian language ever compiled both in lexicologic and
ethno-linguistic aspects.
there is an opinion that dal's dictionary is the "true anthem of Russia". so
you can believe mr. dal' - his book is never outdated.

regards,
mikhail

> Richard--
>
> I see from the link that you're looking at Dal's dictionary, compiled
> more than 130 years ago. I wouldn't call myself an expert, but I would
> guess Dal' means "Church Slavonic," not Russian. Have to look at
> some other entries and the front matter to be sure. In the 19th century
> the division between Russian and Russian Church Slavonic was
> somewhat more porous than now. Poets would occasionally resort to
> a pure Church Slavonicism for metrical purposes, usually a cognate of
> a (more) vernacular word.
>
> Jim