Thank you very much for the full and comprehensible reply!
I can't read the Cyrillic alphabet, let alone words. I can only remember what letter aligns with our letters if given a VERY strong hint! And then only a very few...

...still has preserved the form yest' in the sense of "there is/are".

and is that the same word particle in "yesterday"?

Cordiality is the noun for the first definition, but surely cordial is the noun for the second, no?

How does "meld" fit in the mix of candidates for synonyms?

Slave, I think that would be spelled "mortgauge", no?

Without the tail, a C before O would be pronounced as a K in my world.
Even knowing the word, seeing it written that way, it becomes a stranger to my internal dictionary.

In re: your last paragraph,
Amen! Sistah!

Thank you for that very beautiful vision/visual!

Debby

So do I.

I missed the pronunciation guide completely. I have never known this substance by any other name than that suggested by bbeeton. Interesting. I had likewise never seen any other spelling than with the "o" in the third syllable, and find it hard to pronounce it without that in there... ass ...

Dear Doctor,
I'm betting you had fun developing the "meaning" list.
I know I had fun reading it.
Thanks!

bbeeton, Thanks! very useful that!!

Debby

Slava and Luke, thanks to you both.
I think the popping raindrops gets my vote.


debby

Luke, you can't get away with that!

Definition, or at least explanation/description, please.

Debby

Sounds right to me, and I fear, increasingly useful.

Debby