Question for Dostoevsky specialists, especially Karamazov, scholars

[Inna Caron]

Yes, a hunting dog, but even more so, at least in the 20th-century
criminal jargon, it denotes a cop.

Inna 

-----Original Message-----
From: Slavic & East European Languages and Literature list
[mailto:SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU] On Behalf Of colkitto
Sent: Saturday, January 06, 2007 5:06 PM
To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Question for Dostoevsky specialists, especially
Karamazov, scholars

Mnogouvazaemye SEELANGovcy
Dostojevskovedy

In Karamazov there is a character nicknamed Лягавый (in VIII:2) .
Apparently the nickname denotes a type of hunting dog.  The form, absent
from Dal, is an archaic form of  Легавый.

As Karamazov has about 800-1000 pages, it is probably possible to
discuss
the work in detail without any treatment of the name Лягавый.

But on odd occasions it will turn up.

Please answer the following question off the cuff , without looking up -
I'm
interested in general impressions, sort of intuition-based cultural
connotations, etc..

How obscure do you feel the term Лягавый is? Do you have to explain it
to
students?

Thanks in advance,

Robert Orr 

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