Old Prussian poaris

Abstract

The article analyses the isolated Old Prussian word poaris ‘mole cricket’ from the point of view of word formation and etymology. For this reason, all published etymological attempts are collected and evaluated.  Finally, a new solution is proposed, operating with the IE root *per- ‘to step over, pass across; penetrate’, which allows us to derive from the same root the designation of ‘worm’ in Middle Iranian Sogdian, Khotanese and in several modern Iranian languages from Pamir. The common semantic denominator for the zoonyms ‘mole cricket’ and ‘worm’ is ‘penetrating one’.