[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] kruschk

[Otto]

Old Prussian - now an extinct language.
KRÂUSÎ nom sg f Crausy E 617: Birnbaum / pear-tree
KRÂUŠÂS nom pl f Crausios E 618: Birnen / pears

An Old Prussian word that lives on in in the East Prussian  
Plattdeutsch (flat-land German or Low German)

"Krusch" plus the Plattdeutsch suffix "ke" a diminutive, meaning  
"little" = "kruschke", little pear.
"krusch" plus the Plattdeutsch suffix "ken" indicates plural =  
"kruschken", pears.

The first time my cousin Georg Wohlert, born in Dortmund, encountered  
the word was when visiting his Auntie in Tarau/Tharau, East Prussia  
were his parents were from. Auntie asked him if he wanted a "kruschke"  
and he thought she asked if he wanted a "kruste", a bread crust. He  
answered no, while his sister was given a juicy pear. He learned Platt  
quickly.


. . .   Otto
          " The Zen moment..." wk. of January 04, 2009-
               ________________________________
                 "The future. . . . always catches up."