Puff-ball and its names in the Komi language

Names for mushrooms are an organic part of the realities of natural environment of the Komi- Zyryans living in the territory of the present Republic of Komi for over a thousand of years. It is known that the main part of the myconimic vocabulary of the Komi language is relatively recent and not originated from the proto-Permian parent language. In the Komi dialects there are many names for puff-ball mushroom Lykoperdon perlatum Pers. This interesting phenomenon indicates that the inedible mushroom has many names, which testifies to good power of observation and curiosity of the Komi-Zyrians, their closeness to nature. The paper gives a detailed description of the mushroom. There are two groups of the mushroom names in the Komi language, one for a rounded white mushroom (bakamach, zeramach, gymkol’k, gymmach, zerkol’k, zerna, katshabatsh, katshakol’k, katsha poztyr, katshapopyl’, kochamach, ponkol’k etc.) and the other one for an old wrinkled mushroom (ponpush, ponpushka, ponpushkan). The principle of nomination for the wrinkled old mushroom is its complete unfitness for food. Besides direct meanings, in the Komi language the names kochamach and ponpush got a pejorative meaning of "mischievous, shallow person", moreover, the word kochmach began to be used as an interjection expressing a feeling of extreme displeasure, annoyance.