[en] The crystal-field transitions in the paramagnetic state of PrCu₂ were studied by means of inelastic neutron scattering between 1.8 and 10 K in an energy transfer range 0.5-2.5 meV. We observed excitations from the singlet ground state to two singlet excited states. They were assigned as a J_x-polarized and a J_y-polarized transition. The J_x transition has acoustic and optical branches. While the J_y transition is very weakly dependent on the wavenumber, the J_x transitions are strongly dispersive, indicating an anisotropic RKKY interaction between the 4f electrons. A substantial softening of the exciton energy was observed in the optical branch of the J_x transition as a sharp minimum at the wavevector Q_m=0.24a*+0.68c*, which is the modulation vector of the magnetic order below T_N = 54 mK. The manner of softening above 1.8 K is discussed in terms of the mean-field theory. (author)