- YIDDISH WORD
- צו
Word Entry
DEFINITION(S)
The word tsu 'to' can have a distributive meaning approximately 'each'.
EXAMPLE(S)
The rich folk led down only one cart each and the commoners brought a mere bundle. di raykhe hobn tsu eyne furn aropgefirt un di gemayne hobn in a bintl fartrogn. And he was a formidable man with six toes on each foot and six fingers on each hand. Un a gezunter iz er geven, tsu zeks finger hot er gehot af di fis un tsu seks af di hent.
NOTES
This appears to be a calque from a distributive use of the Slavic po. The Germanic tsu with the distributive po meaning. In German it is not the most common use of ",zu" for it to have the meaning "on", but it does and can happen. To "go on foot" = "gehen zu Fuss" "a charger proud on its hooves" = "ein Stürmer Stolz zu Hufe" and "[Yew Bow]....it is excellent on a horse,..."="[Der Eibenbogen]....er ist ausgezeichnet zu Ross,..." But "po" can apparently be used by itself with a plural to imply "each" or perhaps better yet "on each" The "to" in English "tomorrow" is an old remnant of the preposition "to" being used as "on" in English. Compare with "on the morrow." http: //www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=tomorrow&allowed_in_frame=0