Tea Time: The Etymology of Tea

 Fancy a cuppa?

Tea culture is present in one form or other in a large number of countries around the world, owing to centuries of cultural exchange (and British colonialism, predictably, but that's a topic for another time). Japan has chadō, Korea has darye, England has afternoon tea, and the U.S has "I'd like a Venti Matcha Green Tea Frappuccino, please". The level of formality and the preparation of the tea itself differs between these tea ceremonies, and yet they demonstrate the lasting impact that tea has had on cultures thousands of miles apart. 

Is mixing milk into tea a crime? Does tea need to be served in clear vessels for a proper experience? How do we feel about sweet iced tea? Tea discourse is real, folks. I, for one, am not a traditionalist, and would like to push the limits of tea to a place that would make a purist squirm. Get this. Carbonated tea. Oh, that exists already you say? Back to the drawing board.

Morticia Addams drinks Pu'er tea straight from the Bulang mountains because she is better than you.

The history of tea consumption is a fascinating topic and absolutely deserving of attention, but seeing as how this is a language blog, I'm here to discuss its etymology.

The etymology of tea is steeped (yes, I did that) in history, and can be traced back to the various pronunciations for the Chinese word 茶. Worldwide, nearly every word for tea falls into one of three categories: te, cha, or chai. Which of these categories is used in a particular language provides a fairly accurate reflection of how tea culture was passed along various trade routes. 

The majority of Chinese languages, including Mandarin and Cantonese, roughly pronounce the word for tea as cha, whereas Min varieties of Chinese along the southern coast of China pronounce it as te. These two pronunciations have ended up being the origin for the word 'tea' in languages all across the globe. 

The te form was exported out of China by Dutch traders, who operated in the Fujian region throughout the 17th century. Major sea ports such as Xiamen and Quanzhou acted as hubs for commercial and cultural exchange. There, the Dutch encountered and adopted te into their vocabulary as 'thee', which eventually ended up making its way into English as 'tea'. It's also suggested that the Dutch may have adopted te through Taiwan (known as Formosa at the time), where Min Chinese varieties are also spoken.

Similarly, the cha form was brought beyond China by Western merchants, being primarily Portuguese in this case. The Portuguese traded in and around Guangzhou, as well as in the ports of Hong Kong and Macau. From this region, the Portuguese brought cha to India and further. 

The third form, chai, is believed to have been spread overland from China to Persia, rather than overseas as the other two forms had been. The northern Chinese cha was adopted into the Persian vocabulary with the added suffix -yi, and soon entered into languages such as Russian, Arabic, and Turkish as well. 

When looking at a map, it's fairly easy to see the influence that trade and Western colonialism had on the proliferation of tea and its derivative terms:

Mercator projections, can't live with them, can't live with them. Hot people prefer the AuthaGraph map.

If you're unable to read extremely small and condensed text (just squint a little more), the red countries represent areas where te is the predominant form, whereas the blue represents regions using the cha and chai forms. 

As is the norm with linguistics, paradoxically, there are always exceptions to the rule. The word for tea in Polish, for example, is herbata. At first glance it doesn't seem to be a derivative of any of the three original forms, though upon closer inspection it is in fact a derivative of te. The most popular theory is that herbata comes from Dutch herba thee, meaning herbal tea. Why did you do this, Polish? This is a question that one asks Polish rather often (see the Polish word for Italy). But that's what makes Polish special. 

I'm sorry I can't be her. . .

Interestingly, English has made use of all three forms over the centuries, beginning with cha/char in the late 16th century, tea from the 17th century, and chai in the 20th century. The most recent addition, chai, is most often used in the form chai tea and refers to Indian masala chai, a spiced tea variety. Its literal meaning is redundant, yes, but that's just what English does. 

Both the Japanese and Korean words for tea are pronounced cha, though it's believed that these were adopted from an earlier version of the Chinese language and a result of intense and prolonged contact with China. 

Who knew some leaves would have such an interesting story, eh?

Anyway, that's a very brief and very oversimplified history of tea's etymology. I genuinely suggest looking into the colonial history of tea, it's important stuff to know. The British Empire started the Opium Wars in China in part because they wanted to keep financing their tea purchasing. No, really. Profiting off of people's drug addictions. Sounds familiar. Evil bastards.

Now, I think it's time for me to take a tea break. Take it easy, champ.