Tuesday, April 15, 2008

TO THE TUNE OF TEA TUESDAYS (#10)

CHA, TEA, TE', CHAI,? WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?


Across the globe, the most common beverage after water, has many many names. It is fascinating to me to see, hear, and learn about these different names from different regions. Some of them sound similar to the name for tea of other regions not so close to them, and some of them are completely different. I love the diversity, enough to share with you. You may not ever use these other words for tea, then again, you might (at least impress your friends with them--okay, I sense the eye roll and the, "Oh please!"). Regardless, I think you'll think it's a little interesting. You'll also recognize them when you see them if you see them in magazines, on T.V., on packaging, or when you go outside the U.S. Let's go and find out what in the world people are calling our favorite liquid refresher.
Te (Malayan Derivations)
TEA-American English
TAY-European English or certain British dialects
TEH-Malay
T'E-Chinese (Amoy dialect)
CH'A-Chinese (Mandarin dialect-also origin of tea terms found in other languages)
(Every language's word for tea has its origin in either of the Chinese words above)
TCHAI-Russian
TE-Danish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish
TEE-Finish, German, Korean
TEH-Indonesian, Malay
TEJA-Latvian
TEY-Tamilian
THAY-Singhalese
THE-French
THEE-Dutch
THEA-Generic, Latin, Scientific
Ch'a (Cantonese Derivations)
CHA-Hindu, Japanese, Persian, Portuguese
CHAI-Russian
CHAV-Albanian
CAJ (CHAY)-Czech, Turkish
CHAYA-Indian
JA (DZA)-Tibetan
SHAI-Arabian
TSA-Annamese, Vietnamese
TSAI-Modern Greek
Got lots of my information from nobleharbor.com among other sources.
Don't forget--for this months's tea drawing, we're giving away a genuine bag (or box) of Charleston, SC Tea Plantation tea. Can't wait. We'll be sipping and sampling it together, as I've never tasted this one before either. Leave me a comment at the bottom of this post (if you haven't already), letting me know you want to be entered.
Now go and have yourself a cup of whichever of those words above you want to use.

2 comments:

Susannah said...

Fascinating! I love linguistics, and this was an awesome lesson.

My latest Startbuck's favorite is a green tea latte (extra foamy, no melon.) Try one!

Have a blessed day,
e-Mom @ Chrysalis

Peculiar said...

e-mom,

I discovered green tea latte at Starbuck's about a month and a half ago, and it is wonderful (usually venti, soy instead of milk, extra foamy, extra melon)! Too bad I can't have it as often as I'd like. It's sort of a treat/luxury for me, but I savor the flavor when I get it! Thanks for stopping by my blog!!