The world only has two ways to say "tea," but there's an explanation for that.
How do you say Tea in different Languages?
Did you know that there are only two ways to say "tea" in the world?
Although there are some exceptions, in the world there are only 2 ways to name the most popular drink on the planet: one is tea and the other is a variation of Cha.
Languages on demand: Tea in languages
Languages on demand: Tea in languages
Why does the world only have two words to name it?
The common roots of the 2 words also have the same point of origin: China. The way they spread around the world is evidence that globalization existed even before we started talking about it.
The term cha (茶), began in China and made its way through central Asia. It spread through the trade routes of the Silk Road, where this infusion was traded more than 2,000 years ago.
This form spread beyond Persia, even reaching sub-Saharan Africa. The Japanese and Korean terms for tea are also based on the Chinese cha.
The term tea, on the other hand, was more popular in port areas. The Chinese character for tea (茶) is pronounced differently in different varieties of the Chinese language. But in the mǐn nán variety of Chinese, which is spoken in Taiwan and the southern coastal province of Fujian, the character is pronounced te.
The form te - used in coastal Chinese languages - spread to Europe through the main tea traders between Europe and Asia in the 17th century: the Dutch. The main Dutch ports in East Asia were in Fujian and Taiwan, where the term te was used.
However, the Dutch were not the first to arrive in Asia. The Portuguese did not trade through Fujian but through Macao (an autonomous region on the southern coast of mainland China that was Portuguese territory until 1999), where the term chá is used.
"Tea" if it is by sea, "cha" if it is by land.
As we said at the beginning, there are some exceptions. Some places in the world have their own denomination, such as Burma, where tea leaves are recognized as laathpaatrai. The explanation lies in the fact that they have fertile land where cultivation is their own.
Today, tea, or cha, is considered the most popular beverage after water: three quarters of the world's population drink it regularly.
Languages that use the term "te"
Spanish - Té
Afrikaans - Tee
Germany - Tee
Catalan - Te
Danish - Te
Esperanto - Teo
Estonionian - Tee
Basque - Tea
Finnish - Tee
French - Thé
Hungarian - Tea
Indonesian - Teh
English - Tea
Irish - Tae
Icelandic - Te
Italian - Tè
Latvian - Tēja
Luxembourgish - Téi
Malay - Teh
Maltese - Te
Languages that use the term "cha"
Albanian - Çaj
Azeri - Çay
Bosnian - Čaj
Czech - Čaj
Croatian - Čaj
Slovak - Čaj
Slovenian - Čaj
Hindi - Chaay ( चाय )
Portuguese - Chá
Rusian - Chay ( Чай )
Serbian - Čaj ( Чаj )
Somali - Shaah
Thai - Chā ( ชา )
Turkish - Çay
Ukranian - Chay ( Чай )
Which one do you use?
Which one do you use?
Te
Cha
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