Why the World Only Has Two Words for Tea: Cha vs. Tea

ByNikhil Sonnad

There are really only two words for tea in the world: versions of “cha” and versions of “tea.” Both come from the same Chinese character, 茶. The “cha” words traveled over land along the Silk Road, while the “tea” words traveled by sea with Dutch traders who bought tea in southern Fujian, where the local dialect says te.

So the word you use for tea quietly tells you how tea first reached your language. Below is the story in plain English, plus a quick list of how people say tea around the world.

Why the world has two words for tea: the Chinese character 茶 (cha)
One character, 茶, gave the world both “cha” and “tea.”

Why does the world only have two words for tea?

With a few small exceptions, every language uses one of two forms:

  • “Tea” words: English tea, French thé, German Tee, Dutch thee, Spanish té, Afrikaans tee.
  • “Cha” words: Hindi chay, Persian chay (چای), Turkish çay, Greek tsai (τσάι), Arabic shay, Russian chay, Swahili chai.

Both forms come from China, where tea originated. The character 茶 is written the same way across Chinese, but it is pronounced differently in different regions. In Mandarin it is chá. In Min Nan (闽南话, Mǐnnán huà, “Southern Min”), the dialect of coastal southern Fujian, it is te.

How did “cha” travel over land?

The word cha is common to most varieties of Chinese. It moved west through Central Asia along the Silk Road, where, according to a recent discovery, tea was already traded more than 2,000 years ago. In Persian it became chay, and from there it spread into Urdu, Arabic, Russian, Turkish and many more languages, even reaching East Africa as Swahili chai.

Japanese and Korean also use words based on cha. Those languages probably borrowed it even before it traveled west to Persia.

How did “tea” travel by sea?

In the 17th century, the Dutch became the main tea traders between Asia and Europe. Their key ports in East Asia were in Fujian and Taiwan, where people said te. As the Dutch East India Company shipped tea home in large amounts, the Min Nan word went with it, giving us French thé, German Tee and English tea. Linguists have mapped this split in the World Atlas of Language Structures.

Southern Fujian is still one of China’s great tea regions. Anxi, the home of Tie Guanyin, sits right in the Min Nan-speaking area, so when you drink our Mercy – Tie Guanyin, you are drinking tea from the very place that gave English its word.

Tie Guanyin oolong from Anxi in southern Fujian, where tea is pronounced te
Tie Guanyin comes from Anxi in southern Fujian, where 茶 is pronounced te.

Why does Portuguese say “chá”?

The Dutch were not the first Europeans in Asia. That honor belongs to the Portuguese, who gave Taiwan its old European name, Formosa. But the Portuguese traded through Macao, where people say chá. That is why Portuguese is the odd one out in Western Europe: it uses a “cha” word, not a “tea” word.

Are there languages with their own word for tea?

Yes, a few. They are mostly spoken in places where tea grows naturally, so local people named it long before traders arrived. In Burmese, for example, tea leaves are called lakphak.

What does the word for tea tell us?

The two words are a small map of two eras of trade: the thousands-of-years-old overland spread of goods and ideas west from ancient China, and the roughly 400-year-old sea trade that brought Asian goods to European ports. Cha is tea, and tea is cha. They share one origin, and from a few leaves you can see how connected the world has always been.

To learn more about the character itself, read the Chinese character for tea (茶). For the bigger picture, see the history of Chinese tea and the legend of Shennong and the origin of tea.

FAQ

Is “chai” the same word as “tea”?

Yes. Both come from the Chinese character 茶. “Chai” came over land from the Mandarin-style cha, and “tea” came by sea from the Fujianese te.

Why does English say “tea” and not “cha”?

Because the Dutch, who first brought tea to much of Europe, bought it in Fujian and Taiwan, where the word is te.

How do you say tea in Chinese?

In Mandarin, tea is chá (茶), said with a rising tone.

Try tea from Fujian with Teawish