Cha and Te

Goal: After this lesson you can explain why some languages say a version of "cha" and others say a version of "te," and what that word reveals. Subject: English Language Arts | Run time: about 6 minutes

Quick recall

Last time we covered who gets paid in tea and coffee. Two quick questions. One: in commodity tea, roughly what share of the price reaches the farmer? About 10 to 15 percent (Mair & Hoh, 2009). Two: what does sequential steeping let you do with good leaves? Brew the same leaves several times, drawing more cups from one batch (Mair & Hoh, 2009).

Why this matters

Pick almost any language on Earth and its word for tea sounds like one of two words. Either something close to "cha" or something close to "te." There is no third family. And the one a language landed on is not random. It is a record of how the tea got there (Mair & Hoh, 2009).

The idea

Start with the "cha" family. Mandarin Chinese says cha (CHAH). Japanese says cha. Hindi says chai (CHEYE). Turkish says cay (CHEYE). Russian says chai. Arabic says shay (SHEYE). Notice the spread. China, Japan, India, Turkey, Russia, the Arab world. These are the lands tea reached overland, carried on caravans across the Central Asian routes (Mair & Hoh, 2009). Now the "te" family. English says tea (TEE). French says the (TAY). German says Tee (TAY). Spanish says te (TAY). These are mostly the lands that got their tea by sea, shipped out of the Fujian ports in southern China, where the local word sounded like te (TAY) and traveled with the cargo on Dutch and other European ships (Mair & Hoh, 2009). So here is the rule. If a language says something like "cha," the tea came overland along the Central Asian trade routes. If it says something like "te," the tea came by sea through Fujian (Mair & Hoh, 2009). One word, two roads.

Picture it

Picture two streams flowing out of China. One stream goes by land, west and north over mountains and deserts, and everywhere it touches it leaves the sound "cha." The other stream goes by water, out of the Fujian coast and around the world by ship, and everywhere it lands it leaves the sound "te." Your own word for tea tells you which stream reached you.

Remember this

The fact to carry out: the word a culture uses for tea is a fossil of how the tea arrived (Mair & Hoh, 2009). "Cha" words mark the overland routes. "Te" words mark the sea routes out of Fujian. A single syllable, frozen in the language, still pointing back along the road the leaves traveled.

Quick check

Quick check. If a language's word for tea sounds like "te," which way did the tea most likely arrive? By sea, through the Fujian ports (Mair & Hoh, 2009).

Key Takeaways

• Nearly every language's word for tea belongs to one of two families: a "cha" form or a "te" form (Mair & Hoh, 2009).
• "Cha" words (Mandarin cha, Japanese cha, Hindi chai, Turkish cay, Russian chai, Arabic shay) mark tea that arrived overland on the Central Asian routes (Mair & Hoh, 2009).
• "Te" words (English tea, French the, German Tee, Spanish te) mark tea that arrived by sea through the Fujian ports (Mair & Hoh, 2009).
• The word is a fossil of how the tea reached that culture.

Sources

• Mair, V. H., & Hoh, E. (2009). The true history of tea. Thames and Hudson.