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From: mathias@uhunix4.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu (Gerald B Mathias)
Subject: Re: etymology of tea (was:Re: Original Chinese Language)
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Date: Thu, 22 Dec 1994 20:00:59 GMT
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Miguel Carrasquer (mcv@inter.NL.net) wrote:
: In article <3craci$2es@hk.super.net>,
: Mr Bundeep Singh <bundeep@hk.super.net> wrote:
: >As far as I know the origin of the word tea lies in the word "Chay".  The 
: >"tch" changed to "t" i.e. an alveo-palatal fricative to a alveolar stop 
: >as part of a general consonantal shift over the centuries.  Other such 
: >consonantal shifts include "p" --> "f", which reveals a common ancestry 
: >to father, papa, Pope, Vater, Pita, etc.
: >

: [tS] is an affricate, rather than a fricative.  I know nothing
: about the etymology of the/cha, but if I had to bet, I would
: derive the "tch" form from a "t" form.  Not that the opposite
: evolution is impossible, it's just much less frequent.
: [t]+[e] > [tj] > [tS] must be one of the most common sound changes
: around.

But someone posted a quote from the OED saying that the word probably
goes back to _kya_ (or perhaps it said _kia_).

In any event, the character used to write the word (which would suggest 
something in the _t(y)u_ neighborhood, although the same phonetic is used
in a few _ts(y)a_-like words) was, according to another post, likely
borrowed from a synonym.

Bart Mathias
