Now I remember; I last heard it in Turkey in 2000. "çay" sounds like
"chai" because the "c" with a cedilla is hard (without it is sometimes
not). An interesting etymology!
Chris
On 6 Sep 2004, at 22:57, Piers Hemy wrote:
>
> Interesting! A quick search reveals this as a summary of the different
> routes from the original source - Chinese (it was tempting to think we
> call
> it China because it's where chai comes from, but that is too fanciful).
>
> www.etymonline.com
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> -----
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> -----
> -
> tea - 1655, earlier chaa (1598, from Port. cha), from Malay teh and
> directly
> from Chinese (Amoy dialect) t'e, in Mandarin ch'a. The distribution of
> the
> different forms of the word reflects the spread of use of the
> beverage. The
> modern Eng. form, along with Fr. the, Sp. te, Ger. Tee, etc., derive
> via Du.
> thee from the Amoy form, reflecting the role of the Dutch as the chief
> importers of the leaves (through the Dutch East India Company, from
> 1610).
> The practice of drinking tea was first introduced to England 1644. The
> Port.
> form came via Macao, and Rus. chai, Pers. cha, Gk. tsai, Ar. shay and
> Turk.
> çay all came overland from the Mandarin form.
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> -----
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
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>
<|_:-)_|>
C M I Barker
Cambridgeshire, Great Britain.
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