Re: Teaching and Learning English in Hong Kong

From: Geoff (grw888_at_hotmail.com)
Date: 03/22/05 

Date: Tue, 22 Mar 2005 07:19:52 GMT

phippsmartin@hotmail.com wrote:

> When I was visiting Cornwall, England a few years back I heard tea
> refered to as "cha" and I told my parents that the word came from
> Mandarian Chinese. In Taiwan, the word for tea sounds like "tay",
> which is precisely how the word is pronounced in French, and probably
> Portuguese too I imagine.
>
> Martin
>

The present-day Chinese languages ("dialects") have evolved in different
directions from middle Chinese. The "tay" you hear is the word for tea
in Taiwanese/Hokkien/Fujianhua. "Cha" is the same word in
putonghua/mandarin pronunciation.