Reconstruction:Proto-Sino-Tibetan/s-la

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This Proto-Sino-Tibetan entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Sino-Tibetan[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Camellia sinensis, the species from which tea is nowadays usually extracted.
Sonchus oleraceus, one of the bitter taste plants that 荼 referred to.
  • Proto-Sino-Tibetan: ?
    • Proto-Tibeto-Burman: *s-la (Matisoff, STEDT)

Cognate with *lap (“leaf”), *lep ~ ljap (“flat, thin, flat object”); see there for more cognates.

This root is the eventual source of the words for "tea" in most non-Sino-Tibetan languages of the world, mostly borrowed from Chinese 茶. Two Chinese sources of borrowing are usually distinguished:

  1. the affricativised varieties (e.g. Beijing Mandarin, Guangzhou Cantonese): which pronounce 茶 with an affricate initial /t͡sʰ, ʈ͡ʂʰ/.

    → English: chai
    Korean: 차 (cha, “cha”)
    Japanese: 茶 (ちゃ, cha)
    Vietnamese: trà, chè

  2. the plosive varieties (e.g. Min Nan) /t/.

    → English: tea
    Korean: 다 (da, “da”)
    Japanese: 茶 (だ, da; た ta)

The Chinese word might have originally been a loan from Loloish (Tibeto-Burman) *la ("leaf, tea"), as tea may have originated in Sichuan (historically Lolo-speaking area) (Sagart, 1999). Alternatively, Qiu (2000) suggests that it was a semantic extension from the root *la, which yielded 荼 (OC *rlaː, *ɦlja, *l'aː), the name of a bitter plant (Sonchus oleraceus).

Additionally, Schuessler (2007) also proposed an Austroasiatic origin for the Proto-Loloish word; as a similar-shaped etymon exists in Austroasiatic: *sla (ibid.) or *slaʔ (Sidwell & Rau, 2015); compare also Proto-Mon-Khmer *slaʔ (“leaf”) (Shorto, 2006: #230), (Modern Mon သၠ (hlaʔ, “leaf”), Khmer ស្លា (slaa, “areca palm”), ស្លឹក (slǝk, “leaf, sheet”), Vietnamese lá (“leaf”).

More at etymology of tea on Wikipedia.

Noun[edit]

*s-la

  1. leaf
  2. tea
  3. flat object

Descendants[edit]

  • Old Chinese: 荼 /*rlaː, laː, ɦlja/ (ZS), /*lˤra, lˤa, l̥a/ (B-S; unlisted, theoretical) (“bitter taste vegetable; weed; white flower; poison, harm; tea”)
    • Middle Chinese: 荼 /ɖɣa, ʑia, duo/, 茶 (ɖˠa) /ɖɣa/
      Cantonese:
      Guangzhou: 茶 (caa4), /t͡sʰɑː²¹/
      Hong Kong: /t͡sʰa²¹/
      Nanning: /t͡sʰa²¹/
      Taishanese: 茶 (ca3), /t͡sʰa²²/
      Gan:
      Nanchang: /t͡sʰɑ²⁴/
      Hakka:
      Sixian: 茶 (chhà), /t͡sʰa¹¹/
      Taoyuan: /t͡sʰɑ¹¹/
      Huizhou: /t͡sʰa⁴⁴/, /t͡sɔ⁴⁴/
      Jin: /t͡sʰa¹¹/, /t͡sɑ¹³/, /t͡sʰa³¹/
      Min:
      Northern Min:
      Jian'ou: 茶 (dâ), /ta³³/
      Eastern Min:
      Fuzhounese: 茶 (dà), /ta⁵³/
      Min Nan:
      Hainanese: /ʔdɛ³¹/
      Hokkien:
      Xiamen Hokkien: 茶 (tê), /te²⁴/
      Quanzhou Hokkien: 茶 (tê), /te²⁴/
      • → Spanish: té
        • → Asturian: té
        • → Basque: te
        • → Catalan: te
        • → Galician: té
        • → Navajo: dééh
        • → Occitan: tè
      Taiwanese: 茶 (tê), /te²⁴/
      Zhangzhou: 茶 (têe), /tɛ¹³/
      Teochew: 茶 (dê5), /te⁵⁵/
      Wu:
      Hangzhounese: /d͡zɑ²¹³/
      Shanghainese: 茶 (zo3), /z̻o²³/
      Suzhounese: /zo¹³/
      Wenzhounese: /d͡zo³¹/
      Xiang:
      Changsha: /t͡sa¹³/
      Xiangtan: /d͡zɒ¹²/
    • → Japanese: 茶 (cha), [t͡ɕʲa̠]}
    • → Korean: 차 (cha), [t͡ɕʰa]
    • → Tibetan: ཇ (ja, “tea”)
  • Lolo-Burmese:

    • External links[edit]

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