茶

See also: 苶 and 荼

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

茶 (Kangxi radical 140, 艸+6, 9 strokes, cangjie input 廿人木 (TOD), four-corner 4490₄, composition ⿳艹𠆢朩(GV) or ⿳艹𠆢木(HTJK))

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1029, character 4
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 30915
• Dae Jaweon: page 1488, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 5, page 3207, character 2
• Unihan data for U+8336

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Central Bai

Noun

茶 (tɕa⁴⁴)

1. hanzi from of tɕa⁴⁴ (tea)

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Chinese

trad.		茶
simp. #		茶

Glyph origin

Characters in the same phonetic series (余) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 

	Old Chinese
斜	*lja, *laː
茶	*rlaː
荼	*rlaː, *ɦlja, *l'aː
梌	*rlaː, *l̥ʰaː, *l'aː
搽	*rlaː
塗	*rlaː, *l'aː
佘	*ɦlja
賒	*hljaː
畬	*hljaː, *la
舍	*hljaːʔ, *hljaːs
捨	*hljaːʔ
騇	*hljaːʔ, *hljaːs
涻	*hljaːs
稌	*l̥ʰaː, *l̥ʰaːʔ
悇	*l̥ʰaː, *l̥ʰas, *las
庩	*l̥ʰaː
捈	*l̥ʰaː, *l'aː
途	*l'aː
酴	*l'aː
駼	*l'aː
鵌	*l'aː, *la
涂	*l'aː, *l'a
嵞	*l'aː
峹	*l'aː
筡	*l'aː, *l̥ʰa
蒤	*l'aː
徐	*lja
俆	*lja
敘	*ljaʔ
漵	*ljaʔ
除	*l'a, *l'as
篨	*rla
滁	*rla
蒢	*rla
蜍	*ɦlja, *la
鵨	*hljaː
瑹	*hlja
余	*la
餘	*la
艅	*la
狳	*la
雓	*la
悆	*las

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *rlaː) : semantic 艸 + phonetic 余 (OC *la).

茶 originates as a graphical modification of archaic 荼 (OC *rlaː, *ɦlja, *l'aː, “bitter plant”), used for “tea” in classical sources.

Etymology

As tea may have originated from Sichuan, where the native Yi people speak Loloish languages, Sagart (1999) suggests that the Old Chinese item was possibly originally borrowed from Proto-Loloish *la¹ (“tea”), from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-la (“leaf; tea”). Schuessler (2007) traces its ultimate origin to Proto-Austroasiatic *sla (“leaf”) (compare Proto-Mon-Khmer *slaʔ).

Alternatively, Qiu (1988) suggests that it might be a semantic extension of 荼 (OC *l'aː, “bitter plant”).

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 茶

1. tea (plant, leaves)
2. tea (beverage made by infusing tea leaves in hot water)

   綠茶／绿茶  ―  lǜchá  ―  green tea

3. beverage (in general)

   涼茶／凉茶  ―  liángchá  ―  Chinese herb tea

4. Chinese medicine

   午時茶／午时茶  ―  wǔshíchá  ―  (please add an English translation of this usage example)

5. yum cha

   早茶  ―  zǎochá  ―  (please add an English translation of this usage example)

6. (obsolete) a moment (the time it takes to drink a cup of tea)
7. (dialectal Mandarin, Cantonese, Gan, Xiang, Wu) boiled or boiling water

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 茶 (“tea (drink)”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		茶, 檟, 蔎, 茗, 荈
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		茶
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	茶
	Taiwan	茶
	Harbin	茶
	Malaysia	茶
	Singapore	茶
Jilu Mandarin	Jinan	茶
Jiaoliao Mandarin	Yantai (Muping)	茶
Central Plains Mandarin	Luoyang	茶
	Wanrong	茶
	Xi'an	茶
	Xining	茶
	Xuzhou	茶, 茶葉茶
Lanyin Mandarin	Yinchuan	茶
	Lanzhou	茶
	Ürümqi	茶
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	茶
	Wuhan	茶
	Guiyang	茶
	Guilin	茶
	Liuzhou	茶
Jianghuai Mandarin	Nanjing	茶
	Yangzhou	茶, 茶葉茶
	Nantong	茶葉茶
	Hefei	茶
Cantonese	Guangzhou	茶
	Hong Kong	茶
	Hong Kong (San Tin Weitou)	夷茶
	Hong Kong (Kam Tin Weitou)	茶
	Hong Kong (Ting Kok)	茶葉茶
	Hong Kong (Tung Ping Chau)	茶葉茶
	Macau	茶
	Guangzhou (Panyu)	茶
	Guangzhou (Huashan, Huadu)	茶
	Guangzhou (Conghua)	茶
	Guangzhou (Zengcheng)	茶
	Foshan	茶
	Foshan (Shatou, Nanhai)	茶
	Foshan (Shunde)	茶
	Foshan (Sanshui)	茶
	Foshan (Mingcheng, Gaoming)	茶
	Zhongshan (Shiqi)	茶
	Zhuhai (Qianshan, Xiangzhou)	茶
	Zhuhai (Shangheng, Doumen; Tanka)	茶
	Zhuhai (Doumen)	茶
	Jiangmen (Baisha)	茶
	Jiangmen (Xinhui)	茶
	Taishan	茶
	Kaiping (Chikan)	茶
	Enping (Niujiang)	茶
	Heshan (Yayao)	茶
	Dongguan	茶
	Shenzhen (Shajing, Bao'an)	茶
	Yangjiang	茶
	Beihai	茶
	Beihai (Qiaogang - Cát Bà)	茶
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	茶
	Singapore (Guangfu)	茶
	Ho Chi Minh City (Guangfu)	茶
Gan	Nanchang	茶, 茶葉茶
	Lichuan	茶
	Pingxiang	茶
Hakka	Meixian	茶
	Huizhou (Huicheng Bendihua)	茶
	Dongguan (Qingxi)	茶
	Shenzhen (Shatoujiao)	茶
	Zhongshan (Nanlang Heshui)	茶
	Guangzhou (Lütian, Conghua)	茶
	Yudu	茶
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	茶
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	茶
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	茶
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	茶
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	茶
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	茶
	Hong Kong	茶葉茶
	Senai (Huiyang)	茶
Huizhou	Jixi	茶
Jin	Taiyuan	茶
Northern Min	Jian'ou	茶
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	茶
	Fuqing	茶
	Matsu	茶
	Singapore (Fuqing)	茶
Southern Min	Xiamen	茶
	Quanzhou	茶
	Zhangzhou	茶
	Taipei	茶
	New Taipei (Sanxia)	茶
	Kaohsiung	茶
	Yilan	茶
	Changhua (Lukang)	茶
	Taichung	茶
	Tainan	茶
	Hsinchu	茶
	Kinmen	茶
	Penghu (Magong)	茶
	Penang (Hokkien)	茶
	Singapore (Hokkien)	茶
	Manila (Hokkien)	茶
	Chaozhou	茶
	Shantou	茶
	Shantou (Chenghai)	茶
	Shantou (Chaoyang)	茶
	Jieyang	茶
	Haifeng	茶
	Bangkok (Teochew)	茶
	Johor Bahru (Teochew)	茶
	Singapore (Teochew)	茶
	Pontianak (Teochew)	茶
	Leizhou	茶
	Wenchang	茶
	Haikou	茶
	Singapore (Hainanese)	茶
Zhongshan Min	Zhongshan (Longdu, Shaxi)	茶
	Zhongshan (Sanxiang)	茶
Southern Pinghua	Nanning (Tingzi)	茶
Wu	Shanghai	茶葉茶
	Shanghai (Chongming)	茶葉茶
	Suzhou	茶, 茶葉茶
	Danyang	茶, 茶葉茶
	Hangzhou	茶
	Ningbo	茶, 茶葉茶
	Wenzhou	茶, 茶葉茶
	Jinhua	茶
Xiang	Changsha	茶, 茶葉茶
	Loudi	茶
	Shuangfeng	茶

Dialectal synonyms of 開水 (“boiled water”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		開水
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	開水
	Taiwan	開水
	Harbin	開水
	Malaysia	滾水, 燒水
	Singapore	白開水, 開水
Jilu Mandarin	Tianjin	開水
	Jinan	開水
Jiaoliao Mandarin	Yantai (Muping)	開水
Central Plains Mandarin	Luoyang	開水, 滾水
	Wanrong	滾水
	Xi'an	開水
	Xining	開水
Lanyin Mandarin	Yinchuan	滾水
	Ürümqi	開水, 滾水
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	開水, 滾水
	Wuhan	開水
	Guiyang	開水
	Guilin	開水
	Liuzhou	開水
Jianghuai Mandarin	Nanjing	開水
	Yangzhou	開水, 茶
	Xinghua	開水, 滾水, 透水
	Hefei	開水
Cantonese	Guangzhou	滾水, 茶
	Hong Kong	滾水
	Hong Kong (San Tin Weitou)	滾水
	Hong Kong (Kam Tin Weitou)	滾水
	Hong Kong (Ting Kok)	滾水
	Hong Kong (Tung Ping Chau)	滾水
	Macau	滾水
	Guangzhou (Panyu)	滾水
	Guangzhou (Huashan, Huadu)	滾水
	Guangzhou (Conghua)	滾水
	Guangzhou (Zengcheng)	滾水
	Foshan	滾水
	Foshan (Shatou, Nanhai)	滾水
	Foshan (Shunde)	滾水
	Foshan (Sanshui)	滾水
	Foshan (Mingcheng, Gaoming)	滾水
	Zhongshan (Shiqi)	滾水
	Zhuhai (Qianshan, Xiangzhou)	滾水
	Zhuhai (Shangheng, Doumen; Tanka)	滾水
	Zhuhai (Doumen)	滾水
	Jiangmen (Baisha)	滾水
	Jiangmen (Xinhui)	滾水
	Taishan	滾水
	Kaiping (Chikan)	滾水
	Enping (Niujiang)	滾水
	Heshan (Yayao)	滾水
	Dongguan	滾水
	Shenzhen (Shajing, Bao'an)	滾水
	Shenzhen (Dapeng)	滾水
	Qingyuan	滾水
	Fogang	滾水
	Yingde (Hanguang)	滾水
	Yangshan	滾水
	Lianshan (Butian)	滾水
	Lianzhou (Qingshui Sihui)	滾水
	Shaoguan	開水
	Shaoguan (Qujiang)	滾水
	Renhua	開心水
	Lechang	開水
	Zhaoqing (Gaoyao)	滾水
	Sihui	滾水
	Guangning	滾水
	Deqing	滾水
	Huaiji	滾水
	Fengkai (Nanfeng)	滾水
	Yunfu	滾水
	Xinxing	滾水
	Luoding	滾水
	Yunan (Pingtai)	滾水
	Yangjiang	滾水
	Xinyi	滾水
	Maoming (Xinpo)	滾水
	Lianjiang	滾水
	Wuchuan (Wuyang)	滾水
	Nanning	滾水
	Wuzhou	滾水
	Yulin	滾水
	Hepu (Lianzhou)	滾水
	Guiping	開水
	Mengshan (Xihe)	滾水
	Guigang (Nanjiang)	滾水
	Beiliu (Tangliao)	滾水
	Baise	開水
	Bobai	滾水
Lingshan	滾水
Pubei	滾水
Qinzhou	滾水
Beihai	滾水
Ningming	開水
Hengzhou	泡心水
Hezhou (Pumen, Babu)	開水
Gan	Nanchang	開水, 茶
	Pengze	滾水
	Yanshan	濺水
	Lichuan	開水, 茶
	Pingxiang	開水, 茶
Hakka	Meixian	滾水, 沸水 dated
	Xingning	沸水
	Huizhou (Huicheng Bendihua)	滾水
	Huiyang	沸水
	Huidong (Daling)	沸水
	Shenzhen (Shatoujiao)	開水
	Zhongshan (Nanlang Heshui)	沸水
	Wuhua (Shuizhai)	沸水
	Wuhua (Huacheng)	沸水, 滾水
	Wuhua (Changbu)	沸水
	Wuhua (Mianyang)	沸水
	Heyuan (Bendihua)	滾水
	Wengyuan	滾水
	Shaoguan (Qujiang)	滾開水
	Lianshan (Xiaosanjiang)	滾水
	Liannan	滾水
	Guangzhou (Lütian, Conghua)	滾水
	Jiexi	滾水
	Luhe	滾水
	Zhao'an (Xiuzhuan)	滾水
	Changting	滾水
	Wuping	滾水
	Wuping (Yanqian)	茶, 滾水
	Wuping (Pingyu)	滾水
	Liancheng	滾湯
	Ninghua	滾水
	Yudu	開水, 滾湯, 滾水
	Ningdu	開水
	Ruijin	煎湯
	Shicheng	滾水, 煎水
	Shangyou (Shexi)	爆水
	Tonggu (Sandu)	開水
	Ganzhou (Panlong)	開水
	Dayu	翻心水
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	滾水
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	滾水
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	滾水
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	滾水
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	滾水
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	滾水
	Hong Kong	沸水
	Yangxi (Tangkou)	滾水
	Yangchun (Sanjia)	滾水
	Xinyi (Sihe)	滾水
	Xinyi (Qianpai)	滾水
	Gaozhou (Xindong)	滾水, 開水
	Maoming (Shalang, Dianbai)	滾水
	Huazhou (Xin'an)	滾水
	Lianjiang (Shijiao)	滾水
	Lianjiang (Qingping)	滾水
	Mengshan (Xihe)	滾水
	Luchuan	滾水
	Luchuan (Daqiao)	開水
	Beiliu (Tang'an)	開水
	Mashan (Pianlian)	開水
	Senai (Huiyang)	滾水, 沸水 dated
	Singkawang	滾水
Huizhou	Jixi	滾水, 開水
Jin	Taiyuan	開水, 滾水
	Datong (Xicetian, Yunzhou)	開水, 熬水
	Xinzhou	滾水
Northern Min	Jian'ou	滾湯, 開水
	Jian'ou (Dikou)	滾湯
	Zhenghe (Zhenqian)	滾湯
	Pucheng (Shibei)	沸水, 茶
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	開水, 滾湯
	Gutian	開水
Southern Min	Xiamen	滾水
	Quanzhou	滾水
	Zhangzhou	滾水
	Taipei	白茶, 滾水
	New Taipei (Sanxia)	滾水
	Kaohsiung	滾水
	Yilan	滾水
	Changhua (Lukang)	滾水
	Taichung	滾水
	Tainan	滾水
	Hsinchu	滾水
	Kinmen	滾水
	Penghu (Magong)	滾水
	Penang (Hokkien)	滾水
	Singapore (Hokkien)	滾水
	Manila (Hokkien)	滾水
	Pingnan (Shangdu)	開水
	Guilin (Biyange)	滾水
	Chaozhou	滾水
	Shantou	滾水
	Shantou (Chenghai)	滾水
	Jieyang	滾水
	Haifeng	滾水
	Leizhou	沸水
	Wenchang	沸水
	Haikou	沸水
Zhongshan Min	Zhongshan (Longdu, Shaxi)	沸水
Southern Pinghua	Nanning (Tingzi)	滾水
Northern Pinghua	Guilin (Dahe)	開水
	Guilin (Liutang, Lingui)	開水
	Lingchuan (Sanjie)	開水
	Lingchuan (Shuangzhou)	開水
Shehua	Fu'an	沸水
	Fuding	沸水
	Luoyuan	沸水
	Sanming	沸水
	Shunchang	沸水
	Hua'an	沸水
	Guixi (Zhangping)	沸水
	Cangnan	沸水
	Jingning (Hexi)	沸水
	Lishui	沸水
	Longyou	沸湯
	Chaozhou	滾水
	Fengshun	滾水
Waxiang	Guzhang (Gaofeng)	開水
	Yuanling (Shaojiwan)	開水
	Luxi (Liangjiatan)	開水
Wu	Shanghai	開水, 茶水, 滾水, 滾湯
	Shanghai (Chongming)	茶
	Suzhou	開水, 茶, 滾水
	Danyang	開水, 滾水, 茶
	Hangzhou	開水
	Ningbo	開水, 滾水, 茶
	Wenzhou	開水, 茶湯
	Jinhua	開水, 滾湯, 茶
Xiang	Changsha	開水, 茶, 滾水子
	Loudi	開水, 滾水
	Shuangfeng	開水
	Quanzhou	開水
	Qinglong (Changliu Laba Miao)	開水, 滾水

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (茶):

• → Japanese: 茶(ちゃ) (cha)
• → Korean: 차(茶) (cha), 다(茶) (da)
• → Vietnamese: trà (茶)

Others:

• Vietnamese: chè
• See also the descendants in Appendix:Proto-Sino-Tibetan/s-la.

(deprecated template usage)

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Japanese

Kanji

茶

(Second grade kyōiku kanji)

1. tea

Readings

• Go-on: じゃ (ja)^{←ぢや (dya, historical)}
• Kan-on: た (ta)
• Tō-on: さ (sa, Jōyō)
• Kan’yō-on: ちゃ (cha, Jōyō)

Compounds

Compounds

• 烏(ウー)竜(ロン)茶(ちゃ) (ūroncha): oolong tea
• 喫(きっ)茶(さ)店(てん) (kissaten): tearoom; café
• 紅(こう)茶(ちゃ) (kōcha): black tea
• 古(こ)茶(ちゃ) (kocha): tea from last year
• 粉(こな)茶(ちゃ) (konacha): dust tea
• 新(しん)茶(ちゃ) (shincha): new tea of the year
• 茶(ちゃ)色(いろ) (chairo): brown
• 茶(ちゃ)園(えん) (chaen): tea plantation
• 茶(ちゃ)会(かい) (chakai): tea party
• 茶(ちゃ)器(き) (chaki): teaware

• 茶(ちゃ)匙(さじ) (chasaji): teaspoon
• 茶(ちゃ)の湯(ゆ) (chanoyu): tea ceremony
• 茶(ちゃ)畑(ばたけ) (chabatake): tea plantation
• 品(ひん)茶(ちゃ) (hincha): tea evaluation; a game of drinking varieties of tea and guessing them correctly
• 焙(ほう)じ茶(ちゃ) (hōjicha): roasted green tea
• 抹(まっ)茶(ちゃ) (matcha): maccha, matcha
• 無(む)茶(ちゃ) (mucha): reckless
• 緑(りょく)茶(ちゃ) (ryokucha): green tea

Etymology

茶 (cha): a cup of tea.

Kanji in this term
茶
ちゃ Grade: 2
kan'yōon

From various dialects of Middle Chinese 茶 (MC drae). Compare modern Mandarin reading chá, Hakka chhà, Cantonese caa⁴.

Noun

茶(ちゃ) • (cha) 

1. tea (not used in isolation in modern Japanese)
2. brown

Usage notes

This term is not used on its own in modern Japanese. For the tea sense, this is used either with the honorific prefix お (o-), or in a compound such as 茎茶 (kukicha, literally “stem tea”) or 緑茶 (ryokucha, “green tea”).

• お茶(ちゃ)はいかがですか。

  Ocha wa ikaga desuka.

  How about some tea? (Would you like some tea?)

For the brown sense, this is used with the color suffix 色 (-iro), as in 茶色 (chairo, “brown”, literally “tea color”).

Synonyms

• 茗(めい) (mei) (rare)

Descendants

• → Ainu: チャ (ca)
• → Nivkh: ча (ț’a)

See also

• 湯(ゆ) (yu): hot water; (by extension) tea

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Korean

Hanja

茶 • (da, cha) (hangeul 다, 차, revised da, cha, McCune–Reischauer ta, ch'a, Yale ta, cha)

1. tea

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Vietnamese

Han character

(deprecated template usage) 茶 (trà, chè)

1. tea