Reconstruction:Proto-Sino-Tibetan/s-la

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

Etymology

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:

• 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

• 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

*s-la

1. leaf
2. tea
3. flat object

Descendants

• 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/
    • Chinese:

      Mandarin:

      Beijing: /ʈ͡ʂʰa³⁵/

      Central Plains: /t͡sʰa²⁴/, /ʈ͡ʂʰa⁴²/

      Dungan: ца (ca) /t͡sʰaː²⁴/

      Jiaoliao: /ʈ͡ʂʰa⁴²/

      Jilu: /ʈ͡ʂʰa⁴²/, /t͡sʰɑ⁴⁵/

      Lanyin: /ʈ͡ʂʰa⁵³/, /t͡sʰa⁵¹/

      Lower Yangtze: /ʈ͡ʂʰa⁵⁵/, /ʈ͡ʂʰɑ²⁴/

      Northeastern: /ʈ͡ʂʰa²⁴/

      Southwestern:

      Chengdu: /t͡sʰa³¹/

      Guiyang: /t͡sʰa²¹/

      Kunming: /ʈ͡ʂʰa̠³¹/

      Wuhan: /t͡sʰa²¹³/

      Sichuanese: 茶 (ca²), /t͡sʰa²¹/

      Standard: 茶 (chá), /ʈ͡ʂʰa³⁵/

      • → Mongolian: цай (caj), ᠴᠠᠢ (čai)
      • → Classical Persian: چا (čā), چای (čāy) (see there for further descendants)
        • Dari: چا (čā), چای (čāy)
        • Iranian Persian: چا (čâ), چای (čây)
        • Tajik: чо (čo), чой (čoy)

      Cantonese:

      Guangzhou: 茶 (caa⁴), /t͡sʰɑː²¹/

      Hong Kong: /t͡sʰa²¹/

      Nanning: /t͡sʰa²¹/

      Taishanese: 茶 (ca³), /t͡sʰa²²/

      • → English: cha, char
      • →? Malay: ca
      • → Portuguese: chá
        • → Apalaí: xa
        • → Gujarati: ચા (cā)
        • → Hunsrik: Scha
        • → Nheengatu: xaa
        • → Spanish: cha / chá (Philippine Spanish)
          • →? Tagalog: tsa, sa — obsolete, cha, saa, tsaa, chaa
          • →? Cebuano: tsa
        • → Tetum: xá

      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/

      • → Malay: teh
        • Indonesian: teh
      • → Dutch: thee, (obsolete) tee (see there for further descendants)

      • → English: tea

      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)
      • → Ainu: チャ (ca)
      • → Nivkh: ча (ț’a)
      • → Yonaguni: サー (sa:)
      , [t͡ɕʲa̠]}
    • → Korean: 차 (cha), [t͡ɕʰa]
    • → Tibetan: ཇ (ja, “tea”)
• Lolo-Burmese:
  • Burmish:
    • ⇒ Burmese: လက်ဖက် (lakhpak, “tea plant, pickled tea leaves”), လဖက် (la.hpak), လ္ဘက် (la.bhak)
      • → English: lahpet
      • → Mon: လက်ဖက်
      , [ləpʰɛʔ]
  • Proto-Loloish: *la¹ (“tea”)
    • Nuosu: ꆿ (lat)

External links

• Chapter Tea in the World Atlas of Language Structures