4 ms·

> You have to go out of your way to find a language where "tea" deviates from those patterns. Well, there you go: Lithuanian: arbata, https://translate.google

by avz 9y ago

> You have to go out of your way to find a language where "tea" deviates from those patterns. Well, there you go: Lithuanian: arbata, https://translate.google.com/#en/lt/tea https://translate.google.com/#en/lt/tea Polish: herbata, https://translate.google.com/#en/pl/tea https://translate.google.com/#en/pl/tea Aymara: pulu, https://ay.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulu https://ay.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulu

iagooar 9y ago
Yet in Polish the word "czaj" also exists and it means a very strong tea. Herbata seems to come from Latin, as it relates to herbs.
- schoen 9y ago
  Wikipedia says that the -ta in Lithuanian and Polish is from Latin thea, from the phrase herba thea ('tea herb'), so there is still a morpheme in common with the other languages in this case!
  - rabboRubble 9y ago
    I think this is from New Latin, not Latin Latin.
    - schoen 9y ago
      It's funny to think that the etymology of Latin thea probably runs through Dutch! Definitely New Latin.
- kruczek 9y ago
  Interesting, I never actually encountered "czaj" used to describe tea. From a quick search it seems to be either prison slang, or a word used in eastern Poland, coming from Russia. And then there's "czajnik" for teapot.
  - fishnchips 9y ago
    I know it as a prison slang word to describe a very strong tea.
    - iagooar 9y ago
      In the area where I come from (Wielkopolska) czaj is a commonly known word for a "strong tea-like infusion". It's not prison slang at all, but of course there might be regional differences in the usage of this word.
      - fishnchips 9y ago
        Funny, my wife is from Nowy Tomyśl and I literally never heard that word being used.
pbhjpbhj 9y ago
I'd never heard of the native South American language Aymara - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aymara_language https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aymara_language. It seems fair to say a language with c. 3M speakers is "going out of one's way" though. Presumably (all?) other native American languages have words for steeped drinks not derived from "tea" too. FWIW, especially in North England, en-gb has the word "brew" for a hot, steeped, drink (http://etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=brew http://etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=br...) which predates the bringing of tea to the UK.

by avz 9y ago

iagooar 9y ago

Yet in Polish the word "czaj" also exists and it means a very strong tea. Herbata seems to come from Latin, as it relates to herbs.

schoen 9y ago
Wikipedia says that the -ta in Lithuanian and Polish is from Latin thea, from the phrase herba thea ('tea herb'), so there is still a morpheme in common with the other languages in this case!
- rabboRubble 9y ago
  I think this is from New Latin, not Latin Latin.
  - schoen 9y ago
    It's funny to think that the etymology of Latin thea probably runs through Dutch! Definitely New Latin.
kruczek 9y ago
Interesting, I never actually encountered "czaj" used to describe tea. From a quick search it seems to be either prison slang, or a word used in eastern Poland, coming from Russia. And then there's "czajnik" for teapot.
- fishnchips 9y ago
  I know it as a prison slang word to describe a very strong tea.
  - iagooar 9y ago
    In the area where I come from (Wielkopolska) czaj is a commonly known word for a "strong tea-like infusion". It's not prison slang at all, but of course there might be regional differences in the usage of this word.
    - fishnchips 9y ago
      Funny, my wife is from Nowy Tomyśl and I literally never heard that word being used.

pbhjpbhj 9y ago

I'd never heard of the native South American language Aymara - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aymara_language https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aymara_language. It seems fair to say a language with c. 3M speakers is "going out of one's way" though. Presumably (all?) other native American languages have words for steeped drinks not derived from "tea" too. FWIW, especially in North England, en-gb has the word "brew" for a hot, steeped, drink (http://etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=brew http://etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=br...) which predates the bringing of tea to the UK.