Why Tea Is Called Chai (and Tea): Cha vs Te Explained

Nearly every word for tea in the world comes from Chinese, and there are two main families. "Cha" is the reading used in most of China; it travelled over land along the Silk Road and caravan routes, giving chai (Hindi, Russian) and chay (Persian, Turkish çay), and it reached Portugal by sea from Macau (chá) and Japan with monks centuries earlier (cha). "Te" is the reading in the Minnan dialect of the port of Amoy (Xiamen) in Fujian; tea and the word went from there to Europe by sea, largely with Dutch traders, giving tea, thé, Tee and té. In English, "chai" usually means spiced milk tea, but in much of the world it simply means tea.

Cha vs te: who says what#

The Japanese word came with monks and scholars many centuries before the European tea trade, not through later trade.

Why two readings exist#

Chinese is written with one character for tea, 茶, but it's pronounced differently in different dialects. Most of China says "cha". In the Minnan (Southern Min) dialect of coastal Fujian, around Amoy (Xiamen), it's "te". Whoever you bought tea from gave you their word.

Why the sea route gave Europe "te"#

In the 17th century, the Dutch East India Company bought much of its tea through ports and traders connected with Fujian, where people said "te". Dutch ships carried both the tea and the word to Europe, and most Western European languages adopted it. Portugal was the exception: it traded through Macau, where Cantonese speakers said "cha", hence Portuguese "chá".

Why the land route gave "chai"#

Tea that travelled overland, by caravan to Central Asia, Persia and Russia, came with the northern "cha". Persian is thought to have added an ending, giving "chāy", and that form spread to Hindi, Turkish, Arabic, Russian and many Slavic languages. More on overland tea routes in the Tea Horse Road.

The character 茶#

The character 茶 settled in its current form in the 8th century, in the Tang dynasty. It developed from an older, very similar character that meant a bitter plant, and it's often read as "grass" on top, "person" in the middle and "tree" below. Older texts use other names for tea, such as ming (茗). More in the history of Chinese tea.

What "chai" means in English#

In English, "chai" usually means masala chai: black tea (red tea, in Chinese terms) simmered with milk, sugar and spices such as cardamom, ginger and cinnamon, as drunk in India. So "chai tea latte" is "tea tea with milk". In Russian, Hindi, Turkish and many other languages, "chai" just means tea.

Myths#

"Chai is a type of tea plant." It's just the word for tea in many languages.

"'Te' comes from Beijing dialect." It comes from the Minnan dialect of coastal Fujian.

"The character 茶 dates back to the 7th century BC." It settled in the 8th century AD.

My honest take#

It's a small linguistic story that says a lot about trade: your word for tea tells you how tea reached your country.

The bottom line#

"Cha" and "te" are two Chinese readings of the same character. "Cha" spread over land and via Portuguese Macau (chai, chay, cha, chá); "te" spread by sea from Fujian with Dutch traders (tea, thé, Tee). In English, "chai" usually means spiced milk tea. More in my Chinese tea guide.