Why is tea called “te” and “cha” in different languages?

The history of tea dates back to ancient China almost 5,000 years ago. The way tea is pronounced is split into two main groups, either “te” or “cha”. For example, “tea” in English, “thee” in Dutch, “te-neer” in Tamil…and “chai” in Hindi, “chay” in Persian, “shay” in Arabic… How did this come divergence in pronunciation come about? It is believed that the difference in the pronunciation of tea in the local dialects was passed on along with different routes tea was exported. “Cha” is exported across land, along the Silk Road throughout Central Asia, while “te” was exported across the water by Dutch traders bringing the novel leaves back to Europe.

Editorial note: The original article gives a simplified trade-route explanation. Real borrowing histories depend on source dialect, intermediary language and trade contact, so the two-route mnemonic has exceptions.
Authoritative source: PubMed-indexed linguistic history: origin and spread of the word tea. Accessed August 5, 2026.

起源于中国的茶，在全世界的读音有两大流派，Tea或者Cha。比如英语(tea)，荷兰语(thee)，泰米尔语(te-neer)，印地语(chai)，波斯语(chay)，阿拉伯语(shay)……形成这个差异的原因取决于这个地区引进茶叶的方式，一个是海路丝绸之路，一个是陆路。