Food & drinkTrade, money & letters

tea

One Chinese character, two pronunciations, two roads around the world: the chá of the caravans went overland through Persia to Turkey, Arabia, India, Russia and East Africa, while the tê of the Amoy docks sailed with the Dutch to Europe, Morocco and, via England, America.

Weakest linkCertain

The road to English

From Middle Chinese to Mandarin Chinese

From Mandarin Chinese to Persian

From Persian to Ottoman Turkish

From Persian to Arabic

From Persian to Hindi

From Hindi to Swahili

From Hindi to American English

From Mandarin Chinese to Mongolian, Russian

From Middle Chinese to Tibetan

From Middle Chinese to Japanese

From Middle Chinese to Korean

From Middle Chinese to Vietnamese

From Middle Chinese to Cantonese, Portuguese

From Hokkien (Min Nan) to Malay

From Dutch to French

From Dutch to German

From Dutch to Spanish

From Dutch to New Latin, Polish, Lithuanian

From Dutch to Moroccan Arabic, Berber (Tamazight)

From English to Irish

From English to American English

760 CEMiddle Chinese

Hops are evenly spaced; labels show the year each form is first attested.