Are chai and tea the same thing?

Chai and Tea are both typical loan words.

(Etymology of 茶)

Chai comes from the Chinese Mandarin word for “茶”, pronounced as “Cha”.

Tea comes from the Chinese Hokkien dialect (Min Dialect) word for “茶”, pronounced as “Dei”.

As different language systems have their own pronunciation rules, “茶” also has many different pronunciations.

(The origin of the word 茶 in the Chinese language)

In Chinese, the character “茶” evolved from drawing.

If you look closely at this character, you will find out it is made up of three parts.

1. 艹/艸
2. 人
3. 木

• 艹/艸 looks like a grass the Chinese simplified this drawing into 艹.
• 人 is a simplified version of a person walking on two legs, which means “person” in Chinese.
• 木 is also a simplified version of a tree, which stands for “wood” in Chinese.

（The character 茶 means people in the nature）

Therefore, the original meaning of the word “茶” in Chinese is “people in the grass and trees”, that is, “people in nature”, which is the core of Chinese Taoism.

Dear Reader,

Thank you for your time.

With Love,
Cat and Giraffe