цай

See also: цяй and чай

Mongolian

Noun

цай • (tsaj) (Mongolian spelling ᠴᠠᠢ (čai))

  1. tea

Derived terms

Southern Altai

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [t͡sɑi̯], [tˢɑɪ̯]

Etymology 1

Presumably from Old Turkic [script needed] (tāɣ/tau), from Proto-Turkic *tāu, *tāɣ, *dāɣ (“mountain”), *dāg (“mountain”), possibly from Proto-Altaic *tēga (“high; top, mountain”)[1].

Alternative forms

Noun

цай • (cay)

  1. mountain
Usage notes

The voiceless form (ц or т) appear more common in southern and southeastern dialects. Dialectal variation in Altai is large so it is possible confusion may arise, however, context will resolve the clarity.

Etymology 2

Ultimately, from Sinitic 茶. Compare Turkish çay, Russian чай (čaj), Erzya цяй (cjaj). Some folk etymology links it to Tibetan ཚྭའི (tshwa'i, “salt”) because of the traditional salty tea, but no evidence supports this.

Noun

цай • (cay)

  1. tea
Usage notes

Traditionally it has included salty tea, but in modern use often not.

Etymology 3

From Proto-Turkic *čāj.

Noun

цай • (cay)

  1. river, stream

References

  1. ↑ Starostin, Sergei; Dybo, Anna; Mudrak, Oleg (2003) Etymological dictionary of the Altaic languages (Handbuch der Orientalistik; VIII.8), Leiden, New York, Köln: E.J. Brill: “*tēga”
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