How to say "tea" in Arabic
LoanwordMeaningtea
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
شَاي
shāyשאי
شاي
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
תה
teتِي
How the two words are related
Loanword
Borrowed between the languages (or by both from a third).
Both are loans from the same Chinese word for the same drink: Arabic took the overland form chá (shāy, via Persian), while Hebrew תה rode the maritime route from coastal Chinese te through Europe.
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On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
أَتَاي
atāyאתאיDarija's tea — the mint tea itself — is atāy.
In a phrase
كَأْس شَاي
kaʾs shāyכאס שאיa glass of tea