Mongolian

Noun

цай • ‎(tsaj) ‎(Mongolian spelling ᠴᠠᠢ)

1. tea

Derived terms

• цайны газар ‎(tsajny gazar, “café”)

Southern Altai

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [t͡sɑi̯]~[tˢɑɪ̯]

Etymology 1

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

Alternative forms

• тай ‎(tay), тағ ‎(taғ), таг ‎(tag), дай ‎(day), дағ ‎(daғ), даг ‎(dag)

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, Erzya цяй. Some folk etymology links it to Tibetan ཚྭའི meaning "salt" because of the traditional salty tea, explaining a one word etymology — however, 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

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”