British usage of “cha”, “char” or “chai” to mean “tea” cha), from Malay teh and directly from Chinese (Amoy dialect) t'e, in Mandarin ch'a The distribution of the different forms of the word reflects the spread of use of the beverage Regarding the "distribution of the different forms" I can add this data point: In Japanese the word for tea is cha (茶), usually rendered politely in conversation as お茶 ( o-cha , or "honorable" tea)
pronunciation - Rules to pronounce cha- words - English Language . . . I am puzzled on how to pronounce cha-words For example, I know that "chameleon" or "chamomile" are pronounced with a hard "c" like in "camel", not with a soft "c" like in "change" "Charity", on the other hand, is pronounced as in "change" Is there some rule to infer the correct pronunciation?