Linguistic Archaeology: The Origin of Tea

 Tea in almost every language

1. Tea
2. Tee
3. Çaj
4. shayi
5. T’ey
6. Tiyi
7. Çay
8. Te
9. čaj
10. Cā
11. chaĭ
12. Té
13. Tsa
14. Chá
15. tè
16. sai
17. *H (dogri)
18. Thee
19. Teo (esperanto)
20. Tii
21. tsaa
22. Teetä
23. Thé
24. chai
25. Tsái
26. Kojói
27. kī
28. A* (hebrew)
29. chaay
30. Tshuaj yej
31. teh
32. Tae
33. Ocha
34. Cahā
35. Şay
36. Icyayi
37. cha
38. Ti
39. FA (sorani kurdish)
40. sa
41. Tēja
42. The
43. Arbata
44. Caayi
45. Téi
46. Y (maithili)
47. Dite
48. cāya
49. Thingpui
50. Tsai
51. laathpaatrai
52. Ciyā
53. Shaayee
54. *AY (pashto)
55. *AY (persian)
56. Herbata
57. Cāha
58. Ceai
59. Chay
60. *Y (sanskrit)
61. Tì
62. Teye
63. *ANHH (sindhi)
64. tē
65. Shaaha
66. Téh
67. Coj
68. Tēnīr
69. *Y (tatar)
70. Chā
71. Tiya
72. Çaý
73. *AEE (urdu)
74. *AY (uyghur)
75. Choy
76. Trà
77. Iti
78. TA (yiddish)
79. Itiye



Popularity of Use
A      %     E     %      I      %     O      %       U        %
48 61%    25 32%   24 30%  4     5%      2      2%

B      %     C     %      D      %     F      %       G        %
2    2%     22 28%    1    1%     1   1%        1     1%

H      %     J     %      K      %     L      %       M        %
25 32%    6   7%      2    2%     0    0%      0       0%

N      %     P     %      Q      %     R      %       S        %
3     3%     2   2%     0     0%     5    6%      10 12%

T      %     V     %      W      %     X      %       Y        %
36 46%    0  0%       0     0%    0    0%       24 30%

Z      %
0   0%



Popularity of use
61% A: A* (hebrew),
46% T, A: TA (yiddish),
32% H, E, T, A: teh, Tae, The, tē, Téh, *AEE (urdu),  Tea, Tee, Te, Té, tè, *H (dogri), Thee, Teetä, Thé,
30% Y, I, H, E, T, A: *AY (uyghur), Iti, Itiye, *Y (tatar), Tiya, *Y (sanskrit), Tì, Teye, Téi, Y (maithili), *AY (pashto), *AY (persian), Ti, T’ey, Tiyi, Tii,
28% C, Y, I, H, E, T, A: Chā, Çaý, Cāha, Ceai, Chay, cāya, Ciyā, Caayi, Cahā, Icyayi, cha, chaay, Chá, chai, Cā, chaĭ, Çay,
12% S, C, Y, I, H, E, T, A: Shaayee, Shaaha, sa, Tsai, Şay, tsaa, Tsái, sai, shayi, Tsa,
7% J, S, C, Y, I, H, E, T, A: čaj, Tēja, Çaj,
6% R, J, S, C, Y, I, H, E, T, A: Trà,
5% O, R, J, S, C, Y, I, H, E, T, A: Coj, Choy, Teo (esperanto), Ocha,
3% N, O, R, J, S, C, Y, I, H, E, T, A: *ANHH (sindhi), Tēnīr,
2% P, K, B, U, N, O, R, J, S, C, Y, I, H, E, T, A: laathpaatrai, Herbata, Arbata, Kojói, kī, Tshuaj yej,
1% D, F, G, P, K, B, U, N, O, R, J, S, C, Y, I, H, E, T, A: Dite, Thingpui, FA (sorani kurdish),
0% Z, X, W, V, Q, M, L

Conclusion: Tea originates in the A-T linguistic subgroup;

A-T subgroup      sex        %                 dev. Chain
Hold Portal                        93%            (A; T; R; P; O, L)
To Tattoo                           91%             (A; T; O)
Rapa Nui             F             85%             (A; T; E, I, K, R)
Tea                                      61%             (A; T; E, H)

Showing up at less than 61% with the partial *A (hebrew), the first full Tea at 46% with Ta (yiddish).
Rising to a peak at 28% before declining down through 1%.