お茶
Japanese
| Kanji in this term |
|---|
| 茶 |
| ちゃ Grade: 2 |
| kan'yōon |
| Alternative spelling |
|---|
| 御茶 |
Etymology
Compound of 御 (o-, honorific prefix) + 茶 (cha, “tea”).
Pronunciation
Noun
お茶 • (ocha)
- tea, usually green tea
- お茶はいかがですか。
- Ocha wa ikaga desu ka.
- How about some tea? (Would you like some tea?)
- お茶はいかがですか。
- tea ceremony
- snack with tea or coffee
- the act of having tea
Usage notes
- Using お茶 is considered neutral (i.e., neither polite nor impolite), while the bare 茶 is markedly impolite to refer to tea. The prefix お (o-) was originally an honorific, but is now part of the word in modern Japanese.
- お茶 generally refers to a cup of hot green tea. In general, black tea is referred to as 紅茶 (kōcha), though it can be implicitly included within the term お茶, which literally just means "tea."
- The honorific お (o-) in お茶 is normally written in hiragana, though it is seen from time to time in more formal or official writing as 御 (as in 御茶). Also, お茶 is one of the unusual cases of the honorific お (or 御 (o-)) that can be used to refer to anyone, including the speaker. See the usage note at 御-.
Related terms
Descendants
- → Ainu: オチャ
- → Amis: ociya
- → Atayal: ocya'
- → Bunun: ucia
- → English: ocha
- → Paiwan: ucia
- → Rukai: ucia
- → Sakizaya: ucya
- → Taroko: ocya
- → Tsou: 'ocea
See also
- コーヒー (kōhī, “coffee”)
Verb
お茶する • (ocha suru) intransitive suru (stem お茶し (ocha shi), past お茶した (ocha shita))
- (colloquial) go out for tea
Usage notes
- 茶する without the honorific お is rarely used.
References
- ^ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1974), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Second edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō
- ^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN