When a foreign word is introduced into a language, it
suffers from the pronunciation efforts of its adoptive parent nation, who may
of course suffer from local dialect differences between themselves. The result
may be etymological confusion, to say the least. There are a multitude of
variants of the word for the most essential of beverages, all – apparently –
originating with the Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin) word. The first mention
in English that I am aware of is in 1601, and the OED gives it as:
1601 R. Johnson tr. G. Botero Travellers Breviat (1603) 216; Water mixt with a certaine precious
powder which they [the Japanese] use, they account a daintie beverage: they
call it Chia.
Over the
next century or so in Britain and Europe knowledge of
this ‘daintie beverage’ filtered in independently via numerous travellers and
merchants from the East. In some regions the ‘t’ sound became the preferred
pronunciation option, and the most essential of human beverages became known as
the, tee, tay, tsia and a myriad other forms, and eventually, ‘tea.’
In such a
manner are most words adapted and changed by their users over long periods of
time. Sometimes, however, only a new word will do, and must be invented –
albeit perhaps on the basis of an existing related word. Sometimes the inventor
may have a specific, one-off, purpose in mind for the new word. The OED calls
these ‘nonce-words’ because they are intended to be used only ‘for the
nonce’(i.e for one occasion only.) Sometimes, of course, they do enter the
language and become real words, although sometimes with a different meaning to
the original. This happened with ‘quark’.
Apart from
the writers of nonsense-rhymes and stories (Edward Lear and his ‘runcible’
spoon comes to mind), I find it hard to believe that any word-inventor would wish for once-only use. I am sure the
inventor of ‘trophology’, which we met the other day, was intending to be the
author of a new discipline (which I guess he was, although in a form distorted
from his original intention.) I feel equally sure that the inventor of today’s topic - ‘tsiology’ (a ‘nonce word,
according to the OED) - hoped it would become a word of enduring value.
The author concerned used the form ‘tsia’ as the
stem for ‘tsiology’, which is ‘a scientific
dissertation on tea.’ The wonder to me
is that for such an vital resource for the well-being of the human race, that
no-one had developed a word for its study before this date, and that its use
did not immediately take a permanent place in the English language.
The full title of the book is:
TSIOLOGY;
A DISCOURSE
ON TEA.
BEING AN
ACCOUNT OF THAT EXOTIC.
BOTANICAL,
CHYMICAL, COMMERCIAL, & MEDICAL,
WITH
NOTICES OF
ITS ADULTERATION,
THE MEANS OF
DETECTION.
TEA-MAKING,
WITH A BRIEF
HISTORY OF
THE EAST
INDIA COMPANY
&c.
&c
BY A TEA
DEALER
(London,
1826)
Alas! The
book is a scientific and historical treatise, not a recipe book, so it is
unable to provide our recipe for the day. Instead, I give you two variations on
a theme of soft tea-breads or tea-cakes, from Good cookery illustrated: And
recipes communicated by the Welsh hermit of the cell of St. Gover, with various
remarks on many things past and present, (1867.) The Welsh do know a thing or two about
griddle cakes such as ‘pikelates.’
Thick Welsh Barley Cakes.
Take fine
barley meal and make into a stiff dough with skim milk; roll out to the size of
a small bake-stone, about three-quarters of an inch thick, and bake. It is
eaten with cold butter.
Thin Welsh Barley Cake.
Mix fine
barley meal and milk together to the consistency of batter and pour slowly on
the bake-stone out of a jug until it has formed a circle the size of a small
plate, then let it bake slowly. It ought to be very thin, but soft, like a
pancake or pikelate; it is likewise eaten with cold butter.
Quotation for the Day.
Untrammelled
canteen helpers are sometimes mystified by requests for ‘chah’ from thirsty
soldiers.
Manchester Guardian Weekly, Sept 6, 1940.
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