Tee is the German word for tea... (It's pronounced "tay" )
In fact, the word tea (English) or tee (German) comes from the
Hokkien word "te", because Southern China was the main exporter of
tea for many centuries. Most European languages follow the Hokkien
word "te". For example, French: thé. Dutch: thee. Italian: tè.
Spanish: té. Portuguese is an exception, which follow the Cantonese
word "cha": chá.
As for Asian languages, most languages follow the Cantonese "cha"
instead of the Hokkien "te". Languages that pronounce tea as "cha"
include Mandarin, Korean, Japanese, Thai, Russian, Hindu, etc. Of
course, there are exceptions. One famous example is Malay:
teh.
For a more complete list of languages following "te" or "cha", you
can refer to http://www.answers.com/topic/tea-1
It is fascinating to know that the Hokkien word "te" and the
Cantonese word "cha" are commonly used in other languages around
the world...
