Where does “teh merah” come from?

teh merah (Indonesian) comes from Indonesian teh, from Malay teh, from Malay putih, from Classical Malay putih, from Proto-Malayic putih, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian (ma-)putiq — white.

teh merah (Indonesian): rosella tea

Definitions

  1. rosella tea

Ancestry of “teh merah”, step by step

teh merah traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Indonesian teh

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Indonesiantehtea
2Malaytehtea
3Malayputihwhite
4Classical Malayputihwhite
5Proto-Malayicputihwhite
6Proto-Malayo-Polynesian(ma-)putiqwhite

via Indonesian merah

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Indonesianmerahred
2Malaymerahred
3MalaymirahObsolete form of merah
4Proto-Malayic(mA-)irah—
5Proto-Malayo-Polynesian(ma-)iʀaqred
Every word from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian (ma-)putiq →Every word from Proto-Malayic putih →Every word from Classical Malay putih →