Where does “soja” come from?

soja (Upper Sorbian) comes from German Soja, from Japanese soya, from Japanese 醤油, from Middle Chinese 醬油, from Middle Chinese 醬 — bean paste.

soja (Upper Sorbian): Eurasian jay

Definitions

  1. Eurasian jay

Ancestry of “soja”, step by step

soja traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via German Soja

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1GermanSojasoy
2Japanesesoya—
3Japanese醤油soy sauce
4Middle Chinese醬油—
5Middle Chinese醬bean paste

via Proto-Slavic soja

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Proto-Slavicsojajay
2Proto-Slavicsojьshaded; blue; shady
Every word from Middle Chinese 醬 →Every word from Middle Chinese 醬油 →Every word from Japanese 醤油 →