Where does “trà sữa” come from?

trà sữa (Vietnamese) comes from Vietnamese trả, from Chinese 茶, from Proto-Loloish la¹, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan s-la — leaf; tea; flat object.

trà sữa (Vietnamese): milk tea

Definitions

  1. milk tea

Ancestry of “trà sữa”, step by step

trà sữa traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Vietnamese trả

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Vietnamesetrảto return, to give back; to pay
2Chinese茶tea
3Proto-Loloishla¹tea
4Proto-Sino-Tibetans-laleaf; tea; flat object

via Vietnamese sữa

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Vietnamesesữamilk
2Proto-Vieticp-rahmilk
Every word from Proto-Sino-Tibetan s-la →