Very cool about the Hokkien angle. I have near zero exposure to Hokkien and didn't realize the cha2 / te difference between the 2 dialects. Thank you! I've always been puzzled by the shift from the "ch" to "t" sound as the word migrated westward. I had always attributed the shift to a natural progressive change from language to language. Having two different original sources makes much more sense!
Someone else pointed out that the reason there's a cha/te divide in Eurasia is become some countries got it via maritime tried from coastal regions where Hokkien was spoken, and others got it overland from the interior, where Mandarin was more common.
Mandarin - chá
Hokkien - tê