tay
noun/teɪ/
Etymology Spelling form indicating original pronunciation of tea. The digraph ea represented /ɛː/ in Early Modern English; it later merged chiefly with ee, but regionally or sporadically with ay (in standard English break, great, steak). Compare the song Polly put the kettle on, where tea rhymes with away.
- Well, ma'am, you see it was whin I was jist about the age of Mary, there. I was comin' home late one Monday evenin' from the market; for my aunt Kitty, God be marciful to her! would keep me to take a cup of tay.1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 381:
- "[T]hen the Tulip, - ah! didn't the Tulip die hard, - he fout hard for it, even after he had a hole in his head as big as a tay cup."1856 October 18, The People's Advocate and New South Wales Vindicator, Sydney, page 6, column 1:
1 more example
- "There's your tay set for you an' drawin' nicely this minute, Miss Ethel," called old Bridget from the hall.1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, →OCLC, page 207: