"Hot" from Lilly to Dory

As I sit and drink my tea, a thought pops into my head: "té." "Té" is the Irish Gaelic word for "hot," and it's pronounced exactly like the drink, or the thing you hit a golf ball off of.  I have always been puzzled as to why "té," the word itself, sounds so different from the English word, "hot."  See, I've always thought of "hot" as kind of an onomatopoeia (meaning, a word that sounds like what it is). Think about it, or say it out loud. The word itself sounds weighty, and tired. It sounds like a heavy exhale, an exasperated sigh, or exactly the kind of sound one would make while trudging along on a humid summer day in Florida.  On the other hand, "té" is quick, and sharp.  It has that same kind of abrasive sound that we English speakers like to reserve for swear words.  To a linguistic mind, these two words convey two very different messages.  But could "té" be an onomatopoeia as well?  I believe so, and this is why:

Think about where the Gaelic language originated.  It's the native language of Ireland and Scotland, and developed right alongside English but is descended from an entirely different language branch.  The climate there is cool, and damp.  It's overcast most of the year and the temperature rarely exceeds 70 degrees fahrenheit.  Why would people come up with a word like "hot," if they don't experience anything like the environment I described above?  To the contrary, think of what they do experience.  Fire, hot food, hot water, etc.  It makes much more sense to envision someone touching an object that burned them, and exclaiming "té!" as they jerk their hand away.  I think that this is a word that describes something hot to the touch, not a type of heat that surrounds you.

And I suspect that this is where the word "tea" originated, as well.

Love,

Lilly