茶座 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

cházuò

seat

chá tea

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 余 represents the sound.

艹 Meaning component

cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

余 Sound component

yú I

Change in sound

茶 and 余 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
茶 *lˤra
余 *la

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	drae	lˤra	(name of a plant)

Phonosemantic compound. 广 represents the meaning and 坐 represents the sound.

广 Meaning component

guǎng roof

zuò sit

Regular Modern

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	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	dzwaH	[dz]ˤo[j]ʔ-s	seat n.