háva

noun. bread (collective), [unleavened] bread (collective)

A collective word for “bread” appearing in notes on the origin of Elvish waybread written in 1968 (NM/295). It was derived from primitive ✶khābā which Tolkien said “originally applied to most vegetable foods, but after the coming of corn was restricted to those made from grain”. Tolkien also specified that the result of its baking was “(unleavened) bread”.

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would reserve this word for unleavened flat bread, and would use massa for baked bread with yeast and coimas as the Quenya term for the more specialized Elvish waybread more typically known as [S.] lembas.

Derivations

• ✶khābā “unleavened bread (originally from any vegetable, later just bread from grains)” ✧ NM/295
  • √KHAB “heap up, pile up”

Element in

• Q. Hávanissi “Bread-women” ✧ NM/295

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶khābā > háva	[kʰābā] > [xābā] > [xāβā] > [hāβā] > [hāβa] > [hāva]	✧ NM/295