#massa noun "bread" (massamma "our bread", VT43:18); massánië "breadgiver", used as a title of the highest woman among any Elvish people, since she had the keeping and gift of the coimas (lembas). Also simply translated "Lady" (PM:404)
Quenya
massánië
noun. Lady, breadgiver
Cognates
- S. besain “the Lady, breadgiver” ✧ PM/404
Elements
Word Gloss massa “bread” anta- “to give, present; †to add to”
massa
bread
massa
noun. bread
A word for “bread” appearing as massa (VT43/12) or massë (PE17/52) in Tolkien’s later writings, most notably as an element in Q. massánië “breadgiver” (PM/404). It was in competition with, and possibly replaced, the word masta “bread”. The distinction between the two was discussed in notes from 1960s (PE17/52):
> Assume a Primitive Eldarin derivation ✱mbassē “(baked) bread”. The other derivatives were ✱mbasta with short final, an infinitive or verbal noun formation denoting a single action of the stem .. and ✱mbazdā denoting the passive result of the action, and when used substantivally a single product of this: mbazda would thus mean baked or a baked thing ... In Quenya we have masse “bread” as a material, and masta “a cake or loaf” (zd > st).
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya I prefer to use massa as the typical word for “bread” rather than massë, to avoid conflict with other words like [ᴹQ.] masse “where”. I would also use masta as a more general word for baked goods, including bread but also other baked things like cakes and loafs.
Cognates
- S. bas(t) “bread”
Derivations
Element in
- Q. ámen anta síra ilaurëa massamma “give us this day our daily bread” ✧ VT43/18
- Q. coimas “life-bread, lembas”
- Q. massánië “Lady, breadgiver”
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶mbassē > masse [mbassē] > [massē] > [masse] ✧ PE17/052 Variations
- masse ✧ PE17/052
massë
bread
massë noun "bread" (as a material), variant of massa, q.v. (PE17:52). Notice that *massë has also been extrapolated as a question-word "where?"
massë
noun. bread
masta
noun. bread
A title for noble Elvish women as the keeper of the recipe for lembas (PM/404), a compound of Q. massa “bread” and an abstract form of anta- “give”. Christopher Tolkien suggested this term was probably inspired by the etymology of the English word “Lady”, derived from Old English “hlæfdige” meaning “kneader of bread” (PM/405 note #1).