yab

root. fruit

The first appearance of this root was as unglossed ᴱ√Ẏ̯AVA in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with a Gnomish form gav- and derivatives like ᴱQ. yausta “crop” and ᴱQ. yáva “fruit, produce” (QL/105). The Gnomish form appeared as the verb G. gav- “produce, yield, bear fruit” in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon along with other derivatives like G. gaust “corn, crop (espec. of cereal)” and G. gôf “fruit” (GL/38). In the Gnomish Lexicon Tolkien specified the primitive form as √ı̯aƀa and said “note not gı̯aƀ, for cp. Ivon < ı̯ǝƀánna, Q Yavanna” (GL/38).

The root appeared as ᴹ√YAB “fruit” in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like ᴹQ. yáve “fruit” and N. iau “corn” (Ety/YAB). Tolkien’s continued use of Q. yávë for “fruit” (VT43/31) and the names Q. Yavanna/S. Ivann “Fruit-giver” (S/27; LotR/1110) indicate the ongoing validity of this root.

yāba

noun. fruit

yābā-sūka

noun. fruit drink, cider