See bass for a discussion regarding this word
Sindarin
bess
noun. wife, wife; [N.] woman
bess
noun. (young) woman
bess
noun. wife
bessain
noun. bread-giver
bass
noun. bread
In the Etymologies, the word for "bread" is given as bast , Quenya masta, but it seems that Tolkien later changed his mind and updated the word to bass, as shown in Quenya massánie, Sindarin besain, besoneth "bread-giver", and in the mutated form (i)mbas (apparently prefixed with the article). These latter Sindarin forms are however dubious, as we would rather have expected bessain (as a regular cognate of Quenya massánie) and bassoneth (without i-affection), and possibly a different mutation pattern after the article
bess
wife
(i vess, construct bes) (woman), pl. biss (i miss). The word bess was later used = ”woman” (in general).
bess
woman
bess (i vess, construct bes) (wife), pl. biss (i miss). The word etymologically means ”wife”, but the meaning was generalized.
bess
woman
(i vess, construct bes) (wife), pl. biss (i miss). The word etymologically means ”wife”, but the meaning was generalized.
bass
bread
bass (i mass, o mbass, construct bas), pl. bais (i mbais). The sg. form with article "imbas" in VT44:23 may be seen as archaic Sindarin, for later *i mas(s) as suggested here. In ”Noldorin”, the word for "bread" was bast (LR:372 s.v. MBAS), but otherwise it would have the same mutations.
bass
bread
(i mass, o mbass, construct bas), pl. bais (i mbais). The sg. form with article "imbas" in VT44:23 may be seen as archaic Sindarin, for later ✱i mas(s) as suggested here. – In ”Noldorin”, the word for "bread" was bast (LR:372 s.v. MBAS), but otherwise it would have the same mutations.
dess
young woman
(i ness, o ndess, constuct des), pl. diss (i ndiss).
herves
wife
1) herves (i cherves, o cherves), pl. hervis (i chervis), coll. pl. hervessath, 2) archaic bess (i vess, construct bes) (woman), pl. biss (i miss). The word bess was later used = ”woman” (in general).
adaneth
noun. (mortal) woman
arwen
noun. noble woman
bas(t)
noun. bread
This was the word for “bread” in Sindarin and its conceptual precursors for much of Tolkien’s life, derived from the equally long-lived root √MBAS “bake”. The word dates all the way back to the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s where G. bast “bread” was derived from the early root ᴱ√M(B)ASA “cook, bake” (GL/22). ᴱN. bast “bread” reappeared in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/138) and appeared again as N. bast “bread” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√MBAS “knead” (Ety/MBAS).
It appeared without a final t in the Sindarin version of the Lord’s Prayer from the 1950s: anno ammen sír i mbas ilaurui vín “give us this day our daily bread” (VT44/21). However the t was restored in the phrase penim vast “we have no bread” from around 1959 (PE17/144). The late vacillations on the presence and absence of t are likely connected to Tolkien challenges with the derivation of lembas; see that entry for discussion. Likewise, the mutated forms mbas vs. vast indicate some late uncertainty on whether the primitive form began with mb- or b-.
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would assume the normal form was bast “bread” from ancient mbasta, so that lenited forms show mb-.
bassoneth
noun. bread-giver
See bass for a discussion regarding this word
besain
noun. bread-giver
See bass for a discussion regarding this word
besoneth
noun. bread-giver
See bass for a discussion regarding this word
lembas
noun. journey bread made by the Elves
adaneth
mortal woman
(pl. edenith), also firieth (pl. firith).
gwanur
kinsman
(i ’wanur) (brother), pl. gwenyr (in gwenyr). Note: a homophone of the sg. means ”pair of twins”.
herves
wife
(i cherves, o cherves), pl. hervis (i chervis), coll. pl. hervessath
lembas
way-bread, journey-bread
pl. lembais.
A word for “wife” appearing in the King’s Letter written towards the end of the 1940s (SD/129).
Conceptual Development: This word dates all the way back to G. bess “wife” from the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, where it was a derivative of the early root ᴱ√Beđ (GL/22). In Early Noldorin Word-lists, Tolkien changed ᴱN. {bess >>} gweth “wife” based on the modified root ᴱ√wed- (PE13/139, 146); it also had a negated form ᴱN. urweth “without wife” (PE13/156). In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien restored N. bess, now a derivative of the root ᴹ√BES “wed” (Ety/BES). However in that document the sense “†wife” was archaic, and it has come to mean “woman” in modern speech, replacing archaic N. †dî “woman” (Ety/BES, NDIS, Nι). In the scenario of The Etymologies, the normal word for “wife” was herves (Ety/BES, KHER). However, in the late-1940s King’s Letter, it seems the sense “wife” was restored to bess.
At some point in the mid-to-late 1960s, Tolkien changed the root for marriage words from ᴹ√BES to √BER (VT49/45), apparently motivated by a need to deal with some etymological problems with the name S. Elbereth. Indeed, in The Road Goes Ever On from 1967, Tolkien said S. bereth meant “spouse”, also “used of one who is queen as spouse of a king” (RGEO/66). This calls into question the continued validity of bess from ᴹ√BES.
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I prefer to retain the root ᴹ√BES for marriage word; see that entry for further details. I’d therefore keep bess, but I recommend using it only in the sense “wife”. For “woman” I’d use dî, much as I recommend using S. dîr for “man” over N. benn, which had similar conceptual developments.