masta noun "cake or loaf" (PE17:52), in an earlier source defined as "bread" (MBAS, PM:404; later sources have massa or massë for this meaning). Mastamma "our bread" in Tolkiens translatation of the Lords Prayer (VT43:18). In the Etymologies, Tolkien emended the gloss of masta from "dough" to "bread" (VT45:33).
Quenya
masta
noun. bread, cake, loaf, bread, cake, loaf, *baked good
masta
cake or loaf
masta
noun. 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.
masta-
bake
masta- vb. "bake" (MBAS)
matta
noun. food
A noun for “food” from the Common Eldarin: Verb Structure (EVS2) of the early 1950s, derived from primitive ✶matnā, originally an ancient adjective meaning “eaten” (PE22/136).
Conceptual Development: In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s the word for “food” was ᴱQ. matl under the early root ᴱ√MATA (QL/59). This became ᴱQ. {masta} >> matso in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s (PE16/141). In EVS2 the word was originally manna “food”, but this was struck through and replaced by matta (PE22/136 note #36), which likely reflects Tolkien’s shift in the phonetic developments of primitive tn, so that tn became tt rather than nn as it did in Tolkien’s earlier writings (PE19/85 and note #79).
Neo-Quenya: I find the phonetic developments associated with the above sound change to be problematic for various reasons. Therefore, I prefer to assume the primitive form of this word was an ancient noun: ✱mattā.
massa
bread
#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)
masta-
verb. feed up
feed up, fatten
matta
noun. food
mastacornë
noun. [bread] loaf
mastasan
noun. kitchen
matya-
verb. to feed
A neologism for “to feed” coin by Damien Bador as a straightforward derivative of the attested primitive verb ✶matyā- of the same meaning (PE22/135). I would distinguish it from ᴺQ. nesta- “to graze, pasture, (give to) feed” used for feeding farm animals, whereas matya- can be used for feeding anyone.
cornë
noun. loaf
cornë
loaf
cornë _("k")_noun "loaf" (LT1:257)
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
matl
food
matl noun "food"; read *matil in LotR-style Quenya (in which language final syllabic -l becomes -il) (QL:59); however, the word matso from a later source may be preferred.
matso
food
matso noun "food" (PE16:141)
This was the basic Quenya word for “bread” for much of Tolkien’s life, appearing as ᴱQ. masta “bread” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√M(B)ASA “cook, bake” (QL/59) and appearing again in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s (PE16/141). It was ᴹQ. masta “bread” in The Etymologies under the root ᴹ√MBAS “knead” (Ety/MBAS) and the word appeared again in sentences from the Quenya Verbal System written in 1948 (PE22/119).
Starting with Quenya prayers in the 1950s Tolkien began to experiment with other forms, however. In the Átaremma “prayer” Tolkien revised mastamma “our bread” to massamma in the final version of the prayer (VT43/11-12), and in notes on lembas from the late 1950s he had massánië “Lady, breadgiver” as the title of the keeper of lembas (PM/404). This change seems to have been inspired by the Sindarin word lembas itself, and the problem of how to explain its final s rather than st. In notes probably from the mid-1960s (PE17/51-52) Tolkien wrote:
> lembas “waybread”. This seems meant to be associated with Primitive Eldarin stems ✱LED “go” and ✱MBAS “bake” but is not readily derived from them according to Sindarin developments. Something like ✱leðbast would be expected.
He resolved this quandary by separating the basic word for “bread” from masta:
> 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).
Thus it seems that massa or massë was the word for “bread” (giving a clean explanation for the final s in lembas) while masta was a more general term for baked goods, including other items like cakes and loafs. Note, however, that Tolkien continued to use masta for “bread” in later sentences, including one in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969: vá matuvatyë mastanya “you are not to eat my bread” (PE22/162).
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 reserve masta as a more general word for baked goods, including bread but also other baked things like cakes and loafs.