[Perhaps] “neas” is from the Akkadian nominal prefix na-, ne- attached to Sumero-Akkadian aš “bread; a type of flour,” from ašnan, ašnan2 “grain, cereals” = Akkadian ašnan. asnan; or indeed with Sumerian prefix nin-, ne (converting a verb to a noun). (Robert F. Smith, Jaredites and Manassities: The Ethnological Foundations of the Book of Mormon, volume II [Provo, Utah: Digital Forest Green Books, 2022], 1 n. 3)
Possibly hypothetical *nē-ás, “resin, seed, cereal, wheat,” composed of Akkadian nominal prefix na-, ne- added to Akkadian áš, ás, áz (úÁš/ZÍZ “resin; emer-wheat, cereal-food; dry measure of 3 BAN.” (Ibid., 16)
