The archetypal SPiKe is of course the aRRoW (FLèChe in French)! Arrowheads dating back 54,000 years have been found in the Mandrin cave in France, long before Homo Sapiens settled in Europe. In Greek arrow is oiSTos as well as simply ioS. Here again, the spike meaning is carried by the sound « Sa » on its own.
In Egyptian, the arrow is SheSeR and to shoot an arrow is SeTI. What Polisson? ioS is also Red 🔴 and Orange 🟠, SeTI is also Purple 🟣 and Red 🔴 ». Got it! The other ShaRP ThRoWing WeaPoN is the JaVeLin, MaṢaʕ in Hebrew, haSTa in Latin, SPeaR in English, LaNCe in French.
The spear was an important object for the Romans; it was used to announce an auction or to declare war. Hasta was also the SCePTeR or STaFF of authority.
Robert Jacob talks a lot about it in his book La Parole Impérieuse (especially page 366). And thanks to the Paraklet, you'll soon understand the relationship between haSTa (the spear), HoSTis (the enemy), and iuSTus (JuSTiCe). But let's return for a moment to MaṢaʕ, the javelin, for 2 reasons. First, because this is the first time you've seen Ṣamekh. I told you it was a little devil, and I toiled on it quite a bit... until I realized that all the « Sa », « Sha », and « Tha » were six of one and half a dozen of the other. For instance, in the Torah, Ṣamekh and Shin are sometimes used interchangeably, such as ʔaRaS ( to BeTRoTh).
However, if you ask me the difference between Sin and Ṣamekh, I'd say that Ṣamekh often implies an Egyptian (Pinhas, Tahpenses, Osnat) or Persian (PaRDeṢ, ṢowD) foreign origin and a rather negative meaning, for example in RaṢaṢ which means to CRuSh, to fragment (we'll come back to it). Ṣamekh is a Sin gone bad.
Akkadian, Arabic and Egyptian as well feature several hiSSing consonants (or SiBiLants as the Pharisians call them). Just as in most Eurasian languages, starting with ChiNese, which is almost exclusively hisses and WhiSTles. The reason is, as you will soon see, that sibilants have been a CeNTRal component of human language, at least since we left Africa 70,000 years ago, and quite possibly since even before the appearance of Homo SaPiens.
Getting back to the spear, the other interesting aspect of MaṢaʕ is that in Greek to throw, to SeND is Séuô (just as in Old English to Shy also meant to throw, to ShooT). By the way, do you see the ʕAyin here and the diphthong here? ʕAyin and Ḥet are actually often hidden behind Greek and Latin diphthongs. We'll come back to that soon.
What Polisson? You got some colors for us? « Yes MaṢaʕ, Shy, Séuô are also Black ⚫ and shoot is also Green 🟢 » All right. By the way, one last sharp thing is the TooTh, SheN in Hebrew. But we'll get to that too in a bit.
What is more, a SPiKe can be used to iNCiSe, engrave LiNes, DoTs and STRoKes. Sardony (SaRDoNyX in Greek) is a brown stone that lends itself easily to engraving. With or without ShaMyR, the diamond or legendary worm that could engrave any stone. Engraving and incising are very ancient practices. The oldest evidence appears on Indonesian shells dating back some 500,000 years. Surprisingly, however, our Neanderthal cousins didn't seem very keen on engraving: their oldest engraving TRaCe, recently found in the Loire Valley, dates back only 57,000 years.
Later, the STyLus was used to write ChaRTeRs or LeTTeRs (niShTevan in Aramaic, particularly in the Book of Ezra). The pencil was also used (SeReD in Hebrew), in Isaiah 44.13 to DeSiGN (DeSSiNer in French) or iNSCRiBe (NaSaH̱ in Arabic). The Egyptian goddess of writing is Seshat and ShOT means PaPyRus and book. « Yes, but let's not forget that ShaMyR is also Green 🟢, SeReD is also Purple 🟣 NaSaH̱ is also Light Blue 💎 and ShOT is also Green 🟢 and Red 🔴 » I heard you Polisson.
An extremely important object from Antiquity was above all the SeaL, which the mark of the SiGNature was appended. In The Language of the Goddess, many examples of seals display all the symbols we'll be studying in my 10 speeches: CheVRons🔰, SNaKes🐍, SPiRaLs🍥 ... Yes, yes, Polisson, spirals, like your tail.
Today, the French call SeaLs « CaCheTs ». A « cachet » can be PReSSed or PuShed. To ThRuST and to ShoVe are other ways to push something in, sometimes FoRCefully, when you STRiVe (The English are extremely fond of the beautiful « ShaTaRa » fusion, which appears also in the word « STRenGth »). Push is highly polysemic, isn't it Polisson? « Yes, push is also Green 🟢 Red 🔴 Brown 🟤 and Black ⚫ ».
In Greek, the push is ôSMos (found in oSMoSiS), which comes from ôSis a clash, a blow. And when you push hard enough, you eventually PieRCe or break ThRouGh (the famous breakthrough that has eluded me for the past 10 years!). To pierce your eardrums, on the other hand, you don't need a spike, all you need is to utter a ShRieK, or a ShRiLL (cri STRiDent, in French).
Usually one pushes with the hands, in particular with the ThuMB, but one can also press with the feet, like is done with the MuST for instance, the JuiCe that comes out of the press, ʕaṢyṢ in Hebrew, from ʕaṢaṢ (to tread on, to press, to SQueeZe).
I had related the must to ThiRST (SiTis in Latin), but it can also be related to pressure. In fact, in Palaeolithic linguistics, even though it might look strange, the same phenomenon has often several explanations. This is called « overdetermination ».
Returning to the STaKe, when it's properly SuNK into the ground, it's firmly anchored: RaSawa and ÇaBaT in the Qu'ran. Like mountains, which don't move during earthquakes - but we'll come back to telluric phenomena soon. What are you saying Polisson? ÇaBaT is also Red 🔴? OK!
This mention of mountains allows me to move on to the second major semantic field of this video: elevation - a meaning also found in NaSaʔ for instance in Isaiah 2.2: « In the last days, the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be RaiSed above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. »
This idea of elevation is found in Syʔ and Syʔown, another name for Mount Hermon (Deut 4.48), in the Egyptian word ShuWI (to elevate), in the French word hauSSer (to elevate), as in the expression « hausser les épaules », to ShRuG. It is also found in SaiLLir (to protrude): a SuMMiT is SaLient, it’s PoiNTy, like the point of a triangle or a CheVRon.
It also appears in éChaSSes (French for STiLTs), STaKes you climb on to see the world from above, or in the French verb SauTer (to jump). Sorry, Polisson? « ShuWI is also Red 🔴 , SauTer is also Green 🟢 and Orange 🟠 - but more importantly, it has a sexual meaning, it means to SCReW ». Ooh, you've got your name right, Polisson, you SCounDReL!
This is the reason why STaiRs are STRaiGhT; through them you SPiRaL your way upwards. Here again we have the familiar « ShaTaRa » fusion. And it’s the reason why our ancestors have always been fascinated with STaLaGMiTes, the CoLuMNs RiSing naturally in damp caves: they're the embodiment of the salient stake stuck into the ground. Their influence appears in architecture, for example, in the columns of Minoan crypts in Crete, as Marija Gimbutas points out.
This notion of elevation, of being well grounded, leads us naturally to the semantic field of magnanimity, admiration, hoNoR, and PRaiSe directed at deities, kings, and ChieFs. A chief is often PeRChed (JuChé in French) on something.
Naturally NaSaʔ carries this meaning of honoring, of showing ReSPeCT: NaSyʔ is the chief, the PRiNCe, the captain (who is also Orange 🟠, I know, Polisson). Remember the famous line addressed to QayiN: « If you improve, you will STRaiGhTen up... » like Homo Erectus 2 million years ago. When a hominid straightens up, he is honored.
This honorific meaning also appears in Shah, the ancient king of Iran, and in Egyptian in WAS, meaning reign and SCePTeR (combining STaKe and elevation). Thebes, the royal capital, was also called WASeT, and the king was called NeSuWT.
In Akkadian, the ThRoNe is aShaRShu (Enuma Elish VI.53) while in the Qu'ran, the throne, ʕaRSh appears several times, notably verse 20 of Sura 81, At taKwyR. This Sura is one of what I call the few fundamental Suras – I would even call them the Paraklet's Suras, which are essentially built on a binary oPPoSition rhythm, and which will appear frequently in my 10 « Sha » Stories.
In French, this honorific meaning is found in two highly polysemous words: the verb Seoir (to SuiT), and ChaRGe. A ChaRGe in French is a magistracy, a PoSition or public oFFiCe one PuRChaSed from the king and was iNVeSTed with.
In English, ShiRe means county: Yorkshire, Berkshire, Hampshire... And there's also the haughty STaLK. Ooh! Polisson can't stand still. What are you trying to tell us? « Lots of things. First ʕaRSh is also Green 🟢 and Yellow 🟡, Invest is also Brown 🟤 and Yellow 🟡, Stalk is also Green 🟢 and Black •, seoir is also Green 🟢 and Charge is Green 🟢, Yellow 🟡 and Black ⚫ »