Results of a study of Semitic ROOTS

venicebard

INTERLUDE: A BOAST

(by G.K.Spain)

I can account for virtually all
Of tav, the center or cross-roads -- conscience,
The heart itself, whether one listens
Or not. Tav's what approaches within earshot,
Angling down from horizon without
As the crow flies. It raises hackles
That call us together in gathered strength,
Like a pinched hose or a lion's roar:
Discipline, honor, Masonry's straight-edge,
Conscience's disapproval of breaking
Ranks against danger without -- the power
In banding together, like holly's prick-points
Dressed in scarlet, so blood is invisible
And does not damage morale. Each man
Depends on his twin, as the waxing sun,
The hero, depends on him who harvests
The rest of the year, its underside,
To take his place in case he falls,
Which happens every summer solstice.
It requires a second to stand in his place,
Marked by the second sign of summer,
T in the calendar of tree-months, hottest
Month, hence dryest, when grass becomes hay,
The year's furnace, or oven, or athenor,
Whose smoke means hearth and a habitation,
A crossroads. Conscience heralds restraint
Of the very first T-root, T A B,
Desire, the thing that conscience judges
(tau-peh-tau-yod-alef, 'judges').

After allotting most of tav's roots
To holly's meanings, all that remains
Is 'turtle dove', and 'fig' -- our rations? --
And something startling to seal the case,
Namely the trees of the other two dentals:
Teyt, which is bardic Aa, palm,
And dalet the oak, since Tabor stands
For a grove thereof -- oh, and 'descend',
Tau-vav-cheyt, which goes with teyt
The palm, a location, the place one sits
To meditate, its shape the legs folded
Beneath one. Long was it clear both teyt
And mem were meant as the folded legs.
Now to refine it: mem means this
In a casual sense, with one leg folded
Off to the left, ready to rise:
This is because intermediate mem
Means M's sweetness below, whilst teyt
Is the folded legs while one meditates
On transforming mem into mem-sofit
And restoring reysh to the point straight down
(Of the Cauldron's seven), where intermediate
Mem was reckoned, raising perception
To mem-sofit, its final form,
Shaped like the box that holds the Ark.
M is actually the all-encompassing
Monad, the One Ideal, centered
On top of standing Adam Qadmon
Or Upright Sentience itself, which all
That exists must seek by tending towards --
The unmoved Mover. The lasting M,
Abiding sweetness, is found only
In Upright Sentience, seeking which
That leg askew is drawn full in,
As teyt, while mem becomes mem-sofit,
A little taste of what is eternal
In the here and now: such a deal!

4/16/07

[Edited for rhythm]
 

venicebard

Tav or XI LaForce (T-holly-phalanx-discipline-conscience, or moral fortitude, one's mark). Note: here parentheses about a whole entry indicates I consider it an admitted stretch.

One's mark:

ThAH to mark out
ThAR be drawn, marked out / mark out, delineate
I. ThVH make marks, scribble / 1. mark, set a mark upon . . . / ThV 1. mark, sign 2. signature

The Twin:

ThAM to be doubled / bear twins / twin / joined, coupled
(ThLG [i.q. ShLG] snow [twin of the oak-god's (thunder's) rain (I don't believe snow is accompanied by thunder)])
ThMVZ Tammuz (Assyrian idol, one of the twin gods of the year, according to Graves)
ThNA i.q. ShNH to repeat / ThNYN Chald. second
ThRYN Chald. two

Descent from horizon (into earshot):

ThVCh Arab. ThACh descend, sink down [it wasn't left over after all]
ThM Chald. (i.q. Heb. ShM) there! [I added the exclamation point]
ThMH 1. wonder, be astonished, amazed 2. look with astonishment and surprise / astonishment, consternation

Heart, crossroads:

II. ThVH (i.q. Arab. ThVY) abide, dwell / a chamber [of the heart?]
ThVK middle, midst / (a) in midst of (b) in, within . . .
ThKL prob. to peel, shell [i.e. get to the heart of] / ThKLTh color obtained from mussel: cerulean purple
ThRGM Chald. interpret, translate
ThRPYM Terafim, a kind of penates or household gods

Conscience, disapproval (of wrong)

ThHH (Chald. ThHA) be waste, desolate, whence Tohu . . . 3. emptiness 4. vanity, a vain, worthless thing 5. adv. (L+) in vain
ThVB return, give back
ThVP Arab. spit out with contempt
ThVR . . . 4. think of, purpose 5. go astray / 1. send spies 2. lead or direct aright
ThKN weigh, (met.) ponder, examine / 1. be weighed, examined 2. be equal, fair, just
ThMM . . . 3. be perfect, upright . . . / . . . 3. sound, without blemish or defect 4. perfect, upright, sincere 5. (subst.) integrity
ThOB 1. abhor 2. render abominable, cause to be abhorred 3. excite abhorance, be object thereof
ThOH 1. wander, go astray 2 stagger (drunken) 3 (trop.) stray, err . . .
ThOO mock, scoff
ThPL 1. something unseasoned, unsavory 2. (met.) insipid, foolish . . .
ThPThYA Chald. lawyers or judges
ThQL Chald. to weigh

And what it judges:

ThAB (i.q. AVH) to desire, long for / +H (noun) desire

Straight-edge:

ThNN (to which is ascribed the sense of) stretching out, extending [which is how Euclid defines a straight line, but we shall see this root again anyway, under 'furnace']
ThNK Syr. come to an end / extremity, tip (of the ear)
ThQN be arranged, straight / 1. make straight 2. set in order, compose

Discipline, restraint:

ThLA 1. suspended, placed in suspense . . .
ThLH . . . 2. hang, execute / ThLY quiver (hung)

. . . which leads us to martial fortitude and the power of numbers, of cohesion in battle (the principle of the phalanx of holly-pricks)

(To be continued)
 

venicebard

venicebard said:
. . . which leads us to martial fortitude and the power of numbers, of cohesion in battle (the principle of the phalanx of holly-pricks)
Martial fortitude:

ThChSh badger [don't laugh]
ThKY (only plural) peacocks [natural poetic image for parading soldiers, n'est ce pas? why else no singular?]
ThKK Arab. to cut, cut off; Chald. ThVK injure / (Heb.) ThK violence, oppression
ThLCh (breach) pr. name
ThLM Arab. break, break open / (Heb.) a furrow
ThPP to beat (the tabret) /smite upon (the breast) / ThP drum, tabret
ThPSh 1. lay hold of, seize 2. take, capture 3. handle (a bow or harp); met. handle, administer; use (name of God) irreverently 4. (part.) held, set (in gold) [metal of ruler of T's sign, leo]
ThQO 1. smite, clap (hands, in joy) 2. strike hands (in surety) 3. strike, drive, fix (as nail) 4. fasten with nails 5. pitch (tent) 6. thrust in (e.g. spear) 7. cast, throw in 8. [etc.] / -- (and also ThQVO) a blast (from a trumpet) [reads like a military training camp, if you ask me]
ThQP overpower, prevail over, oppress / Chald. 1. be/become great, strong, powerful 2. become firm, obstinate / make strong / might, power, authority
ThRN 1. mast 2. banner
ThRO Chald. 1. door 2. gate of king for royal palace / Chald. doorkeeper, porter

Cohesion, power in numbers:

ThKH Arab. ThKA to lean upon (hence Heb. to be laid down)
ThLL 1. raise, heap up 2. (in deriv.) vibrate, wave
ThPR sew or join together
[Okay, admittedly not much here! (lol) but it does use up three 'loose ends']

Heat of summer's height (leo, the holly-month):

Arab. ThAR be hot
ThBN straw, heap of straw
ThNN [again] / AThVN Chald. furnace (for AThNVN Chald. ThNN to smoke)
ThNR whence apparently ThNVR [Athenor?] oven, furnace: from NVR to shine (Chald. subst. fire), or that compounded onto ThN (Chald. ThNN) to smoke.

This basically leaves the following slightly more involved bits:

ThLTh Chald. (i.q. ShLSh) three, which combined with two above (under root ThRYN and preceding) illustrates the twist that pits the middle five consonants of ogham, H D T K Q as initials of Keltic numerals 1 2 3 4 5, which has D at 2 and T at 3, against their bardic numbers D-12 and T-11, whose digits add up to the reverse. Indeed the yod and first heh of the Name (YHVH) are assigned by Lurianic Kabbalah to 2 and 3, respectively, while their bardic numbers are the reverse of this (to show their utter interpenetration in the name of the male half, the god-name Yah [YH]): heh = E-aspen = 2, while yod = Ii-mistletoe = 19 = 3rd-to-last, the latter because it doubles I-yew, which is 3.

ThShO whence / +Th nine (also ninth) / ThShYO (f. +Th) ninth. This one proves the case: Bardic 9 is K-kaf-coll-hazel, which occupies virgo on the Cauldron (bottom half of surroundings, comprising the seven doubles), and the sequence Th-Sh-O goes from leo thereon, to aries (top) of the lesser wheel within it (world egg, zodiac of seated torso), then down the radius that ends up at K-kaf-coll but first goes through O-ayin or leo of the smaller wheel (Egg).
 

venicebard

venicebard said:
A JOURNEY INTO SEMITIC ROOTS

by G.K.Spain
CANTO THE SECOND

Shin is inexorable. Here are the pens
In which I've ranged her roots. Square-Hebrew
Shin is a crown, for princely dominion,
Sitting on samekh the head: here
A quarter of a hundred Hebrew roots
Or more abide, since crown implies
Both upright stance and north -- called 'left',
Which means they knew 'twas earth that moves,
Not sky (at least in the diurnal cycle).
And King Saul sits at the top
With his root. Then ruach ha-kodesh,
The Holy Spirit, knits together
People of common faith and civility,
Topped by 'quails', which connects things
Straight to the third bird in Egyptian
Other than alef and mem, for shin,
Like them a mother, unlike them
Changed from its original quail-chick,
The U of Logos A U M,
W in Egyptian, where birds spell
Alef, w, and mem; but Hebrew
Shushed said chick with lotus pond,
Split its birdness into beyt-tav
(Not originally birds in Egyptian),
Beyt from bird soul, ba, and tav
From duckling, in whose hieratic form
A cross stands for the hapless bird.
The pen this heads has fourteen or fifteen
Roots describing the plain of Shinar,
A fertile, low-lying land near Babylon
With its shrubs and cattle: good farm country.
Then comes saille -- sallow or willow,
Its bardic name -- with about eight roots,
Including shin-qof-peh, 'be long
And bending from length': a better description
Of willow's boughs is hard to come by.
'Draw water' is there, too,
Which is what all willows are wont to do.
Indeed their bowed boughs resemble
A fountain's waters, and twice ten roots
Celebrate overflow, and the fat
Of abundance, and trains of hair and robe
Reminiscent thereof. There follow
A dozen or so that mean 'interweave',
Which is what you do with willow's boughs,
Followed by the shushing, quieting breeze
That passes through them: fifteen in that one.
Then comes *sowela, vertical zig-zag
Rune-equivalent, whose back-and-forthing
Weaves lightning though it's named 'sun':
Sawtooth-like, this lightning cleaves wood,
Accounting for ten whole roots. Afterwards,
Fire itself, which lightning causes,
Accounts for six roots, seventh being 'star',
The start of fire as an element aloft.
Then fire's own sense, sight, which lightning
Lights, eats up thirteen roots,
Explaining the purpose of Babel's tower,
Whose pen of ten describes the rebellious
Going-astray which Babel symbolizes,
Since this is part of what shin's trump,
XVI LaMaisonDieu, conveys,
Which catastrophe quite explicitly,
As to its mood and action, eats up
Twenty-two roots, roughly speaking,
Followed by Babylon herself -- the Captivity,
In which the willow tree figured prominently
(Hebrews hanging their harps thereon) --
Whose whorelike nature fits snugly
With Gnostics calling the Holy Spirit
(Sophia) Prunikos, the whore:
A dozen-plus roots are there. Then shin
The tooth comes next, ten roots telling us
The color and consistency of teeth when healthy
And the path of neglect that makes them otherwise.
S's hissing sound on the teeth
And what it says to the actor it's aimed at
Eat up a full four, and finally,
The serpent that creeps lasciviously --
The Adversary -- brings up the rear
With thirteen entries as to its essence
And creepy behavior. This leaves only
The following concrete things unaccounted for:
Agate and onyx, garlic and urine,
Lion, seagull, acacia, and miscarriage,
An early rise, shoulders, the fox,
Jerboa (whatever that is), a handful,
'Sleepless' almond, sycamore, and red ochre --
All that's left of shin that I haven't
Yet sorted out, but I will. Yes,
Some small few so far are stretches,
But most ring clear, and the clusters of meanings
Are rich: they startled even me --
Who was looking for them! -- but what this means
With regard to Hebrew's growth or language
In general sha'n't be clear for a while,
And just what nuance each letter gives,
As second or third, to the meaning flowing
Out of the first remains to be tackled.

4/20/07

[Edited to correct what lack of time hath wrought in the original]
[Further editing: just polishing up the rhythm]
 

venicebard

I start with the least cohesive 'pens',
That judgment be by least strong link.
venicebard said:
(from CANTO THE SECOND,
concerning shin)
. . .
Explaining the purpose of Babel's tower,
Whose pen of ten describes the rebellious
Going-astray which Babel symbolizes,
. . .
ShAT & [ShUT] contemn, despise
ShBSh Chald. be perplexed
ShGA err, iq ShGH 1. wander, go astray 2. err, sin through ignorance
ShGG err, commit an error / error, a sin through ignorance
ShDR Chald. exert oneself (whence AShThDUR rebellion)
ShUG iq ShGG, ShGH
III. ShUR wall (perh. from II. ShUR go round) / Chald. wall
ShChTh / 1. be marred, spoiled by rotting 2. be corrupted (morally) 3. be laid waste
ShKCh 1. forget 2. leave from forgetfulness 3. disregard, neglect
[ShLH, ShLV] 1. be quiet, at ease, enjoy prosperity . . . / [Niph.] become negligent; (others) go astray, err / ShL fault, error . . . [yet also Shiloh (Messiah as bringer of peace), so see under shsh]
 

venicebard

venicebard said:
(from CANTO THE SECOND)
. . .
Since this is part of what shin's trump,
XVI LaMaisonDieu, conveys,
Which catastrophe quite explicitly,
As to its mood and action, eats up
Twenty-two roots, roughly speaking,
. . .
[ShAH] be desolate (prob. to fall w/ a crash) / 1. make a noise 2. be laid waste / lay waste / ShAVH (f.) tempest / ShAUN (m.) 1. noise, tumult, bustle, shouting 2. destruction
ShBR 1. break in pieces . . . 2. tear 3. break down, destroy / 1. breach, fracture; (metaphorically) sorrow, vexation, calamity . . . 3. destruction, ruin
ShGO / act or behave like a madman / madness, impetuosity [This must refer to the 'unsettled' crown]
GhGR Chald. cast forth, eject
[ShDP] to blight (as the east wind corn [Tower = stalk?])
[ShDD] 1. treat w/ violence, oppress 2. attack, invade 3. plunder 4. lay waste, destroy
[ShUD] iq ShDD lay waste, destroy
I. [ShUT] 1. row (prop. lash water w/ oars, Arab. ShAT to whip) / whip, scourge; calamity
ShUP 1. bruise, wound 2. cover w/ darkness
ShChT 1. slaughter, kill 2. kill, slay . . . / be slaughtered
[ShChQ] 1. bruise, pound, reduce to dust 2. wear away
ShLCh 1. send . . . 4. send away, i.e. let loose, let go . . . / . . . 5. let down (by a cord) 6. cast, throw, shoot / 1. missile, weapon (dart, javelin, spear) 2. shoot, sprout
ShLK 1. throw, cast 2. cast off, as a plant its flowers [have I not said this trump was the distributing of pollen in the spring?] 3. cast out, expel, banish 4. cast down, overthrow, destroy / +Th 1. a felling (of a tree)
ShMD / 1. destroy, lay waste 2. cut off (people, peoples) / Chald. destroy
(ShMM Arab. to poison / +YTh a species of poisonous lizard)
[ShMM] 1. be desolate, laid waste 2. lay waste, make desolate 3. be astonished, amazed
[ShSH] and [ShSS] plunder. spoil
[ShSO] cleave, divide / 1. cleave 2. rend, tear asunder 3. chide, rebuke . . . / cleft, division (in hoof)
ShOT (not used) Arab. ThOT stamp, pound in pieces / +H a stamping (of hooves)
ShSP / cut or hew in pieces
[ShRD] flee, escape / ShRYD 1. one left, escaped 2. remnant (relates also to next category, Babylon)
(ShThM open, Chald. bore through)
ShThR break forth; Arab. ShThR split, burst (Gesenius)
 

venicebard

venicebard said:
(from CANTO THE SECOND)
. . .
Followed by Babylon herself -- the Captivity,
In which the willow tree figured prominently
(Hebrews hanging their harps thereon) --
Whose whorelike nature fits snugly
With Gnostics calling the Holy Spirit
(Sophia) Prunikos, the whore:
A dozen-plus roots are there.
ShAR remain / remainder, remnant
ShBH take prisoner, carry away captive
[ShBQ] leave / be left
ShUB 1. turn back, return 2. go back, restore . . . 5. lead, bring back
II [ShUR] go, travel / part. traveling company, caravan, hence ThShURH (f.) gift, present (relates to {bribery}?)
III.[Sh(s)UR] iq SUR go away, depart
ShZB Chald. deliver, rescue
{[ShChD] give presents, bribe / 1. gift 2. bribe 3. bribery}
[ShKK] 1. bow, stoop down 2. lower itself, abate / cause to abate, quiet, still (relates to shsh) / ShShK Sheshach, for Babylon (having brazen gates, Arab. ShK)
{Sh(s)KR 1. hire 2. bribe / wages, reward}
ShLL . . . 3. carry off (spoil) / 1. spoil, plunder . . . / ShULL 1. stripped, naked (Sept. and Syr. barefoot) 2. captive, prisoner
{I. ShOR estimate the value (cleave, divide?) / 1. gate (meton. for city) 2. gate 3. measure}
ShQD / be bound, fastend (relates, then, to weaving as well)
 

venicebard

venicebard said:
(from CANTO THE SECOND)
. . .
Then ruach ha-kodesh,
The Holy Spirit, knits together
People of common faith and civility,
Topped by 'quails', which connects things
Straight to the third bird in Egyptian
Other than alef and mem, for shin,
Like them a mother, unlike them
Changed from its original quail-chick,
The U of Logos A U M,
W in Egyptian, where birds spell
Alef, w, and mem; but Hebrew
Shushed said chick with lotus pond,
Split its birdness into beyt-tav
(Not originally birds in Egyptian),
Beyt from bird soul, ba, and tav
From duckling, in whose hieratic form
A cross stands for the hapless bird.
The pen this heads has fourteen or fifteen
Roots describing the plain of Shinar,
A fertile, low-lying land near Babylon
With its shrubs and cattle: good farm country.
Ruach ha-Qodesh:

Sh(s)LV quails
ShAR 1. flesh 2. blood relation, kindred 3. food, aliment [Lee: marriage right]
[ShUR,ShYR] sing / ShYR 1. a singing, song 2. sacred song [from Sh(s)UR divide, saw?]
ShMO 1. hear 2. listen, give attention 3. hear, accept prayer (God) 4. hearken, obey 5. understand / 1. cause to hear 2. proclaim 3. call, summon 4. sing or play aloud
ShPCh (nu) perh. join, associate (cogn. SPCh) / +H (f.) servant, handmaid / MShPChH 1. family, household 2. clan 3. tribe 4. race, kind (of animals)
[ShPR] prop. to be bright; hence be pleasant, acceptible to / make bright, beautiful / ShUPR trumpet, curved horn / +UR, +YR royal canopy / +PR Chald. the dawn
ShRH / loose, set free / ShRA Chald. 1. loose, untie, solve 2. lodge, dwell / 1. solve 2. begin / ShRUTh beginning / ShRYH coat of mail (Arab. ShRY to glitter) / M+ solution, maceration

Plain of Shinar?

ShNOR Shinar, country round Babylon
[Sh(s)GA] & Sh(s)GH be/become great/ Chald. become great, increase (also relates to spring) / Sh(s)GYA 1. great 2. much, many 3. greatly
Sh(s)DD (coll. w/ Arab. be straight, even) / harrow
Sh(s)DH 1. plain, level tract 2. field, cultivated land 3. the fields, country 4. territory
ShDH Arab. to moisen, irrigate; Chald. cast, shoot, pour out / ShD breast, teat (relates to shape of old Hebrew shin, a molar but also pendent breasts)
ShDM (signif. uncert.) / 1. blasted corn (relates to trump? [see above]) / fields, esp. corn fields; also vineyards
ShVH 1. be equal . . . / 1. make level, even . . . 4. put forth, yield (fruit)
ShUR 1. ox 2. herd of oxen
ShYCh plant, shrub, bush
[ShMT] 1. let go, release (a debt) to let lie uncultivated . . . 5. set oneself free
[ShMN] be/become fat / fat; robust; fertile (land) / 1. richness, delicacy (of food); fetility (land) 2. oil; OTz ShMN wild olive tree 3. ointment
[ShPTh] 1. set, put, place 2. give / +YM stalls, folds (for cattle); (others:) cooking vessels
ShRSh 1. root 2. shoot, sprout 3. foot (of mountain) 4. bottom (of sea) 5. sole (of foot) 6. origin, source, cause / Chald. root; hence take root, root out, etc.
[ShThL] to plant / ShThYL shoot, branch
 

venicebard

venicebard said:
(from CANTO THE SECOND)

. . . Then shin
The tooth comes next, ten roots telling us
The color and consistency of teeth when healthy
And the path of neglect that makes them otherwise.
S's hissing sound on the teeth
And what it says to the actor it's aimed at
Eat up a full four, and finally,
The serpent that creeps lasciviously --
The Adversary -- brings up the rear
With thirteen entries as to its essence
And creepy behavior.
[ShHH] (prob. iq Arab. Sh(s)HA) cogn. [Sh(s)YH] forget, neglect
ShUSh prob. to be white / 1. white marble 2. fine linen / 1. lily, artificial lily (we still say "lily white")
Sh(s)YD lime, plaster
ShYTh thorn, thorns
ShKYN knife
ShKCh 1. forget 2. leave from forgetfulness (also see Babel) 3. disregard, neglect
[Sh(s)KK] to cover (in derivv. iq Sh(s)UK weave, hedge; but perh. also to cut [comp. Latin secare]) / Sh(s)K thorn / Sh(s)KH spear (= be sharp, pointed)
ShLG snow / HShLYN to be white as snow
ShLP 1. draw (sword) 2. pull off (shoe) 3. pluck up (grass) [and no doubt also pluck (tooth)?]
[ShNN] 1. sharpen 2. (metaphorically) sharpen (tongue) / inculcate, teach diligently / be pricked, pierced (w/ pain) / ShN 1. tooth 2. ivory 3. prong of fork 4. sharp cliff / ShNYNH pointed saying, taunt

Hissing:

Sh(s)ChQ 1. laugh 2. smile upon, approve 3. laugh at, deride, scorn 4. make sport
ShNH 1. repeat, do again 2. be different from 3. alter, change, be changed; part. changeable, unsteady / 1. year 2. produce thereof . . . (well, this one doesn't fit as well as I must have originally thought: better fits weaving, perhaps?)
ShRQ 1. hiss, lure by hissing or whistling 2. hiss at (in contempt) / +H hissing, derision / MShRUQY Chald. pipe, flute
Sh(s)ThM stop, shut out

Serpent, Adversary:

[Sh(s)UT] go/turn aside / one who turns aside
ShKCh 1. find 2. get, obtain (signifying avarice?)
[Sh(s)TH] turn aside, go astray
ShKH / wander about lasciviously
[Sh(s)TM] hate, persecute; [according to others, coll. w/ Syr.] lay snares for
[Sh(s)TN] be hostile, oppose; part. adversary / . . . 2. devil, Satan / 1. accusation 2. pr. name (a well)
ShKB 1. lie down 2. keep one's bed 3. lie (slain) 4. lie w/ (carnally) / be ravished / M+ . . . 3. couch, be 4. bier (relates also to shsh)
Sh(s)NA hate; part. hater, enemy / +H hatred
ShPL 1. be made low, lowered 2. be depressed (voice) 3. be humbled / humble oneself / 1. low 2. mean, contemptible 3. humble, lowly / +H low country (relates to Shinar)
ShPP Syr. to creep / ShPYPUN species of serpent (Arab. Sh(s)P speckled serpent) / ShPYM (serpents) pr. name
ShQR act falsely towards / 1. lie 2. deceive 3. violate (covenant) / 1. lie, falsehood 2. deceitful, vain thing
ShRTz 1. creep 2. abound, swarm w/ 3 multiply / 1. reptiles, creeping things . . .
 

venicebard

venicebard said:
(from CANTO THE SECOND)

. . . Square-Hebrew
Shin is a crown, for princely dominion,
Sitting on samekh the head: here
A quarter of a hundred Hebrew roots
Or more abide, since crown implies
Both upright stance and north -- called 'left',
Which means they knew 'twas earth that moves,
Not sky (at least in the diurnal cycle).
And King Saul sits at the top
With his root.
We begin with the number of prongs in the crown in normal written form:

ShLSh 1. num. card. three 2. thrice / 1. divide in three . . . / . . . 2. musical instrument: triangle, or a harp of 3 strings

And the sign signifying the head whereon it sits (aries the ram):

[Sh(s)YH] or Sh(s)H one of the flock, a sheep or goat

And the direction most heads point:

Sh(s)MAL, Sh(s)MAVL 1. left, left side 2. left hand 3. north

Uprightness:

Sh(s)UM, Sh(s)YM 1. put, set, place (of persons and things made to stand erect) 2. to set (a plant)
ShYTh 1. put, set, place (standing or erect) 2. set in array 3. appoint 4. set limit . . . / attire / ShTh foundation; [others] pillars / ShTh (gift, or compensation) pr. name Seth
([ShKR] 1. drink to the full, to hilarity 2. be intoxicated / strong drink / drunken [signifying what threatens uprightness, its inverse so to speak])
ShNS gird up (the loins) [at the very least, this expresses uprightness symbolically]
ShQL 1. weigh 2. weigh out, pay 3. examine, try / shekel / M+ +Th plummet; Sept. balance
[ShThTh] i.q. ShYTh set, place, put [see above]

Highness:

[Sh(s)GB] 1. be lifted, raised up 2. be high, inaccessible / . . . 2. be exalted . . .
ShM 1. name 2. renown . . . 5. the Name (Shem-hamforesh)
ShMH [Arab. Sh(s)MA] to be high / ShMY only pl. heaven, the heavens
Sh(s)PH 1. lip 2. speech, words 3. language, dialect 4. brim of vessel 5. shore, bank 6. edge, border 7. boundary / Sh(s)PM lower face, chin [what moves when speaking, thus inverting the meaning from high on the body to low on the face]

High office:

ShAL / ask leave / ShAUL (asked for) pr. name, (King) Saul
ShBT 1. staff 2. rod (punishment, measure) 3. sceptre 4. (& Chald.) tribe / name of 11th month
[ShGL] to lie with (a woman) [relates to serpent-adversary, above?] / Heb. & Chald. a queen
I. [Sh(s)UR] 1. contend, strive 2. be prince, have dominion / appoint princes
[ i.q. (which is): ]
Sh(s)RH contend, wrestle / YSh(s)RAL (wrestler [or prince] w/ God) pr. name Israel / Sarai (who later became Sarah [see below])
[ShTR] Arab. Sh(s)TR write; thence part. officer, overseer, magistrate / M+ dominion
([Sh(s)YB] be grey-headed [age is 'high office', one's elders, but also relates to Sophia/Wisdom (ruach ha-qodesh)])
ShLT rule, have power over / 1. let rule . . . / Chald. 1. rule 2. seize / 1. imperious . . . 3. ruler, magistrate / [etc.]
[ShMSh] Chald. attend, serve [one serves high office, moreover those in high office, if they are wise, themselves serve those whom they rule]
ShPT 1. judge, administer justice . . . 4. rule (part. a judge, ruler) / Chald. (part.) a judge
[Sh(s)RR] have dominion, rule, be a prince / Sh(s)R 1. commander, chief 2. noble, prince / +H (princess) pr. name Sarah (Abraham's wife)
ShRTh 1. wait upon, serve, minister . . . 2. worship
ShShA to lead