Contrary to popular belief, the Albanian language did not borrow "pishman" from Turkish, which in turn borrowed it from Persian Pahlavi "pšymʾn'" (pašēmān), meaning "repentance". Similarly, old Armenian "pāšaman" (pʻašaman) is considered an Iranian loan. However, Albanian and Armenian are the oldest Indo-European languages, raising the question of whether these languages lacked this word in their vocabulary before the emergence of Persian.
The word "pas" (after) comes from the root "pa", according to linguists. However, they are mistaken because the embryomorpheme "pas" (after) loses its meaning when the "S" is removed, becoming one of the embryomorphs of Gegnishte for the sight "pa" (see). "Pas" and its variants "mbas", "prapa", and "mas" (after) in Geg Albanian have preposition/adverb meanings like behind, beyond, after, during, against, and back, giving rise to additional meanings like consequence and hindsight.
Therefore, the root of "pašēmān" is "after" and "man", which is likely the first root of the Gegnishte verb "meno" (think). I propose that "pas e meno" is the original thought root of the word "pishman".
The connection between "repentance" and "pas e meno" lies in reflection and reconsideration. "Pas e meno" signifies a mental process of reviewing a thought, action, or decision after it has passed, leading to reevaluation and potentially regret for what was or wasn't done. Regret is the emotional outcome of "thinking after" and realizing a different choice might have been preferable. My etymological investigation highlights this connection, suggesting that "pishman"'s roots in "pas" (after) and "man" (think) originally conveyed "thinking after" and subsequently regret or repentance.
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