Core Glossary
Core Glossary
translation_memory.json is the enforced glossary for every Phase 2 translation in this curriculum. This document summarizes its shape and the principles behind it; see the Glossary Risk Groups for the full per-term entries.
Composition
The glossary currently holds 47 terms spanning all four risk tiers, drawn from the doctrines identified in Doctrine Analysis and grounded in the cultural risks identified in Culture Analysis. Every term entry records:
- The approved Bavarian translation in this curriculum’s chosen semi-phonetic spelling convention
- A
transliterationfield recording an attested alternate phonetic spelling, illustrating the orthography’s genuine non-standardization rather than asserting a second authoritative form - The doctrine risk tier (Critical/High/Medium/Low)
- Explicitly rejected alternatives, with reasons
- Notes explaining any non-obvious translation choice, including whether the term is a native dialect adaptation or a wholesale register-gap borrowing from standard German
Governing principles
- Honesty about the register gap over invented authenticity — where a term (Gerechtigkeit, Rechtfertigung, Kindschaft, Erwählung) has no native Boarisch coinage, this glossary retains the borrowed standard-German form with dialect pronunciation rather than manufacturing a folksy-sounding alternative that would imply a doctrinal precision the dialect tradition never actually developed.
- Explicit flagging of competing folk-devotional defaults — every High-risk term tied to Bavaria’s concrete regional Catholic practice (saints, intercession, church) records why the natural dialect rendering defaults toward a specific local devotional frame (a patron saint, the Altötting shrine, a parish’s Kirchweih festival), so a translator or reviewer understands the reasoning rather than just following a rule.
- Version-controlled and append-only in Phase 2, spelling included — if a new term is discovered during document translation, both its meaning and its chosen spelling are added to translation memory and the version number incremented, never silently improvised or respelled per-document, since consistency here cannot be inherited from an external standard the way it can for this batch’s other five languages.
Relationship to the Doctrine Risk Registry
Every glossary term’s doctrine field links back to an entry in doctrine_risk_registry.json, so a term’s risk tier is always traceable to the specific doctrine it protects — the glossary enforces vocabulary and spelling, the doctrine registry explains why that vocabulary matters.
Critical Risk Terms
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: zuagrechnete Gerechtigkeit
Transliteration: zuagrechnate Gerechtigkeit
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: verdiante Gerechtigkeit
CRITICAL: ‘zugerechnete’ > ‘zuagrechnete’ via the regular Bavarian zu- > zua- diphthongization. Like ‘Gerechtigkeit’ and ‘Rechtfertigung’, this is fundamentally a borrowed standard-German theological compound with no native dialect coinage, illustrating this package’s central register-gap finding.
Justification
Approved rendering: Rechtfertigung
Transliteration: Rechtfertigung
Doctrine: Salvation
CRITICAL: essentially borrowed wholesale from standard German. This doctrine has limited lived pastoral currency for a historically Catholic dialect-speaking population, since the sola fide controversy is fundamentally a Protestant Reformation concern with little Bavarian folk-Catholic vernacular tradition behind it. Retained for curriculum completeness; reviewers should expect this to read as a ‘borrowed churchy word,’ not a native expression.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: Gerechtigkeit
Transliteration: Gerechtigkeit
Doctrine: Salvation
CRITICAL, and illustrative of this package’s central finding: abstract Reformation-controversy vocabulary was historically handled in Latin or standard German in Bavarian Catholic life, not in spoken dialect, so no native Boarisch coinage exists. This curriculum retains the standard-German form with Bavarian pronunciation rather than inventing a folk term, to avoid false precision.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: Sohn vo Gott
Transliteration: Sohn vom Gott
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
CRITICAL: ‘von’ contracts to ‘vo’ per regular Bavarian preposition contraction. Full phrase required, conveying eternal, unique Sonship.
High Risk Terms
Church
Approved rendering: Kirch
Transliteration: Kircha
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: Gmoa (secular-administrative default, rejected)
HIGH RISK: in Bavarian village life the parish church (Pfarrkirch) is the literal, physical center of communal identity, marked yearly by the Kirchweih/Kirwa festival (the church’s consecration anniversary, one of the most important traditional Bavarian folk festivals); ‘Kirch’ therefore defaults overwhelmingly to the building and parish institution, arguably even more concretely than standard German ‘Kirche’. The natural dialect word for a gathered community, ‘Gmoa’, is unusable here because it is monopolized by the secular-municipality sense.
Election
Approved rendering: Erwählung
Transliteration: Erwöahlung
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
HIGH RISK, but for a different reason than in Dutch or German Reformed contexts: Bavarian dialect-speaking Catholic culture has no lived tradition of the double-predestination controversy, so this term is almost purely a register gap (a borrowed standard-German abstraction) rather than a live confessional battleground; the risk is a translator supplying no real content behind an unfamiliar-sounding formal word, not a competing doctrinal tradition.
Grace
Approved rendering: Gnad
Transliteration: Gnod
Doctrine: Grace
Final -e dropped, a regular Bavarian apocope pattern (Gnade > Gnad). Bavarian Catholic folk piety (Wallfahrt, pilgrimage vows, indulgence-adjacent devotional practice) can carry a transactional ‘grace obtained through devotion’ undertone; must render as wholly unmerited and apart from any devotional transaction.
Intercession
Approved rendering: Fürbitt
Transliteration: Fiabitt
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
HIGH RISK: Bavarian Catholic folk piety includes some of the most intense Marian devotion in the German-speaking world, centered on the national pilgrimage shrine at Altötting (venerated as ‘Bavaria’s spiritual heart’); ‘Fürbitt’ strongly defaults toward Marian/saint intercessory prayer practice rather than the unique heavenly intercession of Christ and the Spirit described in Romans 8.
Law
Approved rendering: Gsetz
Transliteration: Gsötz
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Ge- prefix reduces to G- per regular Bavarian pattern (gesagt > gsogt, gemacht > gmacht). Catholic natural-law theology (Gsetz as reflecting a God-given moral order, strongly Thomistic) shapes how this is heard in Bavarian Catholic teaching, distinct from a Reformed/Lutheran law-gospel dialectic emphasis.
Lord
Approved rendering: Herr
Transliteration: Herr
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Romans 10:9 ‘Da Jesus is da Herr.’ Note the flattening dynamic is inverted relative to standard German: Bavarian daily speech defaults heavily to informal address (Du, first names) even in contexts where standard German might use formal titles, so ‘Herr’ already carries more inherent religious/formal weight in dialect usage than the everyday standard-German ‘Herr Müller’ pattern — a modest protective factor, though the doctrine’s stakes remain High regardless.
Obedience Of Faith
Approved rendering: Gehorsam vom Glaam
Transliteration: Gehorsam vom Gloam
Doctrine: Obedience of Faith
Romans 1:5, 16:26. Must be guarded against reintroducing a merit-based works framework; obedience flows from faith rather than earning standing before God.
Saints
Approved rendering: Heiling
Transliteration: de Heiling
Doctrine: Sainthood
HIGH RISK: Bavarian Catholic folk piety centers heavily on local patron saints, wayside shrines (Marterl), and saints’ name-days (Namenstag, traditionally celebrated more than birthdays in rural Altbayern); ‘de Heiling’ overwhelmingly defaults to venerated canonized figures, not Paul’s sense of all believers.
Salvation
Approved rendering: Erlösung
Transliteration: Erlesung
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: Heil (Nazi-era contamination risk, acute in Bavaria specifically)
HIGH RISK: as in standard German, ‘Heil’ carries Nazi-era contamination (‘Heil Hitler’); this risk is arguably sharper for Bavarian specifically since Munich was the movement’s historic headquarters (‘Hauptstadt der Bewegung’). ‘Erlösung’ is preferred; case-by-case reviewer judgment required if ‘Heil’ appears.
Sin
Approved rendering: Sünd
Transliteration: Sind
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
HIGH RISK: final -e dropped per regular apocope. As in standard German, colloquial Bavarian uses ‘Sünd’ loosely for minor indulgence (‘a Sünd is des scho’ — roughly ‘what a shame/waste’), risking trivialization of Romans’ weightier sense of culpable rebellion against God.
Medium Risk Terms
Abba
Approved rendering: Abba
Transliteration: Abba
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Aramaic term of intimacy, retained as a transliteration exactly as in standard German Bible tradition (Romans 8:15).
Adoption
Approved rendering: Kindschaft
Transliteration: Kindschaft
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: Adoption (bare, legal-procedural)
Register-gap term, borrowed as-is from standard German; no native dialect coinage. Bare ‘Adoption’ now defaults to the modern legal-procedural process.
Called
Approved rendering: beruafa
Transliteration: beruaft
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Context-sensitive: in 1:1 = called to apostleship; in 1:7 = called to be saints; in 8:28-30 = effectual calling to salvation.
Calling
Approved rendering: Beruafung
Transliteration: Berufung
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Shares standard German’s homonym collision with career/life calling; the legal-appeal sense is less salient in everyday dialect speech than in formal standard German.
Covenant
Approved rendering: Bund
Transliteration: Bund
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Relational covenant bond; borrowed as-is from standard German.
Faith
Approved rendering: Glaam
Transliteration: Gloam
Doctrine: Faith
From ‘Glauben’ via the regular Bavarian intervocalic b-lenition pattern (glauben > glaam, cf. haben > ham, geben > gem). Personal trust in Christ, not generic folk-Catholic religiosity.
Father
Approved rendering: Voda
Transliteration: Voter
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
From ‘Vater’ via regular Bavarian intervocalic lenition (t > d) and vowel shift (a > o), e.g. Vater > Voda, Bruder > Bruada.
Fellowship
Approved rendering: Gmoaschaft
Transliteration: Gemoaschoft
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Built on the genuine Bavarian dialect root ‘Gmoa’ (from Gemeinde), the everyday word for a civil municipality/parish. Shared participation in Christ, not merely civic association — a real risk given how strongly ‘Gmoa’ is otherwise tied to secular local-government meaning in daily Bavarian speech.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: Heiden
Transliteration: Hoaden
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Carries the same pejorative ‘uncivilized/irreligious’ connotation as standard German ‘Heiden’.
Glory
Approved rendering: Herrlichkeit
Transliteration: Herrlichkeit
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Borrowed from standard German; God’s radiant presence and honor.
God
Approved rendering: Gott
Transliteration: Herrgott
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
‘Herrgott’ is the characteristic Bavarian/Alpine Catholic folk term for God, seen in ‘Herrgottswinkel’ — the crucifix-and-devotional-image corner traditionally kept in Bavarian farmhouse living rooms. Caution: ‘Herrgott’ is also used as a mild profanity (‘Herrgott nomal!’), risking an irreverent register bleed if used carelessly in devotional text; this curriculum uses plain ‘Gott’ as the primary term and reserves ‘Herrgott’ for culturally warm, folk-devotional contexts only.
Gospel
Approved rendering: Evangelium
Transliteration: Evangelium
Doctrine: Gospel
The formal, liturgically borrowed term (used identically to standard German in Bavarian Catholic Mass) versus the folk-paraphrase alternative ‘de guade Nachricht’ (the good news), preferred in dialect Bible paraphrase for accessibility. This curriculum uses the formal borrowed term for consistency but flags the paraphrase option for oral teaching contexts.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Heiliger Geist
Transliteration: Heiliga Geist
Doctrine: Sanctification
Borrowed from standard German; the personal third Person of the Trinity.
Holy
Approved rendering: heilig
Transliteration: hoalig
Doctrine: Sanctification
Set apart for God and morally pure.
Incarnation
Approved rendering: Menschwerdung
Transliteration: Menschwerdung
Doctrine: Incarnation
Borrowed as-is from standard German; well-established via Catholic Christmas liturgy even in dialect-speaking parishes.
Israel
Approved rendering: Israel
Transliteration: Israel
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Germany’s post-Holocaust national policy (Staatsräson) applies equally in Bavaria; biblical Israel risks conflation with the modern nation-state in public discourse.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: s’Reich vo Gott
Transliteration: des Reich vom Gott
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
God’s sovereign reign; distinguish from any political kingdom association.
Messiah
Approved rendering: Messias
Transliteration: Messias
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
The Anointed One fulfilling OT promise; borrowed as-is.
Mission
Approved rendering: Mission
Transliteration: Mission
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
Borrowed as-is; Bavarian Catholic religious orders have their own missionary-sending history (e.g. Bavaria-founded mission societies), giving the term some regional grounding despite being a loanword.
Power Of God
Approved rendering: Kraft vo Gott
Transliteration: Kroft vom Gott
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
Sovereign, saving capability.
Providence
Approved rendering: Vorsehung
Transliteration: Vorsehung
Doctrine: Providence
Borrowed from standard German; must render Romans 8:28’s providence as personal and purposive, not a vague fatalistic folk notion.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: Aufersteh’ng
Transliteration: Auferstehung
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
-ung > -‘ng contraction, a regular dialect pattern; otherwise essentially borrowed from standard German with no native folk term.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: Heiligung
Transliteration: Heiligung
Doctrine: Sanctification
Borrowed from standard German; the Spirit’s ongoing work of making believers holy.
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: Nachkomme vom David
Transliteration: Nochkumme vom David
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: Some vom David (archaic/clinical register, rejected as in standard German)
Follows the same modernization pattern as standard German (‘Same Davids’ > ‘Nachkomme Davids’), adapted with the regular Bavarian ‘von’ > ‘vom’ contraction before a consonant.
Spiritual Gifts
Approved rendering: Gnodngob’n
Transliteration: Gnadengaben
Doctrine: Spiritual Gifts
Compound of ‘Gnad’ (grace) and a dialect-contracted ‘Gob’n’ (Gaben, gifts); ties gifts explicitly back to grace as in the standard German ‘Gnadengaben’.
Low Risk Terms
Apostle
Approved rendering: Apostl
Transliteration: Apoastl
Doctrine: Apostleship
Final -e dropped per regular Bavarian apocope; otherwise a stable borrowed term.
David
Approved rendering: David
Transliteration: David
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Standard proper name form.
Exhort
Approved rendering: ermahna
Transliteration: ermohna
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
-en > -a infinitive ending, a regular dialect pattern. Context-sensitive between admonishing and encouraging senses.
Jesus
Approved rendering: Jesus
Transliteration: Jesus
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Stable; pronounced with regionally typical vowel quality but not a distinct written form.
Peace
Approved rendering: Friad
Transliteration: Friade
Doctrine: Peace with God
From ‘Frieden’ with regular final-consonant-cluster simplification. Relational peace with God through justification, not merely psychological calm.
Prophecy
Approved rendering: Weissogung
Transliteration: Weissagung
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
The stressed ‘a’ shifts toward ‘o’ in many Bavarian subvarieties (sagen > song/sogn); otherwise a borrowed term.
Prophet
Approved rendering: Prophet
Transliteration: Prophet
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
God’s spokesperson; borrowed as-is.
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: Dank
Transliteration: Donk
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Standard term. No significant risk.
Referenced passages