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 Cantonese translation (Traditional characters) and Jyutping transliteration
• The doctrine risk tier (Critical/High/Medium/Low)
• Explicitly rejected alternatives, with reasons tied to the specific folk-practice, denomination, or historical source each rejected term is drawn from
• Notes explaining any non-obvious translation choice

Governing principles

1. Established usage over invention — where Hong Kong Protestant church literature already has a settled rendering (神, 耶穌, 主, 基督), this glossary follows it rather than proposing an alternative.
2. Explicit rejection, not silent avoidance — every Critical-risk term records why the tempting alternative is wrong and which practice or tradition it comes from (a specific temple, a specific folk custom, the Catholic tradition), so a translator or reviewer understands the reasoning rather than just following a rule.
3. Version-controlled and append-only in Phase 2 — if a new term is discovered during document translation, it is added to translation memory and the version number incremented, never silently improvised per-document (see the AI Translation Requirements’ Translation Memory Load and Enforcement Instructions).

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, the doctrine registry explains why that vocabulary matters.