Semantic Analysis
Semantic Analysis
Several Dogri terms in this Language Package carry a narrower or broader semantic range than their English source word, which affects how consistently they can be used across contexts.
Narrower-than-English terms
- पवित्तर लोक (saints): English “saints” can informally mean “especially holy people,” but पवित्तर लोक must be used for all believers corporately (Romans 1:7), never for an ascetic elite — that narrower, elevated sense belongs to साधु, which is explicitly rejected for this use.
- सद्देआ होया / सद्द (called/calling): the same English word “called” covers at least three distinct senses in Romans (called to apostleship in 1:1, called to be saints in 1:7, and effectual calling to salvation in 8:28-30). The Dogri rendering is context-sensitive and must be checked against which sense is active in each verse.
Broader-than-English terms
- सामर्थ (power): used consistently for “power of God” (Romans 1:16) specifically to avoid शक्ति, which carries a much broader field in everyday Dogri and Duggar devotional usage, tied to goddess-power devotion at Vaishno Devi and the Bahu Fort Kali shrine. सामर्थ is semantically narrower and safer, even though it is slightly less common in casual speech.
- भरोसा (faith): covers both “belief” and “trust” in Dogri, which is an advantage here — Romans uses “faith” to mean active, personal trust in Christ, not mere intellectual assent, and भरोसा’s broader range captures both without needing two separate words.
A term whose range must be actively guarded rather than simply noted
- बिना कमाई दित्ती दया (grace): this is a constructed descriptive phrase rather than a single settled word, chosen precisely because no single existing Dogri word has a semantic range clear of the mannat (vow-for-boon) transactional association. Its range must be actively taught and reinforced each time it appears, not simply glossed once.
Implication
Where a Dogri term’s semantic range differs from its English source, the glossary’s notes field (see translation_memory.json) exists specifically to flag the mismatch for translators, so a term isn’t applied mechanically in a context its actual Dogri meaning doesn’t support.