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 Dogri translation and transliteration
- The doctrine risk tier (Critical/High/Medium/Low)
- Explicitly rejected alternatives, with reasons
- Notes explaining any non-obvious translation choice, including where a term is deliberately distinguished from the nearest Hindi equivalent
Governing principles
- Dogri-specific over Hindi-adjacent — where a fluent Hindi Christian term is available and would be the path of least resistance (सुसमाचार, अनुग्रह), this glossary deliberately records a Dogri-specific alternative instead, so the curriculum serves Dogri as its own target language rather than reading as Hindi with Devanagari respelling.
- Explicit rejection, not silent avoidance — every Critical-risk term records why the tempting alternative is wrong, whether that alternative comes from avatar theology tied to Raghunath Mandir’s Rama devotion or from the Vaishno Devi pilgrimage’s mannat vow economy.
- Confirm against the BSI Dogri Bible — because formal Dogri Bible translation is recent, several entries flag the need to reconcile this Language Package’s provisional renderings against the current published Bible Society of India Dogri Bible before wide deployment.
- 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.
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.
Critical Risk Terms
Father
Approved rendering: पिता
Transliteration: pita
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
God as personal Father; standard term, chosen for warmth and intimacy over any dynastic or deity-elder honorific.
God
Approved rendering: परमेश्वर
Transliteration: Parmeshwar
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: भगवान (broad Hindu deity usage, avoid for doctrinal precision)
परमेश्वर is preferred for doctrinal precision over भगवान, which carries broad Hindu deity usage and, in the Duggar context specifically, could evoke any of the region’s actively worshipped deities (Rama at Raghunath Mandir, Kali/Bawe Wali Mata at Bahu Fort, or the goddess at Vaishno Devi) rather than the one God of Romans.
Grace
Approved rendering: बिना कमाई दित्ती दया
Transliteration: bina kamai ditti daya
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: मन्नत दा फल (a boon granted in response to a vow, as sought at Vaishno Devi shrine; never use), पुण्य (merit earned through right action, never use)
CRITICAL: a descriptive compound (‘favor given without being earned’) is required because Duggar popular devotion has an unusually concrete and active transactional model close at hand: the mannat (vow) economy surrounding the Vaishno Devi shrine, where devotees pledge offerings or pilgrimages in exchange for a granted wish. Grace must be taught as favor given apart from any such exchange, not as a larger or more generous version of it. Romans 4:4-5 and 11:5-6 are key passages for stating this contrast explicitly.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: पवित्तर आत्मा
Transliteration: pavittar aatma
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: शक्ति (goddess-power, e.g. as embodied at Vaishno Devi and Bahu Fort, never use), परमात्मा alone (Hindu universal Self, never use)
CRITICAL: पवित्तर आत्मा must always be used in full. Never शक्ति, given the strong local Shakta association of divine feminine power with Vaishno Devi and the Bahu Fort Kali shrine; never परमात्मा alone. The personal, indwelling Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Trinity, not an impersonal divine power or universal Self.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: गिनी गेई धरमीपन
Transliteration: gini gei dharmipan
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: कमाई गेई धरमीपन (earned righteousness, the explicit rejected opposite)
CRITICAL: credited/attributed righteousness from God, not achieved righteousness (कमाई गेई धरमीपन, ‘earned righteousness,’ explicitly rejected). This distinction has no everyday Dogri equivalent and must be taught explicitly.
Incarnation
Approved rendering: मानखे दा रूप लैना
Transliteration: mankhe da roop laina
Doctrine: Incarnation
Rejected alternatives: अवतार (never use; Raghunath Mandir’s Rama-avatar devotion makes this the single highest-salience wrong word in the Duggar region)
CRITICAL: NEVER use अवतार. Because the Raghunath Mandir, one of the largest Rama temple complexes in North India, was built under direct Dogra royal patronage (Maharajas Gulab Singh and Ranbir Singh) and remains central to Duggar devotional identity, avatar-theology is not a distant abstraction here but a locally prestigious, everyday devotional category. मानखे दा रूप लैना (‘taking on human form’) must be taught as the eternal Son’s permanent, unique assumption of human nature, once, not a repeatable divine descent.
Jesus
Approved rendering: यीशु
Transliteration: Yishu
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: ईसा (used in Muslim/Urdu-influenced contexts; reserve for interfaith-dialogue framing only)
यीशु follows regional North Indian Bible-translation convention; confirm against the BSI Dogri Bible for the exact settled form.
Justification
Approved rendering: धर्मी ठहराए जाना
Transliteration: dharmi thehrae jana
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: माफी मिलना (forgiveness received, too narrow)
CRITICAL: a compound phrase is required to carry the forensic, once-for-all legal-declaration sense; it must never be abbreviated to mere forgiveness, which loses the ‘declared righteous’ dimension central to Romans 4.
Lord
Approved rendering: प्रभु
Transliteration: prabhu
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: महाराजा (a title strongly associated with the historic Dogra royal dynasty, avoid as the primary term for Christ’s Lordship)
CRITICAL: प्रभु is preferred over महाराजा (maharaja), the title of the historic Dogra rulers who patronized the Raghunath Mandir and Bahu Fort temple; using a dynastic royal title for Christ risks framing his Lordship as a political-historical kind of rule rather than exclusive, supreme divine Lordship.
Messiah
Approved rendering: मसीह
Transliteration: masih
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Transliterated term, established across regional Bible translation. The Anointed One fulfilling Old Testament promise, not one of many divine or avatar figures venerated locally.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: मुर्दघरा चा जिंदा होना
Transliteration: murdaghara cha jinda hona
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: पुनर्जन्म (reincarnation, never use)
CRITICAL: a descriptive phrase (‘coming back to life from among the dead’) avoids पुनर्जन्म, the standard North Indian term for reincarnation. Bodily, historical, once-for-all resurrection must be distinguished from the rebirth cycle in translator notes, exactly as in Hindi, but confirmed independently against actual Dogri usage rather than assumed identical.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: धरमीपन
Transliteration: dharmipan
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: धरम (avoid the bare sense of caste/social duty tied to Dogra Rajput lineage-honor expectations)
CRITICAL: धरमीपन must be explicitly taught as right standing before God received through faith, not धरम in the sense of the inherited social and lineage-bound duties historically associated with Dogra Rajput identity and honor (izzat). Never use धरम alone for this doctrine.
Salvation
Approved rendering: उद्धार
Transliteration: uddhar
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: मुक्ति (liberation from the rebirth cycle, never use), मनोकामना पूरी होना (a wish/boon granted, as through a vow at Vaishno Devi, never use as a substitute for eternal salvation)
CRITICAL: उद्धार (deliverance by God through Christ) must never collapse into मुक्ति (liberation from samsara) or into the boon-granting logic of the Vaishno Devi mannat economy, in which a wish is fulfilled in exchange for a vow or pilgrimage. Both are live, well-understood frameworks in Duggar popular religion and must be distinguished explicitly.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: परमेश्वर दा पुत्तर
Transliteration: Parmeshwar da puttar
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: अवतार (an incarnate deity-descent, e.g. Rama as Vishnu’s avatar at Raghunath Mandir, an explicit downgrade and rejected)
CRITICAL: full phrase required. Given Raghunath Mandir’s centrality to Dogra royal and popular devotion to Rama as an avatar of Vishnu, this doctrine must be taught as unique, eternal Sonship within the Godhead, not one more avatar-descent narrative alongside Rama’s.
High Risk Terms
Abba
Approved rendering: अब्बा
Transliteration: Abba
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Aramaic term of intimacy preserved as a transliteration in Romans 8:15, following regional Bible-translation pattern.
Adoption
Approved rendering: गोद लैने आह् पुत्तर बनाना
Transliteration: god laine aah puttar banana
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
A descriptive compound stressing full son-status and inheritance rights, chosen to guard against a reduced-status reading of ‘adopted,’ which could otherwise sit uneasily against Dogra Rajput culture’s strong emphasis on lineage-based honor (izzat) and legitimate birthright.
Called
Approved rendering: सद्देआ होया
Transliteration: saddea hoya
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: सद्दा दित्ता (invited, too weak)
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: सद्द
Transliteration: sadd
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Noun form for the act/state of being called, kept structurally parallel to सद्देआ होया (called).
Covenant
Approved rendering: नियम
Transliteration: niyam
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: समझौता (a negotiated deal/contract, too transactional)
Relational covenant bond; समझौता is too close to the negotiated-exchange sense this Language Package guards against elsewhere (e.g. grace, spiritual gifts). Confirm against the BSI Dogri Bible for the settled term.
Election
Approved rendering: परमेश्वर दी चोन
Transliteration: Parmeshwar di chon
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: किस्मत (fate, never use), मन्नत दा नतीजा (a boon-outcome, never use)
God’s sovereign, personal choice; must be distinguished from किस्मत (impersonal fate) and from the outcome-of-a-vow logic of the mannat economy.
Faith
Approved rendering: भरोसा
Transliteration: bharosa
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: श्रद्धा (generalized devotional reverence, too broad)
भरोसा (trust/confidence) is preferred over श्रद्धा because it more naturally takes a specific personal object in everyday Dogri usage. The object of faith must always be named in context to prevent it reading as generalized religious devotion transferable to any shrine or deity.
Glory
Approved rendering: महिमा
Transliteration: mahima
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
God’s radiant presence and honor. Avoid metaphors that could conflate with the ceremonial splendor (aarti, temple lighting rites) associated with darshan at major Duggar temples like Raghunath Mandir.
Gospel
Approved rendering: खरी खबर
Transliteration: khari khabar
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: सुसमाचार (a Hindi Christian loanword; avoid as the default rendering so this curriculum reads as Dogri, not Hindi with Devanagari spelling)
खरी खबर (‘true/good news,’ using Dogri’s own everyday word for ‘true/genuine’) is preferred over borrowing सुसमाचार directly from Hindi Christian usage. Confirm against the BSI Dogri Bible before wide deployment; if सुसमाचार is already established there, this entry should be revised to match rather than introduce a competing term.
Holy
Approved rendering: पवित्तर
Transliteration: pavittar
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: शुद्ध (ritual purity, e.g. before temple worship, avoid as a substitute)
पवित्तर = set apart for God, morally pure. शुद्ध carries the ritual-purity sense associated with preparation for temple darshan (viewing/worship) and must be kept distinct.
Obedience Of Faith
Approved rendering: भरोसे कन्नै ताल्लुक रखदी मन्नता
Transliteration: bharose kannai tallukh rakhdi mannata
Doctrine: Obedience of Faith
Rejected alternatives: धार्मिक रीत-रिवाज निभाना (ritual/social duty-keeping, a works-based misreading tied to Dogra Rajput custom)
Romans 1:5 and 16:26. Obedience that flows from faith, not the observance of inherited social and ritual custom (rीत-रिवाज) tied to Dogra Rajput identity and honor.
Power Of God
Approved rendering: परमेश्वर दी सामर्थ
Transliteration: Parmeshwar di samarth
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
Rejected alternatives: शक्ति (associated with goddess-power devotion, as at Bahu Fort’s Kali shrine and Vaishno Devi, avoid as the primary term)
सामर्थ is preferred; शक्ति carries strong Shakta goddess-power associations given the prominence of Bahu Fort’s Kali shrine and the nearby Vaishno Devi shrine in Duggar popular devotion.
Providence
Approved rendering: परमेश्वर दा प्रबन्ध
Transliteration: Parmeshwar da prabandh
Doctrine: Providence
Rejected alternatives: किस्मत (fate, never use)
God’s personal, purposive governance; never किस्मत (fate). Romans 8:28 should be taught as relational confidence, not impersonal destiny.
Saints
Approved rendering: पवित्तर लोक
Transliteration: pavittar lok
Doctrine: Sainthood
Rejected alternatives: साधु (an ascetic holy man, never use for the corporate sense)
साधु carries strong ascetic-renunciant associations in North Indian devotional culture generally and would wrongly narrow Romans 1:7’s address to all believers into a special holy-man class.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: पवित्तरता
Transliteration: pavittarta
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: शुद्धिकरण (ritual purification rites, avoid as a substitute)
The Spirit’s ongoing work of making believers holy, distinct from ritual purification undertaken before temple worship or pilgrimage (e.g. preparatory rites before Vaishno Devi darshan).
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: दाऊद दे वंश चा
Transliteration: Daud de vansh cha
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Romans 1:3; conveys physical lineage, resonating with the strong lineage-consciousness of Dogra Rajput culture, but requires explicit Old Testament covenant background to avoid being read as merely a genealogical honor claim.
Sin
Approved rendering: पाप
Transliteration: paap
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: भिट्ट (ritual impurity/pollution, avoid as a substitute)
Moral transgression before a personal God, distinguished from भिट्ट, ritual impurity addressed through purification rites before temple worship.
Medium Risk Terms
Apostle
Approved rendering: भेजेआ होया
Transliteration: bhejea hoya
Doctrine: Apostleship
Rejected alternatives: दूत (generic messenger, too weak)
A descriptive phrase (‘one who has been sent’) conveys authorized, commissioned ministry. Confirm against the BSI Dogri Bible, which may already have a settled single-word rendering.
Church
Approved rendering: कलीसिया
Transliteration: kalisiya
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: मंदर (temple, e.g. Raghunath Mandir/Bahu Fort, never use)
कलीसिया (transliterated, following regional Christian usage) refers to the gathered assembly of believers. Must remain clearly distinct from मंदर (temple), given the prominence of Jammu’s own temple architecture in local religious identity.
David
Approved rendering: दाऊद
Transliteration: Daud
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Standard proper-name form, consistent with regional Bible-translation convention.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: गैर-यहूदी
Transliteration: gair-yahudi
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: विदेशी (foreigner, too broad)
Non-Jewish peoples; established descriptive rendering. Use राष्ट्र (nations) in mission contexts.
Intercession
Approved rendering: बिचाल्ले होइयै बिनती
Transliteration: bichalle hoiyai binti
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Prayer made on behalf of others; must be kept distinct from the mediated petitionary practice associated with pilgrimage vows at regional shrines.
Israel
Approved rendering: इस्राएल
Transliteration: Israel
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Proper name; standard transliteration.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: परमेश्वर दा राज्य
Transliteration: Parmeshwar da rajya
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
God’s sovereign reign; should be distinguished from historic dynastic ‘raj’ associations carried by the Dogra kingdom’s own political history, given how recently (mid-20th century) that princely-state history ended.
Law
Approved rendering: व्यवस्था
Transliteration: vyavastha
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: धरम (avoid Dogra Rajput lineage-duty associations)
The Mosaic Law/Torah. Never use धरम, given its strong association with inherited Dogra Rajput social and lineage duty in this specific cultural context.
Mission
Approved rendering: प्रचार दा कम्म
Transliteration: prachar da kamm
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
‘The work of proclamation.’ Use with awareness of colonial-era mission associations from Christian mission schools historically operating in the Jammu region.
Peace
Approved rendering: शान्ति
Transliteration: shanti
Doctrine: Peace with God
In Romans 5:1, relational peace with God through justification, not the sense of a wish or worry resolved through a granted vow at a shrine.
Spiritual Gifts
Approved rendering: आत्मिक दान
Transliteration: aatmik daan
Doctrine: Spiritual Gifts
Rejected alternatives: वरदान (boon, carries the sense of a wish granted by a deity, avoid as the primary term)
आत्मिक दान (‘gift of the Spirit’) must be kept distinct from वरदान, a boon granted by a deity in response to devotion or a vow — the exact transactional logic this Language Package is guarding grace and salvation against elsewhere.
Low Risk Terms
Exhort
Approved rendering: हौसला देना
Transliteration: hausla dena
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Context-sensitive: use बिनती करना (entreaty) for beseeching; हौसला देना (encourage) for building up.
Fellowship
Approved rendering: संगत
Transliteration: sangat
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: यारी-दोस्ती (casual friendship, too weak)
संगत (a word with resonance across Punjabi and Dogri for gathered, purposeful companionship) conveys shared participation in Christ better than casual friendship terms.
Prophecy
Approved rendering: भविष्यवाणी
Transliteration: bhavishyavani
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
God-inspired declaration; distinct from astrological prediction.
Prophet
Approved rendering: नबी
Transliteration: nabi
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Rejected alternatives: ज्योतषी (astrologer/fortune-teller, never use)
God’s spokesperson; must not be confused with ज्योतषी, an astrological fortune-teller, a widely consulted figure in regional folk practice.
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: धन्नवाद
Transliteration: dhannvaad
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Standard term. No significant doctrinal risk.
Referenced passages