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 Kannada translation and transliteration, preferring established Dravidian-root Kannada vocabulary (ನಂಬಿಕೆ, ತಂದೆ, ಒಡಂಬಡಿಕೆ, ಅನ್ಯೋನ್ಯತೆ) where it already exists in Kannada Christian usage
- The doctrine risk tier (Critical/High/Medium/Low)
- Explicitly rejected alternatives, with reasons — including, distinctively in this Language Package, terms rejected not because they mean the wrong thing but because they route toward the Lingayat Aikya-merger trajectory
- Notes explaining any non-obvious translation choice
Governing principles
- Established usage over invention — where existing Kannada Bible translation already has a settled rendering (ದೇವರು, ಯೇಸು, ಕರ್ತ, ಕ್ರಿಸ್ತ, ಸುವಾರ್ತೆ), this glossary follows it rather than proposing an alternative.
- Explicit rejection of both words and trajectories — every Critical-risk term records why a rejected alternative is wrong, whether that is a simple false-friend meaning (ಅವತಾರ for incarnation) or a subtler destination mismatch (ಐಕ್ಯ for salvation, which sounds like deliverance but ends in merger).
- 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, including the trajectory risk unique to this Language Package.
Critical Risk Terms
Father
Approved rendering: ತಂದೆ
Transliteration: Tande
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: ಸೃಷ್ಟಿಕರ್ತ
God as personal Father, using the everyday Kannada word for father rather than the more distant, abstract ಸೃಷ್ಟಿಕರ್ತ (creator).
God
Approved rendering: ದೇವರು
Transliteration: Dēvaru
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: ಭಗವಂತ, ಪರಶಿವ
CRITICAL: ದೇವರು is the standard Kannada Bible term for God, but avoid ಭಗವಂತ (a broad, generic honorific for any deity) in doctrinally precise contexts. Also flag: a Lingayat-background reader may mentally substitute ಪರಶಿವ (Parashiva, the formless ultimate Shiva of Veerashaiva philosophy) when hearing monotheistic claims about ದೇವರು — the shared rejection of idol-multiplicity is real, but Parashiva’s relationship to the devotee still ends in Aikya-merger, not the retained personal relationship this curriculum teaches.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: ಪವಿತ್ರಾತ್ಮ
Transliteration: Pavitrātma
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: ಪರಮಾತ್ಮ
CRITICAL: never ಪರಮಾತ್ಮ (the impersonal or monistic Universal Self of Vedantic usage). ಪವಿತ್ರಾತ್ಮ is the personal Holy Spirit, third Person of the Trinity.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: ಆರೋಪಿತ ನೀತಿ
Transliteration: āropita nīti
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: ಸ್ವಂತ ಸಾಧನೆಯ ನೀತಿ
Credited righteousness from God, NOT righteousness of one’s own attainment (ಸ್ವಂತ ಸಾಧನೆಯ ನೀತಿ) — a phrase that names both generic merit culture and, specifically, the self-attained stage-by-stage ascent of the Lingayat shatsthala path toward Aikya.
Incarnation
Approved rendering: ದೇಹಧಾರಣೆ
Transliteration: dēhadhāraṇe
Doctrine: Incarnation
Rejected alternatives: ಅವತಾರ
CRITICAL: NEVER ಅವತಾರ — highly salient for readers formed by coastal Karnataka’s Haridasa Krishna-bhakti tradition (centered at Udupi). Note a different risk for Lingayat-background readers, who themselves reject avatar theology: they may instead be tempted to receive Christ as an exceptionally realized human teacher (a Sharana figure who attained Aikya) rather than the eternal, uncreated Son who took on flesh once.
Jesus
Approved rendering: ಯೇಸು
Transliteration: Yēsu
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: ಈಸಾ
ಯೇಸು is the Kannada Christian standard; ಈಸಾ is associated with Muslim/Urdu usage.
Justification
Approved rendering: ನೀತಿವಂತರೆಂದು ನಿರ್ಣಯಿಸುವುದು
Transliteration: nītivantarendu nirṇayisuvudu
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: ಕ್ಷಮೆ ಪಡೆಯುವುದು, ಪುಣ್ಯ ಗಳಿಸುವುದು
Compound phrase required; a forensic declaration of right standing, never abbreviated to a single word.
Lord
Approved rendering: ಕರ್ತ
Transliteration: karta
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: ಸ್ವಾಮಿ
CRITICAL: ಸ್ವಾಮಿ is the common address for a guru or the Lingayat ಜಂಗಮ teacher-office and can suggest one honored teacher among several. ಕರ್ತ conveys a living, exclusive, presently-reigning sovereign — and must not be softened toward the Veerashaiva Aikya picture of a devotee eventually merging into and losing distinction from the Lord.
Messiah
Approved rendering: ಮೆಸ್ಸೀಯ
Transliteration: Messīya
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Rejected alternatives: ಅವತಾರಪುರುಷ
CRITICAL: transliterated term; the unique OT-promised deliverer, not one of many avatar-descents.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: ಪುನರುತ್ಥಾನ
Transliteration: punarutthāna
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: ಪುನರ್ಜನ್ಮ
CRITICAL: NEVER ಪುನರ್ಜನ್ಮ. Distinguish from cyclical rebirth; ಪುನರುತ್ಥಾನ is a one-time bodily event ending death, not another turn of the cycle.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: ನೀತಿವಂತಿಕೆ
Transliteration: nītivantike
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: ಧರ್ಮ, ಪುಣ್ಯ
CRITICAL: never ಧರ್ಮ. ನೀತಿವಂತಿಕೆ = right standing before God received through faith, not cosmic duty or ethical attainment earned through the self-effort stages of any spiritual path.
Salvation
Approved rendering: ರಕ್ಷಣೆ
Transliteration: rakṣaṇe
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: ಮೋಕ್ಷ, ಮುಕ್ತಿ, ಐಕ್ಯ
CRITICAL: NEVER ಮೋಕ್ಷ or ಮುಕ್ತಿ (release from the rebirth cycle in mainstream Hindu usage) and NEVER ಐಕ್ಯ (aikya) — the culminating stage of the Lingayat/Veerashaiva shatsthala path, in which the devotee’s individual identity ultimately merges into and dissolves within Shiva. ರಕ್ಷಣೆ is deliverance given by a personal God to a person who remains a person in relationship with God, not an eventual dissolution of individual identity.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: ದೇವರ ಮಗ
Transliteration: Dēvara Maga
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: ದೇವಮಾನವ
CRITICAL: full phrase required; conveys eternal, unique Sonship, not a divinely-elevated human teacher such as a great Sharana poet-saint.
High Risk Terms
Abba
Approved rendering: ಅಬ್ಬಾ
Transliteration: Abbā
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Aramaic term of intimacy preserved in Romans 8:15; kept as transliteration alongside ತಂದೆ.
Adoption
Approved rendering: ದತ್ತು ಪುತ್ರತ್ವ
Transliteration: dattu putratva
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: ದತ್ತು ತೆಗೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದು
Emphasizes full son-status and inheritance, and a permanent, personal, ongoing relationship — not a stage on the way to eventual merger or dissolution of identity.
Called
Approved rendering: ಕರೆಯಲ್ಪಟ್ಟ
Transliteration: kareyalpaṭṭa
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: ಆಮಂತ್ರಿತ
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: ಕರೆ
Transliteration: kare
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: ಆಹ್ವಾನ
Noun form for the act/state of being called; pair with ಕರೆಯಲ್ಪಟ್ಟ for the participle.
Covenant
Approved rendering: ಒಡಂಬಡಿಕೆ
Transliteration: oḍambaḍike
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: ಒಪ್ಪಂದ
Established Kannada Christian term for a binding relational bond; ಒಪ್ಪಂದ (a mutual agreement/contract) is too transactional for a divinely-initiated covenant.
Election
Approved rendering: ದೇವರ ಆಯ್ಕೆ
Transliteration: Dēvara Āyke
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: ಹಣೆಬರಹ, ವಿಧಿ
God’s sovereign, personal choice, not ಹಣೆಬರಹ (‘forehead-writing’, the vivid Kannada idiom for a predetermined fate) or ವಿಧಿ (impersonal destiny).
Faith
Approved rendering: ನಂಬಿಕೆ
Transliteration: nambike
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: ಭಕ್ತಿ
Personal trust in Christ specifically; ಭಕ್ತಿ carries the devotional-surrender sense central to both Haridasa Krishna-bhakti and Lingayat devotion to Shiva, neither of which requires the specific, exclusive object of trust that ನಂಬಿಕೆ requires here.
Glory
Approved rendering: ಮಹಿಮೆ
Transliteration: mahime
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: ತೇಜಸ್ಸು
God’s radiant honor; avoid light-only imagery that could merge with devotional divine-light or mystical-illumination associations from the Aikya path.
Gospel
Approved rendering: ಸುವಾರ್ತೆ
Transliteration: suvārte
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: ಸುದ್ದಿ
Established Kannada Christian term (su- ‘good’ + vārte ‘news’). Avoid the generic ಸುದ್ದಿ (news), which lacks the technical sense of the one saving proclamation.
Grace
Approved rendering: ಕೃಪೆ
Transliteration: kṛpe
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: ಕರ್ಮಫಲ, ಪುಣ್ಯ
Unmerited favor apart from human merit. Distinguish from the Haridasa bhakti tradition’s devotional exchange (a dasa’s devotion answered by the lord’s favor, still relationship-conditioned) and from Lingayat kayaka-dasoha ethics, where right standing is demonstrated through disciplined work and sharing rather than received as a gift.
Holy
Approved rendering: ಪವಿತ್ರ
Transliteration: pavitra
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: ಶುದ್ಧ
Set apart for God and morally pure; ಶುದ್ಧ leans toward ritual purity rather than relational holiness.
Law
Approved rendering: ನಿಯಮಶಾಸ್ತ್ರ
Transliteration: niyamaśāstra
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: ಧರ್ಮ
Torah/Mosaic law. NEVER ಧರ್ಮ, which carries both generic Hindu caste-duty connotations and, in Karnataka specifically, the memory of the Lingayat reform movement’s explicit rejection of Brahmanical dharma — a politically and religiously loaded word best avoided entirely for a legal-covenantal concept it does not match.
Obedience Of Faith
Approved rendering: ನಂಬಿಕೆಯ ವಿಧೇಯತ್ವ
Transliteration: nambikeya vidhēyatva
Doctrine: Obedience of Faith
Rejected alternatives: ಧಾರ್ಮಿಕ ಕರ್ತವ್ಯ
Romans 1:5 and 16:26. Obedience flowing from faith already granted, not ಧಾರ್ಮಿಕ ಕರ್ತವ್ಯ (religious duty), which reads as caste-dharma-style or kayaka-style (Lingayat ‘sacred work’) obligation earning standing.
Power Of God
Approved rendering: ದೇವರ ಸಾಮರ್ಥ್ಯ
Transliteration: Dēvara Sāmarthya
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
Rejected alternatives: ಶಕ್ತಿ
Use ಸಾಮರ್ಥ್ಯ; never ಶಕ್ತಿ — Karnataka’s prominent Shakta tradition (Chamundeshwari at Mysore, tutelary deity of the former Mysore royal house) makes ಶಕ್ತಿ read as a specific divine-feminine power distinct from the one God’s saving power.
Providence
Approved rendering: ದೇವರ ಪರಿಪಾಲನೆ
Transliteration: Dēvara Paripālane
Doctrine: Providence
Rejected alternatives: ಹಣೆಬರಹ, ಕರ್ಮದ ನಿಯಮ
God’s personal, purposive governance. Romans 8:28 is vulnerable to being read through ಹಣೆಬರಹ (fatalism) or ಕರ್ಮದ ನಿಯಮ (the impersonal law of karma) rather than a personal God’s care.
Saints
Approved rendering: ಪವಿತ್ರ ಜನರು
Transliteration: pavitra janaru
Doctrine: Sainthood
Rejected alternatives: ಶರಣರು, ಸಂತರು
ಶರಣರು is a specific, exalted term in Kannada religious history: the 12th-century Veerashaiva Sharana poet-saints around Basavanna (whose vachana literature founded the Lingayat reform movement) who attained the highest Aikya stage. Using ಶರಣರು for ordinary believers would import that elite, spiritually-attained status. ಪವಿತ್ರ ಜನರು keeps sainthood as the status of all believers by God’s declaration, not personal attainment.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: ಪವಿತ್ರೀಕರಣ
Transliteration: pavitrīkaraṇa
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: ಶುದ್ಧೀಕರಣ
The Spirit’s ongoing work of making believers holy, distinct from ritual purification and from the disciplined stage-by-stage self-cultivation of the Lingayat shatsthala path.
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: ದಾವೀದನ ವಂಶದಿಂದ
Transliteration: Dāvīdana vaṃśadinda
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Romans 1:3; conveys physical lineage and OT covenant fulfillment.
Sin
Approved rendering: ಪಾಪ
Transliteration: pāpa
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: ಅಧರ್ಮ
Moral transgression before a personal God who judges and forgives, not an impersonal ledger of demerit.
Medium Risk Terms
Apostle
Approved rendering: ಅಪೊಸ್ತಲ
Transliteration: apostala
Doctrine: Apostleship
Rejected alternatives: ಗುರು, ಜಂಗಮ
Transliterated, established Kannada Christian term. Avoid ಗುರು or ಜಂಗಮ (the wandering Lingayat mendicant-teacher office), both of which imply a self-attained teaching status rather than a delegated, sent commission.
Church
Approved rendering: ಸಭೆ
Transliteration: sabhe
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನ, ಗುಡಿ
Established Kannada Christian term for the congregation (an assembly of people). Never ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನ/ಗುಡಿ (Hindu temple).
David
Approved rendering: ದಾವೀದ
Transliteration: Dāvīda
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Established proper name form.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: ಅನ್ಯಜನಾಂಗದವರು
Transliteration: anyajanāṅgadavaru
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: ವಿದೇಶಿಯರು
Non-Jewish peoples; ವಿದೇಶಿಯರು (foreigners) is too narrowly national.
Intercession
Approved rendering: ಮಧ್ಯಸ್ಥಿಕೆ
Transliteration: madhyasthike
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Prayer on behalf of others; standard term.
Israel
Approved rendering: ಇಸ್ರಾಯೇಲ್
Transliteration: Isrāyēl
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Proper name; established form.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: ದೇವರ ರಾಜ್ಯ
Transliteration: Dēvara Rājya
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
God’s sovereign reign, not a territorial or political kingdom.
Mission
Approved rendering: ಮಿಷನ್ / ಸುವಾರ್ತಾ ಪ್ರಸಾರ
Transliteration: miṣan / suvārtā prasāra
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
ಸುವಾರ್ತಾ ಪ್ರಸಾರ is the descriptive Kannada phrase; ಮಿಷನ್ is retained with awareness of its colonial-era connotation.
Peace
Approved rendering: ಶಾಂತಿ
Transliteration: śānti
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: ಮನಶ್ಶಾಂತಿ
Relational peace with God through justification, not the inner tranquility (ಮನಶ್ಶಾಂತಿ) sought through bhakti devotion or Lingayat meditative discipline.
Spiritual Gifts
Approved rendering: ಆತ್ಮಿಕ ವರಗಳು
Transliteration: ātmika varagaḷu
Doctrine: Spiritual Gifts
Rejected alternatives: ವರ, ಸಿದ್ಧಿ
Always use the compound; ವರ alone (a deity’s boon) and ಸಿದ್ಧಿ (a yogic attained power) both wrongly suggest a merit-earned or self-attained ability.
Low Risk Terms
Exhort
Approved rendering: ಪ್ರೋತ್ಸಾಹಿಸುವುದು
Transliteration: prōtsāhisuvudu
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Context-sensitive: use ವಿನಂತಿ for entreaty; ಪ್ರೋತ್ಸಾಹ for encouragement/building up.
Fellowship
Approved rendering: ಅನ್ಯೋನ್ಯತೆ
Transliteration: anyōnyate
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: ಸ್ನೇಹ
Shared participation in Christ, not mere social friendship (ಸ್ನೇಹ).
Prophecy
Approved rendering: ಪ್ರವಾದನೆ
Transliteration: pravādane
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: ಭವಿಷ್ಯಫಲ
God-inspired declaration, distinct from astrological forecasting.
Prophet
Approved rendering: ಪ್ರವಾದಿ
Transliteration: pravādi
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Rejected alternatives: ಜ್ಯೋತಿಷಿ
God’s spokesperson, not a fortune-teller/astrologer (ಜ್ಯೋತಿಷಿ).
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: ಕೃತಜ್ಞತಾಸ್ತುತಿ
Transliteration: kṛtajñatāstuti
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Standard term. No significant risk.
Referenced passages