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 Konkani 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 relevant, how the Romi Konkani Catholic tradition renders the same concept differently
Governing principles
- Devanagari, Hindu-context-facing register over Romi Konkani reuse — this glossary makes deliberate, independent choices suited to a Devanagari-literate, often Hindu-background audience, rather than importing the Roman-script Catholic tradition’s already-settled but differently-audienced vocabulary (see Translation Landscape).
- Explicit rejection, not silent avoidance — every Critical-risk term records why the obvious Hindu-tradition word is wrong (see
alternatives_rejected), so a translator or reviewer understands the reasoning rather than just following a rule. - Honest handling of unavoidably shared terms — where a term (देव) cannot be cleanly disambiguated by word choice alone, the glossary says so explicitly and specifies a mitigation practice (contextual exclusivity-marking) rather than pretending a clean substitute exists.
- 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.
Critical Risk Terms
Father
Approved rendering: पिता
Transliteration: pitā
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: ब्रह्मा, निर्माणकार
God as personal Father. Never a Hindu creator-deity name (ब्रह्मा). Colloquial Konkani ‘बाबा’/‘बापूय’ is reserved for informal family speech, not formal doctrinal reference to God.
God
Approved rendering: देव
Transliteration: dev
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: भगवान
CRITICAL AND UNUSUAL: देव is the established Konkani/Marathi Bible term for God, but unlike Hindi’s परमेश्वर (chosen specifically to avoid deity-multiplicity ambiguity), देव is the same generic word Goan Hindu practice uses for any individual deity (Shantadurga dev, Mangueshi dev, Mahalasa dev). This glossary retains देव because it is the settled Bible-translation term, but every doctrinally load-bearing use must be reinforced with an exclusivity marker (e.g. ‘एकच खरो देव’, ‘the one true God’) rather than left to stand alone — deliberate context-marking, not silent avoidance, mitigates this term’s built-in ambiguity.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: पवित्र आत्मा
Transliteration: pavitra ātmā
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: ब्रह्म, परमात्मा
CRITICAL: Never ब्रह्म (impersonal Absolute Reality of Vedantic philosophy) or परमात्मा alone (universal Self). पवित्र आत्मा names the personal Holy Spirit, third Person of the Trinity.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: आरोपित नीतिमत्ता
Transliteration: āropit nītimattā
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: कमावलेली नीतिमत्ता
Credited/attributed righteousness from God, NOT righteousness achieved through effort (कमावलेली, ‘earned’, is explicitly rejected).
Incarnation
Approved rendering: देहधारण
Transliteration: dehadhāraṇ
Doctrine: Incarnation
Rejected alternatives: अवतार, देह प्रगट
CRITICAL: NEVER अवतार. This risk is concretely local in Goa, not abstract: Goan Hindu temple tradition venerates Mahalasa Narayani, worshipped at the Mardol temple as an avatar of Vishnu (in the Mohini story), alongside Shantadurga and Mangueshi — avatar-descent is a lived, temple-anchored devotional reality here, not distant background. देहधारण must be explicitly distinguished as the eternal Son’s unique, permanent taking of human nature, never one more temple-linked avatar story.
Jesus
Approved rendering: येशू
Transliteration: yeśū
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: जेजू
Established Devanagari Konkani/Marathi Bible form. जेजू is the Romi Konkani Catholic spelling (from Portuguese Jesus/‘Jezu’); this Devanagari-register glossary uses येशू instead, consistent with the Konkani Bible Society’s Devanagari text.
Justification
Approved rendering: नीतिमान ठरवणें
Transliteration: nītimān ṭharavaṇẽ
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: क्षमा मेळप, पुण्य कमावप
Compound phrase required; no single Konkani word carries the forensic ‘declared righteous’ sense. Never abbreviate, which would lose the ‘declared,’ not ‘made,’ distinction.
Lord
Approved rendering: प्रभू
Transliteration: prabhū
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: स्वामी, मालक
Established term. In Romans 10:9 the confession renders as ‘येशू प्रभू आसा’. Must convey exclusive, supreme Lordship, distinct from honorific temple-deity address forms used in Goan Hindu worship.
Messiah
Approved rendering: मसीहा
Transliteration: masīhā
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Rejected alternatives: अभिषिक्त पुरुष, अवतारी पुरुष
Transliterated term. The Anointed One fulfilling a specific OT promise, not one of several avatar-figures venerated at Goa’s own temples.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: पुनरुत्थान
Transliteration: punaruthān
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: पुनर्जन्म, पुनर्जीवन
CRITICAL: NEVER पुनर्जन्म (reincarnation within the rebirth cycle). पुनरुत्थान is bodily, historical, once-for-all resurrection; always add a distinguishing note from reincarnation at first occurrence.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: नीतिमत्ता
Transliteration: nītimattā
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: धर्म, पुण्य, न्याय
CRITICAL: Never धर्म (cosmic/social duty). नीतिमत्ता is right standing before God received through faith, not a duty performed or merit accumulated. This is the established Konkani/Marathi Bible rendering, distinct from Hindi’s धार्मिकता.
Salvation
Approved rendering: तारण
Transliteration: tāraṇ
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: मुक्ती, मोक्ष, सुटका
CRITICAL: NEVER मुक्ती or मोक्ष — both carry the Hindu liberation-from-rebirth meaning shared across Goan Hindu Shaiva, Shakta, and Vaishnava practice. तारण names deliverance by God through Christ; this is the established Konkani/Marathi Bible term, distinct from Hindi’s उद्धार. सुटका may be used for narrative ‘rescue’ in non-salvific contexts only.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: देवाचो पुत्र
Transliteration: devāco putra
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: देवाचो अंश, देवपुरुष
CRITICAL: full phrase required, using the Konkani masculine possessive -चो (distinct from Marathi -चा/Hindi -का). Conveys eternal, unique Sonship within the Godhead, not a partial manifestation.
High Risk Terms
Abba
Approved rendering: अब्बा
Transliteration: abbā
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Aramaic term of filial intimacy preserved in Romans 8:15; retain the transliteration rather than reducing it to formal पिता alone.
Adoption
Approved rendering: दत्तक पुत्र करून घेणें
Transliteration: dattak putra karun ghenẽ
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: दत्तक घेणें
The fuller phrase (‘taking as a full/adopted son’) is preferred over the bare verb दत्तक घेणें to foreground complete inheritance rights, since Konkani inheritance custom can otherwise read an adopted child as lower-status.
Called
Approved rendering: बोलावलेले
Transliteration: bolāvlele
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: आमंत्रित
Context-sensitive: in 1:1, called to apostleship; in 1:7, called to be saints; in 8:28-30, effectual calling to salvation. Built on the Konkani/Marathi verb बोलावणें (to summon), not the softer आमंत्रित (invited).
Calling
Approved rendering: बोलावणें
Transliteration: bolāvaṇẽ
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: आमंत्रण
Noun form for the act/state of being called by God; shares its verb root with ‘called’ for consistency.
Covenant
Approved rendering: करार
Transliteration: karār
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: समजूत
करार is the established Konkani/Marathi Bible term for covenant (as in ‘जुनो करार’/‘नवो करार’, Old/New Testament), distinct from Hindi’s वाचा. Carries a relational-promise sense stronger than समजूत (mere mutual understanding).
Election
Approved rendering: देवाची निवड
Transliteration: devācī nivaḍ
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: नशीब, प्रारब्ध
God’s sovereign personal choice, not fate (नशीब/प्रारब्ध) or karma-determined destiny.
Faith
Approved rendering: विश्वास
Transliteration: viśvās
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: श्रद्धा, भक्ती
Personal trust in a specific object (Christ), not generalized devotional reverence. भक्ती carries the full weight of Goan Hindu devotional worship directed at particular temple deities (e.g. Shantadurga, Mangueshi, Mahalasa).
Glory
Approved rendering: गौरव
Transliteration: gaurav
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: तेज, देवीतेज
God’s radiant presence and honor. गौरव is preferred over तेज-based light imagery, which risks conflating with descriptions of a deity’s divine luster common in regional temple narrative (e.g. Shantadurga iconography).
Gospel
Approved rendering: सुवार्ता
Transliteration: suvārtā
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: बरी खबर, शुभवर्तमान
Established Konkani/Marathi-family Bible term (distinct from Hindi’s सुसमाचार). Romi Konkani Catholic tradition instead uses ‘Vangel’ (from Portuguese Evangelho); that term is not used here because this glossary targets Devanagari script.
Grace
Approved rendering: कृपा
Transliteration: kṛpā
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: कर्मफळ, पुण्य, नशीब
Deliberately different from Hindi, which rejects कृपा as too weak and prefers अनुग्रह; in the Konkani/Marathi Bible tradition कृपा is the established, doctrinally load-bearing term for unmerited grace and carries no weaker connotation here. Must still be taught as unearned favor, directly against a karma-merit worldview; never कर्मफळ (fruit of karma) or पुण्य (accumulated merit).
Holy
Approved rendering: पवित्र
Transliteration: pavitra
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: शुद्ध, निर्मळ
पवित्र = set apart for God, morally pure. शुद्ध leans toward ritual purity; keep पवित्र consistent for the theological sense.
Law
Approved rendering: नियमशास्त्र
Transliteration: niyamaśāstra
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: धर्म, कायदो
Torah/Mosaic law. NEVER धर्म. नियमशास्त्र is the established Konkani/Marathi Bible term, distinct from Hindi’s व्यवस्था; कायदो (ordinary civil law) lacks the covenantal weight needed here.
Obedience Of Faith
Approved rendering: विश्वासाची आज्ञाधारकता
Transliteration: viśvāsācī āj̈ñādhārakatā
Doctrine: Obedience of Faith
Rejected alternatives: धार्मिक कर्तव्यपालन
Romans 1:5 and 16:26. Obedience flowing from faith, not duty-based religious compliance that earns standing.
Power Of God
Approved rendering: देवाचें सामर्थ्य
Transliteration: devāce sāmarthya
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
Rejected alternatives: शक्ती
Use सामर्थ्य; never शक्ती, which in Goa carries especially strong Shakta-goddess associations given the prominence of Shantadurga and Mahalasa worship in local Hindu practice.
Providence
Approved rendering: देवाची तरतूद
Transliteration: devācī tartūd
Doctrine: Providence
Rejected alternatives: नशीब, प्रारब्ध
God’s personal, purposive provision and governance — the established Konkani/Marathi theological term. Never नशीब or प्रारब्ध (fate/destiny).
Saints
Approved rendering: पवित्र जन
Transliteration: pavitra jan
Doctrine: Sainthood
Rejected alternatives: संत, भक्त
संत specifically evokes the Marathi-Konkani Varkari bhakti-poet tradition (Tukaram, Namdev, Dnyaneshwar; the Pandharpur pilgrimage), a revered but specific devotional-poet category, not every believer. पवित्र जन applies corporately to all believers.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: पवित्रीकरण
Transliteration: pavitrīkaraṇ
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: शुद्धीकरण
The Spirit’s ongoing work of making believers holy, distinct from ritual purification.
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: दावीदाच्या वंशांतलो
Transliteration: dāvīdācyā vanśāntlo
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Romans 1:3; conveys physical lineage and OT covenant fulfillment.
Sin
Approved rendering: पाप
Transliteration: pāp
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: अधर्म, अशुद्धता
Moral transgression before a personal God, distinguished from ritual impurity (अशुद्धता) and from an impersonal karmic debt.
Medium Risk Terms
Apostle
Approved rendering: प्रेषित
Transliteration: preṣit
Doctrine: Apostleship
Rejected alternatives: दूत, गुरू
Established Konkani/Marathi Christian term (distinct spelling from Hindi’s प्रेरित) for an authorized, sent-out messenger. गुरू avoided given the prominence of guru-disciple religious authority structures in regional Hindu practice.
Church
Approved rendering: मंडळी
Transliteration: maṇḍaḷī
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: देऊळ, मंदिर
Never देऊळ or मंदिर (Hindu temple). मंडळी names the local congregation in this Devanagari register; note that Goan Catholic Romi Konkani instead uses ‘Igorz’ (from Portuguese igreja), a completely different loanword not used here.
David
Approved rendering: दावीद
Transliteration: dāvīd
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Established Konkani/Marathi Bible proper-name spelling, distinct from Hindi’s दाऊद.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: परराष्ट्रीय
Transliteration: pararāṣṭrīya
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: विदेशी
Non-Jews; established Konkani/Marathi Bible term. Use राष्ट्रां (nations) in mission contexts.
Intercession
Approved rendering: मध्यस्थी
Transliteration: madhyasthī
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Rejected alternatives: शिफारस
Prayer offered on behalf of others through Christ as sole mediator; शिफारस (recommendation/patronage-favor) is too socially transactional for this theological sense.
Israel
Approved rendering: इस्राएल
Transliteration: isrāel
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Proper name; established Bible-translation form.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: देवाचें राज्य
Transliteration: devāce rājya
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Rejected alternatives: देवाचें राष्ट्र
God’s sovereign reign, distinguished from political-kingdom associations — a sensitive area given Goa’s own history of contested colonial and pre-colonial rule.
Mission
Approved rendering: सुवार्ता प्रसार
Transliteration: suvārtā prasār
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
Rejected alternatives: मिशन
Describes the activity plainly. Given Goa’s specific history of coercive Portuguese-era conversion under the Goa Inquisition (established 1560), the borrowed term ‘मिशन’ carries heavier and more negative colonial-institutional freight here than in most other languages in this pipeline; prefer सुवार्ता प्रसार and always frame proclamation as invitation, never coercion.
Peace
Approved rendering: शांती
Transliteration: śāntī
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: सुख, समाधान
In Romans 5:1, relational peace with God through justification, not meditative or devotional calm.
Spiritual Gifts
Approved rendering: आत्मिक वरदान
Transliteration: ātmik varadān
Doctrine: Spiritual Gifts
Rejected alternatives: वरदान, सिद्धी
वरदान alone carries the Puranic sense of a boon granted for austerity or devotion; always pair with आत्मिक (spiritual) to mark it as Spirit-given, not earned.
Low Risk Terms
Exhort
Approved rendering: उत्तेजन देणें
Transliteration: uttejan denẽ
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Context-sensitive: use विनवणी (entreaty) for beseeching; उत्तेजन देणें (give encouragement) for building up.
Fellowship
Approved rendering: सहभागिता
Transliteration: sahabhāgitā
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: इश्टागत, समाज
Shared participation in Christ; इश्टागत (friendship) and समाज (society) are both too generic for this theological sense.
Prophecy
Approved rendering: भविष्यवाणी
Transliteration: bhaviṣyavāṇī
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: भविष्यफळ
God-inspired declaration, distinct from astrological prediction (भविष्यफळ).
Prophet
Approved rendering: संदेष्टा
Transliteration: sandeṣṭā
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Rejected alternatives: ज्योतिषी
Established Konkani/Marathi Bible term for God’s spokesperson (distinct from Hindi’s भविष्यद्वक्ता); distinguish from an astrologer/fortune-teller (ज्योतिषी).
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: धन्यवाद
Transliteration: dhanyavād
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Standard term; उपकारस्तुती (thanks-and-praise) is an available liturgical-register alternative but धन्यवाद is preferred for this curriculum’s reading level.
Referenced passages