Semantic Analysis

Several Maithili 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

• पवित्र जन (saints): English “saints” can informally mean “especially holy people,” but पवित्र जन must be used for all believers corporately (Romans 1:7), never for an ascetic elite (संत) or the gendered virtue-exemplar sense carried by सती, both explicitly rejected for this use.
• बजाओल / बजाओल जाएब (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 Maithili rendering is context-sensitive and must be checked against which sense is active in each verse, not applied uniformly.

Broader-than-English terms

• परमेश्वरक सामर्थ्य (power of God): सामर्थ्य is deliberately preferred over शक्ति specifically because शक्ति carries strong Shakta-goddess associations in a region with active Durga/Kali worship traditions (e.g. the regionally significant Ugratara shrine); सामर्थ्य’s narrower, less personified range is an advantage here even though it is somewhat less common in casual speech.
• विश्वास (faith): covers both “belief” and “trust” in Maithili, which is an advantage here — Romans uses “faith” to mean active, personal trust in Christ, not mere intellectual assent, and विश्वास’s broader range captures both without needing two separate words.

Implication

Where a Maithili 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 Maithili meaning doesn’t support.