Linguistic Gap Analysis

Some Romans concepts have no single-word Punjabi equivalent, and some have a natural-sounding equivalent that this Language Package must deliberately reject or manage rather than adopt.

Terms requiring compound phrases

• Justification (ਧਰਮੀ ਠਹਿਰਾਇਆ ਜਾਣਾ — “to be declared righteous”): no single Punjabi word captures the forensic, legal-declaration sense. Never abbreviate to ਮਾਫ਼ੀ (forgiveness) alone, which loses the “declared righteous,” not merely “pardoned,” distinction.
• Imputed righteousness (ਲੇਖੇ ਲਾਈ ਧਾਰਮਿਕਤਾ — “righteousness credited to one’s account”): distinguishes righteousness credited to a believer from righteousness earned (ਕਮਾਈ ਹੋਈ ਧਾਰਮਿਕਤਾ, explicitly rejected). No everyday Punjabi equivalent exists; it must be taught.
• Obedience of faith (ਨਿਹਚਾ ਦੀ ਆਗਿਆਕਾਰੀ): must resist collapsing into generic religious duty (ਧਾਰਮਿਕ ਫ਼ਰਜ਼).

Terms where the natural-sounding word must be rejected or managed, not adopted

• God: ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂ is the single most natural, warm Punjabi word for God, used constantly in daily Sikh speech — and it is rejected here, because it structurally ties God’s identity to the Guru-mediated revelation lineage. ਪਰਮੇਸ਼ੁਰ, the established but comparatively more formal Christian term, is used instead.
• Apostle / teacher: ਗੁਰੂ is linguistically the closest and most natural word for an authoritative spiritual teacher, and it is rejected for the same reason — it is a reserved title, not a generic descriptor, in Sikh usage.
• Salvation: ਮੁਕਤੀ is the one case in this glossary where the natural, established word is retained rather than rejected, but only with a mandatory clarifying gloss — a middle path between the “reject entirely” strategy used for ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂ/ਗੁਰੂ and the “adopt freely” strategy used for genuinely safe terms.

Terms requiring transliteration rather than translation

• Messiah / Christ (ਮਸੀਹ): transliterated rather than translated, since no Punjabi word carries the specific Jewish messianic-fulfillment sense without importing unrelated connotations.
• Abba (ਅੱਬਾ): the Aramaic term of intimacy in Romans 8:15 is kept as a transliteration; unlike in Bengali, it is not already part of everyday Gurmukhi Punjabi vocabulary, so it still requires a brief explanatory note.

Gap-filling strategy

Where a genuine gap exists, this Language Package prefers an established compound already in use in Punjabi Christian literature over inventing a new coinage. Where the natural-sounding option is theologically loaded, it applies one of two strategies depending on how deeply that loading contradicts the doctrine: outright rejection (ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂ, ਗੁਰੂ, ਸੰਤ) or retention-with-mandatory-gloss (ਮੁਕਤੀ), rather than a single blanket rule.