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 Santali (Ol Chiki script) translation and Roman transliteration
• The doctrine risk tier (Critical/High/Medium/Low)
• Explicitly rejected alternatives, with reasons
• Notes explaining any non-obvious translation choice, including whether a term is provisional pending native-theologian and native-typesetter confirmation

Governing principles

1. Honest flagging of a thin tradition, on the Fulfulde model — the majority of compound theological terms in this glossary are marked provisional, reflecting Santali’s genuinely less-settled theological-study vocabulary rather than papering over that gap with false confidence.
2. Explicit rejection, not silent avoidance — every Critical-risk term records why the tempting alternative from Sarnaism’s bonga/jaher framework is wrong (see alternatives_rejected).
3. Loanwords preferred over borrowed native high-god vocabulary for God-language — Isor is used rather than Marang Buru or Sing Bonga specifically to avoid syncretism, a deliberate and explicitly documented choice rather than a default.
4. Dual confirmation required — beyond the usual theologian/native-speaker review this pipeline applies elsewhere, Santali entries additionally require native Ol Chiki-typesetter confirmation of orthography, a review dimension unique to this language in the current batch.
5. 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.