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 and theological risks identified in Culture Analysis and Comparative Theology. Every term entry records:
- The approved Uzbek translation and a phonetic pronunciation guide
- The doctrine risk tier (Critical/High/Medium/Low)
- Explicitly rejected alternatives, with reasons, including where a term is shared with but narrower than its Islamic or Sufi theological usage
- Notes explaining any non-obvious translation choice
Governing principles
- Established usage over invention — where the IBT Muqaddas Kitob already has a settled rendering (Xudo, Iso Masih, Rabbiy, Muqaddas Ruh), this glossary follows it rather than proposing an alternative.
- Explicit naming, not silent avoidance — every Critical-risk term records the specific Islamic or Sufi devotional claim it stands in tension with (see
alternatives_rejectedandnotes), so a translator or reviewer understands why softening the term would misrepresent the source text. - 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 Sufi shrine-intercession and legal-safety risks that distinguish this Language Package from other Turkic packages in this pipeline.
Critical Risk Terms
Father
Approved rendering: Ota
Transliteration: oh-TAH
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: Yaratuvchi (Creator, as a substitute to avoid relational language)
CRITICAL: Calling God ‘Father’ can register as implying literal offspring, which tawhid forbids, making Ota one of the most relationally rich but potentially jarring terms in this package. Teach the relational, adoptive sense directly rather than retreating to the flatter Yaratuvchi.
God
Approved rendering: Xudo
Transliteration: khoo-DOH
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Alloh (theologically usable, but more strongly identified with the specifically Qur’anic/mosque register than the settled Uzbek Bible convention)
Xudo (a Persian-origin word for God long used across Central Asia, including by Uzbek speakers of all backgrounds) is the term used consistently in the IBT Uzbek Bible. Alloh is understood and not doctrinally wrong, but Xudo is the settled convention this Language Package follows for consistency with existing Uzbek Christian usage.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Muqaddas Ruh
Transliteration: moo-kahd-DAHS ROOKH
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: Jabroil (the archangel Gabriel)
CRITICAL: ‘Ruh al-Qudus,’ the same phrase, is widely explained in Islamic commentary as referring to the archangel Jabroil aiding Jesus, not a co-equal divine Person. This curriculum must explicitly teach the Holy Spirit as God himself, the third Person of the Trinity, wherever the term first appears in a lesson.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: Hisoblangan solihlik
Transliteration: hee-sohb-lahn-GAHN soh-leekh-LEEK
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: qozonilgan solihlik (earned righteousness)
Righteousness credited to a believer’s account by faith, not achieved through yaxshi amallar (good deeds). Qozonilgan solihlik (‘earned righteousness’) is explicitly rejected, since it reintroduces the deeds-ledger framework Paul argues against.
Incarnation
Approved rendering: Tana olish
Transliteration: tah-NAH oh-LEESH
Doctrine: Incarnation
Rejected alternatives: Xudoning inson qiyofasiga kirishi (God taking on a human disguise/appearance)
CRITICAL: The eternal Son permanently, not temporarily, taking on true human nature. Avoid any phrasing implying disguise or mere appearance, which would understate rather than honestly confront the doctrine.
Intercession
Approved rendering: Vositachilik
Transliteration: voh-see-tah-chee-LEEK
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Rejected alternatives: shafoat (intercession doctrine strongly tied to Sufi awliyo/pir veneration and shrine pilgrimage in Uzbekistan)
CRITICAL: Uzbekistan’s deep Sufi devotional culture (Naqshbandi tradition, centered historically on Bukhara) gives shafoat — intercession sought through deceased awliyo (saints) at their mazor (shrine) tombs — an unusually central and widely practiced role, cutting across even secular and nominally non-religious households. Christ’s unique, sufficient intercession must be clearly and repeatedly distinguished from shrine-mediated shafoat.
Jesus
Approved rendering: Iso
Transliteration: ee-SOH
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: bare ‘Iso payg’ambar’ (Prophet Jesus, without Masih)
CRITICAL: Iso is the shared Uzbek/Qur’anic name for Jesus and alone signals only the Qur’anic prophet-Jesus to most readers. This curriculum consistently pairs Iso with Masih (Iso Masih) rather than using Iso alone.
Justification
Approved rendering: Oqlanish
Transliteration: ohk-lah-NEESH
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: gunohlardan kechirilish (forgiveness of sins, alone)
Oqlanish is a forensic-legal term (to be acquitted/declared innocent), a strong fit for Paul’s courtroom metaphor. Do not collapse it into mere forgiveness (kechirilish); justification is a positive declaration of righteousness, not only a pardon.
Lord
Approved rendering: Rabbiy
Transliteration: rahb-BEE
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: xo’jayin (master/boss, non-divine)
Established Uzbek Bible term. In Romans 10:9 the confession ‘Jesus is Lord’ = Iso Rabbiydir. Xo’jayin denotes a human employer/master and must not substitute; it removes the exclusive divine claim of the confession.
Messiah
Approved rendering: Masih
Transliteration: mah-SEEKH
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Rejected alternatives: oddiy bir payg’ambar (merely a prophet)
CRITICAL: Masih is shared with the Qur’anic al-Masih title given to Iso, but the Qur’an empties it of Old Testament content. Every use of Masih in this curriculum must carry the full Davidic-covenant, atoning-savior content Paul assumes.
Mission
Approved rendering: Xushxabar tarqatish xizmati
Transliteration: khoosh-khah-BAR tar-kah-TEESH kheez-mah-TEE
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
Rejected alternatives: missionerlik (loaded, closely associated with the specific religious-conversion activity Uzbekistan’s religion law most heavily restricts), targ’ibot (propaganda, Soviet-era connotation)
CRITICAL: Uzbekistan’s religion law places severe restrictions on unregistered religious teaching and proselytism; missionerlik in particular is a legally and socially dangerous word. Xushxabar tarqatish xizmati (‘service of spreading good news’) is used to keep the doctrinal content teachable while this Language Package’s Requirements document routes any related content to human theologian review for pastoral and legal-safety reasons.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: Tirilish
Transliteration: tee-ree-LEESH
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: osmonga ko’tarilish (being raised to heaven, without dying)
CRITICAL: Must affirm real bodily death followed by bodily resurrection. The Qur’an (4:157) denies Jesus actually died; osmonga ko’tarilish describes the no-death-ascension reading and must never substitute for tirilish, which requires a prior death.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: Solihlik
Transliteration: soh-leekh-LEEK
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: yaxshi amallar (good deeds, as the ground itself)
CRITICAL: Never present as equivalent to yaxshi amallar (good deeds), the works-ledger category central to Islamic judgment theology. Solihlik in Romans is a right standing granted through faith, not a deeds-based classification.
Salvation
Approved rendering: Najot
Transliteration: nah-JOHT
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: jannatga kirish (entering paradise, as the whole content)
CRITICAL: Najot is the established IBT term for deliverance through Christ’s death and resurrection, received now. Do not let it be read as a synonym for ‘hoping to enter jannat [paradise],’ an outcome Islamic theology leaves undetermined until Allah’s final judgment.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: Xudoning O’g’li
Transliteration: khoo-doh-NEENG uhg-LEE
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Xudoning sevimli quli (God’s beloved servant)
CRITICAL: Full phrase required, never softened to a servant euphemism. Qur’an 112:3 (‘He neither begets nor is begotten’) makes this the sharpest point of confrontation with tawhid in the whole curriculum.
High Risk Terms
Abba
Approved rendering: Abba
Transliteration: AH-bah
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Aramaic term of intimacy preserved untranslated in Romans 8:15. Retain the transliteration; it conveys a childlike intimacy that formal Ota alone may not fully carry.
Adoption
Approved rendering: Farzandlikka olinish
Transliteration: far-zand-leek-KAH oh-lee-NEESH
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: asrab olish (bare fostering/guardianship, without full legal-heir status)
Full legal-standing sonship with inheritance rights, not mere guardianship (asrab olish, which in Uzbek custom does not always carry full inheritance rights). Teaching material must clarify this describes believers’ new status, not a claim that God has literal offspring.
Called
Approved rendering: Chaqirilgan
Transliteration: chah-kee-reel-GAHN
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: taklif qilingan (invited)
Context-sensitive: in 1:1 = called to apostleship; in 1:7 = called to be saints; in 8:28-30 = effectual calling to salvation. Taklif qilingan (‘invited’) understates the sovereign weight of God’s call.
Calling
Approved rendering: Chaqiruv
Transliteration: chah-kee-ROOV
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: taklif
Noun form for the act/state of being called by God. Taklif (invitation) does not carry the effectual weight of a sovereign summons.
Election
Approved rendering: Xudoning tanlovi
Transliteration: khoo-doh-NEENG tan-loh-VEE
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: taqdir (fate/predetermined destiny), peshana (what is ‘written on the forehead’)
God’s sovereign, personal choosing for salvation. Taqdir and peshana both carry strong fatalistic-decree connotations common in everyday Uzbek speech; Xudoning tanlovi preserves the relational, purposive sense.
Faith
Approved rendering: Iymon
Transliteration: ee-MOHN
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: e’tiqod (doctrinal conviction/creed)
Iymon is shared with Islamic vocabulary, denoting assent to Allah, angels, books, prophets, the last day, and qadar. Romans’ iymon is personal trust in Iso Masih specifically; the object of faith must always be stated in context.
Glory
Approved rendering: Ulug’vorlik
Transliteration: oo-loog-vor-LEEK
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: nur (divine light, heavily associated with Sufi Nur-i Muhammadiy pre-existent-light devotion, strong in Naqshbandi-influenced Uzbek Islam)
God’s radiant honor and majesty. Avoid nur, which in Central Asian Sufi devotional tradition specifically evokes the pre-existent light of Muhammad — a competing pre-existence and glory claim.
Gospel
Approved rendering: Xushxabar
Transliteration: khoosh-khah-BAR
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: Injil (bare, unqualified)
Xushxabar (‘good news’) is the Institute for Bible Translation (IBT) Uzbek term for the living proclamation. Bare Injil primarily names the book, which Islamic doctrine treats as an originally-revealed-but-now-corrupted text (tahrif); keep the proclaimed message distinct from that contested-book association.
Grace
Approved rendering: Inoyat
Transliteration: ee-noh-YAHT
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: marhamat (mercy), fazilat (virtue/merit)
Inoyat conveys unearned favor apart from merit. Marhamat (mercy) and fazilat (virtue) both function within a framework where deeds still matter for a believer’s final standing; grace apart from works must be taught as a distinct claim.
Holy
Approved rendering: Muqaddas
Transliteration: moo-kahd-DAHS
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: pok (ritually clean)
Muqaddas = set apart for God, morally pure; the established term across Uzbek religious registers. Pok carries ritual-cleanliness connotations closer to tahorat (ritual ablution) purity.
Law
Approved rendering: Tavrot qonuni
Transliteration: tav-ROHT koh-noo-NEE
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: shariat (Islamic religious law)
Refers to the Mosaic law given through the Tavrot (Torah). NEVER use shariat, which names the comprehensive Islamic legal-religious system and would import an entirely different law-and-society framework into Paul’s argument.
Obedience Of Faith
Approved rendering: Iymon itoati
Transliteration: ee-MOHN ee-toh-ah-TEE
Doctrine: Obedience of Faith
Rejected alternatives: diniy vazifalarni bajarish (performing religious duties)
Romans 1:5 and 16:26. The obedience must be taught as the fruit of a faith relationship already secured by grace, not as diniy vazifa (religious duty-performance, such as the five daily prayers) that itself earns standing before God.
Power Of God
Approved rendering: Xudoning qudrati
Transliteration: khoo-doh-NEENG kood-rah-TEE
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
Rejected alternatives: Xudoning g’azabi (God’s wrath, a different concept sometimes conflated in folk usage)
Qudrat is the plain, doctrinally clean term for God’s power, distinct from g’azab (wrath) or generic fate-adjacent power language common in folk religious speech.
Prophet
Approved rendering: Payg’ambar
Transliteration: pay-gahm-BAR
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Rejected alternatives: folbin (fortune-teller)
Payg’ambar is the standard shared Islamic-Uzbek term, and precisely the (exclusive) category Islamic theology places Jesus into. When used of OT prophets pointing to Christ, ensure the text distinguishes their role from Christ’s own identity as more than prophetic.
Providence
Approved rendering: Xudoning g’amxo’rligi
Transliteration: khoo-doh-NEENG gam-khohr-lee-GEE
Doctrine: Providence
Rejected alternatives: taqdir, peshana
God’s personal, purposive care, especially Romans 8:28. Taqdir and peshana carry strong fatalistic connotations of an impersonal, unknowable decree; g’amxo’rlik (‘caring for’) preserves the personal, Father-hearted sense Romans intends.
Saints
Approved rendering: Muqaddaslar
Transliteration: moo-kahd-dahs-LAR
Doctrine: Sainthood
Rejected alternatives: avliyolar (Sufi saints venerated at shrines/mazors)
Muqaddaslar = all believers corporately, set apart in Christ. Avliyolar carries very strong associations in Uzbekistan with venerated Sufi holy figures (such as Bahouddin Naqshband) whose tombs receive large-scale pilgrimage (ziyorat); this is a specially graced elite category, not the ordinary corporate sainthood of Romans 1:7.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: Muqaddaslanish
Transliteration: moo-kahd-dahs-lah-NEESH
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: poklanish (ritual purification)
The Spirit’s ongoing work of making believers holy. Poklanish leans toward ceremonial/ritual purification; muqaddaslanish keeps the moral-relational, Spirit-worked sense.
Sin
Approved rendering: Gunoh
Transliteration: goo-NOKH
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: xato (mistake/error)
Gunoh is the standard shared term, but Islamic anthropology (fitrat, humans born sinless) resists inherited universal sinfulness; Romans 5:12-19’s doctrine of inherited sin needs explicit teaching support.
Medium Risk Terms
Apostle
Approved rendering: Havoriy
Transliteration: hah-voh-REE
Doctrine: Apostleship
Rejected alternatives: payg’ambar (prophet-messenger), murid (a Sufi disciple following a pir/shaykh)
Havoriy is the established Christian term for Jesus’ twelve. Guard against both payg’ambar (a new-revelation-bearing prophet) and murid (a Sufi order’s disciple under a living spiritual master); an apostle is a Spirit-authorized eyewitness to the risen Christ, not either of these.
Church
Approved rendering: Masihiylar jamoati
Transliteration: mah-see-hee-LAR jah-moh-ah-TEE
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: jamoat (bare, ambiguous with a mosque congregation), cherkov (Russian loanword, understood but carries Russian Orthodox/foreign-institution connotations)
The full phrase ‘Masihiylar jamoati’ (‘assembly of Christ-followers’) is used rather than bare jamoat, which in ordinary Uzbek usage most often refers to a local mosque congregation.
Covenant
Approved rendering: Ahd
Transliteration: AHD
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: shartnoma (bare commercial contract)
Ahd is the established relational-covenant term (also used for Eski Ahd/Yangi Ahd, Old/New Testament). Shartnoma reads as a bare commercial agreement and loses the relational-promise dimension.
David
Approved rendering: Dovud
Transliteration: doh-VOOD
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Established Uzbek Bible proper name, recognizable from the Qur’anic Dovud, though the Qur’an presents him as a prophet-king without the messianic covenant content Romans assumes.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: Millatlar
Transliteration: mil-laht-LAR
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: kofirlar (unbelievers/infidels, an Islamic religious-legal category)
Millatlar (‘nations,’ i.e. non-Jews) is the ethnically neutral Bible term. Kofirlar would import an entirely different, religiously charged Islamic boundary line rather than Paul’s Jew/Gentile distinction.
Israel
Approved rendering: Isroil
Transliteration: ees-roh-EEL
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Proper name; established Uzbek Bible form.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: Xudoning Shohligi
Transliteration: khoo-doh-NEENG shohkh-lee-GEE
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Rejected alternatives: Xudoning davlati (God’s state/nation)
God’s sovereign reign, not a literal state. Davlat (‘state’) would suggest a political nation-state, a sensitive category under Uzbekistan’s restrictive state regulation of religious activity.
Peace
Approved rendering: Tinchlik
Transliteration: teen-chleek
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: osoyishtalik (inner calm/comfort)
In Romans 5:1, tinchlik is relational peace with God through justification, not psychological comfort (osoyishtalik) or the absence of political conflict, its more common everyday sense.
Prophecy
Approved rendering: Bashorat
Transliteration: bah-shoh-RAHT
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: folbinlik (fortune-telling/divination)
God-inspired declaration pointing to Christ. Folbinlik carries occult/divination connotations and must be avoided.
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: Dovudning naslidan
Transliteration: doh-vood-NEENG nas-lee-DAHN
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Romans 1:3; conveys physical lineage and fulfillment of the Davidic covenant promise, a background largely unfamiliar to readers without OT exposure.
Spiritual Gifts
Approved rendering: Ruhiy in’omlar
Transliteration: roo-HEE ee-NOM-lar
Doctrine: Spiritual Gifts
Rejected alternatives: karomat (a miraculous sign attributed to a Sufi saint/pir)
Always pair ruhiy with in’om; karomat specifically denotes a miraculous endowment attributed to Sufi saints in Central Asian devotional tradition and must not be used.
Low Risk Terms
Exhort
Approved rendering: Nasihat qilish
Transliteration: nah-see-HAHT kee-LEESH
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Context-sensitive: use yalvormoq (entreat/beseech) for pleading; nasihat qilish (advise/encourage) for building up.
Fellowship
Approved rendering: Sherikchilik
Transliteration: sheh-reek-chee-LEEK
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: birodarlik (brotherhood, generic/civic)
Shared participation in Christ. Birodarlik is common in secular civic and ethnic-solidarity rhetoric and risks importing those associations instead of a specifically Christ-centered sense.
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: Shukronalik
Transliteration: shook-roh-nah-LEEK
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Standard term shared with everyday Islamic-influenced shukur vocabulary. Low doctrinal risk; a genuine point of resonance.
Referenced passages