A spelling system is not a definition
Transliteration represents writing in another script; translation proposes meaning in another language. A consistent spelling helps readers find a word or name, but it does not settle its meaning in a particular legal passage. Keep these tasks separate when building a glossary.
The ALA-LC Romanization Tables are a useful reference for catalogue work. Record the system you use, while retaining the spelling found in a cited title. Search more than one form when locating a work: a catalogue, publisher and article may represent the same name differently.
Keep a passage-sized glossary
For each significant term, save the original spelling where available, the source location, the translation used and a sentence explaining why that rendering fits the passage. Include the translator's name and the edition consulted. If you have worked only from a translation, state that in your notes.
An English word such as authority, opinion or custom can conceal different institutional relationships. Before using one translation across several texts, compare how the surrounding argument uses the term. A glossary becomes more useful when its entries are attached to passages rather than presented as timeless equivalents.
Check the edition before comparing
Use WorldCat or a library catalogue to distinguish translations, reprints and editions. A matching short title is not enough: check editor, translator, publisher and year. When page numbers differ, preserve an additional locator such as a chapter, section or folio reference.
For manuscript research, return to the holding library's description. The Michigan collection spans multiple subjects and manuscript traditions; its breadth is a reason to investigate an item's language and genre closely. Translation is most persuasive when another reader can see the source passage, the choice made and the limits of the researcher's access.
References
- Library of Congress: ALA-LC Romanization Tables
Reference tables for consistent catalogue searches and citations across writing systems.
- WorldCat
Locate editions and library holdings. A catalogue record does not guarantee full-text access.
- University of Michigan: Islamic Manuscripts
A collection spanning jurisprudence, language, literature, science and other subjects.
Filed under Manuscripts & history. Sources and corrections.