← The Book of Mormon, in modern American English
Preserved phrases
The Protected Phrase Registry
Modernizing the Book of Mormon means deciding, thousands of times, which words may change. This is the list of the ones that may not. Every phrase here is kept verbatim in its canonical shape wherever it appears — no matter how many times the edition is regenerated.
A phrase earns a place on the list for one of three reasons: it is a doctrinal term of art, where a plainer synonym would change the teaching; it is widely memorized and beloved, and the cadence is the point; or it is load-bearing for cross-reference, because readers need to find it in the traditional text and in other scripture.
Entries are added, amended, or removed only by the decision of a human decision-maker. No model votes on this list, and nothing lands on it by accident — which is exactly why it matters: the registry is the human fingerprint on the edition. It currently holds 32 entries as of v1.10.
Start here
“great and spacious building”
fixed epithet; "large and spacious" where the source has it
“come unto Christ”
the one surviving unto — "come unto Christ, and be perfected in him"
“desirable above all other fruit / it is the most desirable above all things / and the most joyous to the soul”
the §4a inversion sweep's only exception — everywhere else "X above all" → "more X than any(thing)"
“born of God? / received his image in your countenances? / experienced this mighty change in your hearts?”
the interrogative cascade of Alma's Zarahemla sermon
The rules that govern everything not on this list are written up on the style guide page.