Lingua Core

Lingua Core is a small, framework-agnostic PHP library that defines the canonical identity model for translatable strings.

It is intentionally boring.

There are no translators, no HTTP clients, no queues, and no storage here.
Lingua Core exists to guarantee that every part of a multilingual system agrees on:

• how source strings are identified
• how translations are keyed
• how locales are normalized
• how hashes are derived (and remain stable)

This bundle is the lowest layer used by higher-level systems such as Babel, Lingua, and translation servers.

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What Lingua Core Is

Lingua Core provides:

• Deterministic hash generation for:
  • source strings
  • translation keys
• Locale normalization
• Stable identity guarantees across:
  • databases
  • queues
  • JSONL caches
  • HTTP boundaries
  • multiple applications

If two systems use Lingua Core, they will compute the same keys for the same inputs.

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What Lingua Core Is Not

Lingua Core deliberately does not include:

• Translation engines (DeepL, LibreTranslate, etc.)
• Symfony services or configuration
• Doctrine entities
• Database access
• HTTP clients
• Caching
• CLI commands

Those belong in higher layers.

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Core Concepts

Source Key (str_hash)

A source key uniquely identifies a string in its source language.

It is derived from:

• the original text
• the source locale

php
use Survos\Lingua\Core\Identity\HashUtil;

$strHash = HashUtil::calcSourceKey(
    'Museum of Things',
    'en'
);

This key is:

• deterministic
• content-based
• stable across systems
• safe to persist and share

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Translation Key (tr_hash)

A translation key identifies a translation of a specific source string into a target locale.

It is derived from:

• the source key
• the target locale
• an optional namespace (engine or logical domain)

php
$trHash = HashUtil::calcTranslationKey(
    $strHash,
    'es',
    'babel'
);

Namespaces allow multiple translation systems to coexist without schema changes.

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Locale Normalization

Locales are normalized consistently to avoid mismatches:

php
HashUtil::normalizeLocale('EN-us'); // 'en'
HashUtil::normalizeLocale('pt_BR'); // 'pt'

This ensures that en, en_US, and en-us do not silently diverge.

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Why Hash-Based Identity?

Lingua Core uses content-addressed identity rather than numeric IDs because:

• strings may originate in different systems
• strings may be discovered lazily
• translation may happen asynchronously
• systems may not share a database

A hash-based key lets you:

• insert without coordination
• upsert safely
• merge datasets
• cache translations in files
• move work across queues or services

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Typical Usage (Higher Layers)

Lingua Core is usually consumed indirectly.

Examples:

• Babel Bundle
  https://github.com/survos/babel-bundle
  Uses source keys for str.hash and translation keys for str_translation.hash.

• Lingua Bundle
  https://github.com/survos/lingua-bundle
  Implements translation workflows, batching, dispatch, and integration with external engines.

• Translation Servers / Workers
  Consume Lingua Core hashes to translate at scale without sharing database IDs.

• JSONL Translation Caches
  Use hashes as stable primary keys for offline or file-based translation storage.

• CLI / Batch Pipelines
  Operate on hashes instead of database IDs to remain portable.

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Design Guarantees

Lingua Core guarantees:

• No breaking changes to hash algorithms without a major version
• Pure functions (no I/O, no globals)
• Framework independence
• Cross-language portability (algorithms are trivial to reimplement elsewhere)

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Versioning Policy

• Patch releases: bug fixes only
• Minor releases: additive helpers
• Major releases: identity semantics may change (rare, explicit)

If a hash algorithm ever changes, it will be treated as a data migration event, not a refactor.

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Installation

bash
composer require survos/lingua-core

Lingua Core has no required dependencies beyond PHP itself.

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Philosophy

Translation is not about strings.
It is about identity.

Lingua Core exists so everything else can be opinionated, flexible, and replaceable—without ever disagreeing on what is being translated.