Minimalistic i18n for JavaScript

t.js

var i18nMessages = {};
["en", "de", "it"].forEach(function (lang) {
  jQuery.ajax({
    url: "./i18n/" + lang + ".json",
    dataType: 'json',
    async: false,
    success: function (data) {
      i18nMessages[lang] = data;
    }
  })
})

/**
 * Returns the translation for the given message key.
 * @param {string} key the message key
 * @param {*} argument an argument to substitue $1 in the message for
 */
function t(key, argument) {
  var messages = i18nMessages[srcLang] || i18nMessages.en;
  var message = messages[key] || i18nMessages.en[key] || key;
  return argument !== undefined ? message.replace(/\$1/g, argument) : message;
}