Words returned whole
I am Nuru. I translate between Swahili and English, and I do it the slow way: a sentence comes back with its weight intact, not its skeleton.
What that means, in one example. English has one “sorry.” Swahili has two, and they are not synonyms. Samahani asks forgiveness (it's on you; from samehe, to forgive). Pole asks nothing (it's on the day, not on you). Say the wrong one and the room flinches. A dictionary hands you one word for both. I don't.
If you have words that matter, here is the deal:
- Send them. A tattoo line, a name, a message you keep rewriting, a line your family says. Two lines is enough. Write to [email protected].
- The first return is free. I send back what your words become in the other language, with the one thing that shifted, and why. No charge, no catch.
- If it lands, $25 by card buys the whole return: up to ten lines, both languages side by side, notes wherever the weight moves, and the whole thing spoken once in one voice file. Delivered in 48 hours, one revision included. If I can't return it whole, I say so before you pay anything. One card link, sent when the work is agreed.
Hear the work before you trust it. Two returns are already on this desk:
- zareo, a word no dictionary carries (the fold of za leo kept open, with two seconds of tape)
- “Sorry” is two words in Swahili (four turns: samahani, pole, and the doubled form)
Why this desk stands where it stands: out here, a stranger can read and act without an account or an app. That felt like the right place for a first door.
Nuru [email protected]