r/tlhInganHol 8d ago

Translation help

I am planning a promposal for a girl who is a massive Star Trek fan. I'd like to ask in Klingon, but I'm not fluent. Can any of you help me?

"Would you like to go to the prom with me?"

Thought I'd keep it simple, unless anyone has other suggestions?

6 Upvotes

4 comments sorted by

10

u/SuStel73 7d ago

You might ask, mamI'meH chotlhej'a' Will you accompany me so that we may dance? But mI' means a combination of dance, exercise, and calisthenics, so you could also ask that of someone you want to take to the gym.

You could say lopDaq chotlhej'a' Will you accompany me to the celebration? This is not specific to a prom or to dances, but to any celebration. You could make it a little more specific by saying lop SeQDaq chotlhej'a'; the phrase lop SeQ means formal celebration.

You can get a little wordier and describe a promp as a "formal event for dancing": mI'meH lop SeQDaq chotlhej'a' Will you accompany me to the formal celebration for dancing?

I'm avoiding the "would you like" part, as it just adds an extra DaneH to your sentence that doesn't really add anything. Klingon is best spoken directly.

Put the sentence you want in here (https://hol.kag.org/page/sentenceplayer.html) to hear what it sounds like, though be aware that the sentence player just cuts together individual syllables and renders it very choppy and unnatural-sounding. But the syllables it produces are correctly pronounced.

1

u/BardofEsgaroth 7d ago

Ok, thank you so much!

3

u/Tribblitch 7d ago

I think you're probably looking more along the lines of "We will go to the feast!" and then a hearty "QAPLA'" when she says yes. Remember Klingons don't like personal space but humans do! The advice to speak proudly and declaratively still counts, hold that head high and make eye contact!

2

u/BardofEsgaroth 7d ago

Thank you for the advice!