German vs. Klingon sounds

[Kesvirit]

quoth Brian_Starr in the Klingon Names thread:
They are corruptions of German words, which I think sound very guttural like Klingon.

In what way does German sound like tlhIngan Hol? The only thing I hear them having in common is  that both make good use of the {H} sound. To my ears, tlhIngan sounds like the phonemes are made more in the back of the mouth and throat than German ones are.

-=- Kesvirit

[SoplaHtaHwI']

quoth Brian_Starr in the Klingon Names thread:
They are corruptions of German words, which I think sound very guttural like Klingon.

In what way does German sound like tlhIngan Hol? The only thing I hear them having in common is  that both make good use of the {H} sound. To my ears, tlhIngan sounds like the phonemes are made more in the back of the mouth and throat than German ones are.

-=- Kesvirit

The names as mentioned by Brian_Starr aren't pronounced the way he says, if using {thlIngan Hol} as the guide...

But apart from that.
Take the German word "abgemacht", which means "agreed (upon)". It has two g-sounds in it, one of which sounds indeed like the {H} of {tlhIngan Hol}. Dutch (which is related to German) does also have a g-sound that comes very close to the {gh} of for instance {vagh} (five), but only when pronounced by Southern natives. Other inhabitants have a g-pronunciation that is too harsh. Generally a soft rolling r sounds best.

You are probably right with the pronunciation of Klingon phonemes being further in the back of the mouth/throat.
 

[richard]

they sound nothing alike.

german kh, tapped r and s/sh do appear in klingon, but pf doesnt for example. But kh, gh, ', q, D, ng, r are all in common with arabic.

However, even with these similarities, arabic is spoken very differently then klingon should be (klingon should be forceful, slower and less rhythmic).