There seems to be something of an inconsistancy on how best to pronounce Niger, as the name of the country continues to be mentioned on the news. I had always thought it was “Neye-Ger”, but I’ve heard others on the news using “Nee-Jair”. Is this the British pronounciation?
I have also been noticing the differences in pronouncing “Niger”. Decided to go to Google and search “pronounce” and “niger” (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=pronounce+niger&btnG=Google+Search)
The results indicate that as it was until 1960 a colony of France, and French is its primary language, the French pronunciation is correct: “nee-ZHER”.
Much of west Africa was under the French. “Nee-ZHER” is correct for both the country and the river. Also, Nigeria is actually “Nee-zher-IE” to the French. The inflection is impossible to transmit in writing, of course.
What vexes me is what is the adjective that applies to people and things from Niger.
“Nigerian” is already taken.
In French, the adjective that applies to Niger is nigérien. The -ien ending in French is directly equivalent to the -ian ending in English. Therefore nigérien and Nigerian share the same form. So what do the French call people from Nigeria? What do we call people from Niger?
Oddly, the unabridged dictionary, which always lists the adjectival forms after the entry for a country’s name, completely failed to give the adjective for Niger. Can it really be nonexistent? Can a country exist in this modern world of today without an adjective?
As for the OP, the dictionary lists both pronunciations. Everybody happy?
You haven’t heard the old limerick?
There once was a lady from Niger
Who rode on the back of a tiger
They came back from the ride
With the lady inside
And a smile on the face of the tiger
But a little info about the name is in this thread:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=85642
FWIW the CIA calls the people of Niger Nigeriens: http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ng.html#People
OK, I found the big Larousse French dictionary and looked it up.
In French, people from Niger are nigérien, while people from Nigeria are nigérian. Obviously, the French borrowed the English adjectival ending for the former British colony, while in English we (seem to) have borrowed the French adjectival ending for the former French colony. Tit for tat.
By the way, Larousse says the French name for Nigeria is le Nigeria.
I wonder how English-speaking people are supposed to pronounce Nigerien in English. Moi, I would use the French pronunciation, simply because nothing else would make sense; otherwise it would sound indistinguishable from “Nigerian.” But that’s just me: I pronounce Latin words the Italian way.
Regarding the OP, I prefer Neye’-jur.
Slate recently had an article on how the “correct” pronunciation is Knee-jhair: http://slate.msn.com/id/2085735/
However, I don’t buy it. Yes, it is a French-speaking country. Yes, THEY pronounce it Knee-jhair. But France is a French-speaking country, should we pronounce it La Fronce, just because they do?
The real question is what has it traditionally been called in English. If everyone wants to agree to start calling it Deutschland, then I’ll agree on Knee-jhair’.
Jomo Mojo, that exact question used to have me wondering. For years. I even asked a friend from Africa, and he didn’t know. Finally found the answer on some internet site. And then not two months later I met someone who works in Niger in the summers. Figures.
She says “Nee-zhair.”
Here’s the Straight Dope from the Nigerien Embassy.
Oops! I now see NFlanders beat me to it. And I swear it didn’t take me 35 minutes to find and read that article! 
They pronounce it La Fwrauntsay, not La Fronce
Oh, and Webster says they are Nigerois
I know how not to say it!
I favor the American Heritage Dictionary, and they give both pronunciations. I think that should settle this useless debate and make everybody happy. FWIW, they give the anglicized pronunciation first and the French version second.
daniel801, you are obviously trying to bullshit us on French pronunciation. You can’t seriously be that ignorant. Won’t work here; too many people are well informed about le français. I once tried guessing nigerois, but when I inquired of an ambassador from Niger, he told me no, it was nigérien. If Webster really said that, they were probably guessing. At least the AHD omitted it since they weren’t sure. Better to omit it than make something up, if you don’t know for sure.
Nitpick: the ambassador told you that in English it has an e with an accent over it?
Sure, why not?
I asked him in French what it was. He pronounced it that way, with the accented é.
It’s pronounced “Qatar.”
Thistle seed (the tiny black seeds used in special bird feeders to attract goldfinches) is also called “niger seed.” How is that “niger” correctly pronounced in English?