# You say Nee-jair, I say Neye-ger.  How does one pronounce Niger?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-say-nee-jair-i-say-neye-ger-how-does-one-pronounce-niger/190055>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 22, 2003, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-say-nee-jair-i-say-neye-ger-how-does-one-pronounce-niger/190055 "2003-07-22T01:03:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-say-nee-jair-i-say-neye-ger-how-does-one-pronounce-niger/190055/21 "2003-07-25T01:59:53Z")

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**Yeah** , niger seed (_Guizotia abyssinica_) is not from a thistle; it’s related to sunflowers.

The name might become confused with _Nigella sativa_. That’s right, the famous English TV cooking lady has the same name as a spice. _Nigella sativa_ is used in Indian, Afghan, and Persian cuisine. In India, the seeds are called _kalaunji_ (derived from _kala_ meaning ‘black’). In Arabic, it’s called “the Black Seed (_al-habbah al-sawdâ’_)” and is considered a good herbal medicine. Indian groceries sometimes sell it with the name “onion seed” which is ridiculous since the plant is not related to onion. Horticulturists grow _Nigella sativa_ as an ornamental plant and call it “Love-in-a-Mist.”

In Latin, _nigella_ means ‘the little black one’ (feminine), diminutive of _niger_.

However, it has been suggested that the name of the Niger River is not originally derived from the Latin word for ‘black’, but comes from a phrase in the Tuareg language, one of the Berber languages indigenous to North Africa and the Sahara, in which _n’eghirren_ means ‘flowing water’.

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**Author:** ![Yeah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/dbc845/32.png) [@Yeah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeah)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-say-nee-jair-i-say-neye-ger-how-does-one-pronounce-niger/190055/22 "2003-07-25T02:30:44Z")

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Niger seed (the tiny black seeds used in special bird feeders to attract goldfinches) is also called “thistle seed.” How is that “niger” correctly pronounced in English?

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**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-say-nee-jair-i-say-neye-ger-how-does-one-pronounce-niger/190055/23 "2003-07-25T04:24:36Z")

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I packed my dictionary and all my books because I’m moving, so I can’t look it up. But I guess, it being an English word, it’s probably [nAjdZ@r]. (This is in the ASCII adaptation of IPA.) Or NYE-jur if you don’t know IPA.

I prefer to pronounce Latin words like Italian, just because it sounds better to me, being Italian. nee-jair. In ancient Latin it would have been nee-gair, more or less.

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