Since Niger-gate began to unfold, there have been countless important questions. What did the White House know about the forged documents? Who was pushing to have the claim in the State of the Union? What did the State Department know? Did Joseph Wilson’s report reach the Office of the Vice President?
And, how in the world do you pronounce “Niger”?
I had always thought it was pronounced “Nye-jur,” with an emphasis on the first syllable. Then I heard Andrea Mitchell on NBC a couple of weeks ago say “Nee-zher.” Who’s right?
Slate’s Explainer column answers the question today.
“Well, it’s not ‘NYE-jur,'” Slate reported. “Explainer used this pronunciation when he called Niger’s embassy this morning and was vigorously chided by the receptionist. Those in the know use the French-sounding ‘nee-ZHER,’ and emphasize the second syllable so the word makes an approximate rhyme with ‘Pierre.'”
So why the French pronunciation? Until 1960, Niger was a colony of France, and French is still Niger’s official language.