[Ads-l] More on Niger
    Jonathan Lighter 
    wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
       
    Sun Oct 22 15:06:20 UTC 2017
    
    
  
Except Riga is pronounced "Reega."
But maybe the mispronunciation is part of the fun, or dates from the heyday
of anglicizing furrin words.
So maybe the same goes for Niger/tiger.
Or maybe "NYE-jur" was thought close enough to "TYE-gur" for limerick use.
Makes my head hurt.
PS: Barbara Starr, CNN Pentagon correspondent, says "Nye-ZHEER-iun."
Probably not the best choice.
JL
-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
    
    
More information about the Ads-l
mailing list