Q: Did Latin's "niger" (black) originate from an African word for the Niger River?
Jonathan Lighter
wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
Sun Oct 23 00:39:45 UTC 2011
This sounds like what we linguists call "garbazh." There could
scarcely have been enough influential "Nigerians" in the Roman Empire
to have introduced a new, basic Latin word like _niger_. And even if
there were, how could a name (used by only some of them, presumably)
for an African river become a common Latin word for "black"?
The etymology of Latin _niger_ is admittedly unknown.
What is true is that the Romans also used _ater_ for "black." As I
understand it, _ater_ generally meant "dull black" and even
"black-skinned." _Niger_, by way of contrast, meant most other sorts
of black and dark, including deep gray, dark brown, sable, etc., and
was also more likely to be used figuratively ("shady," "funereal,"
"black-hearted," etc.).
JL
On Sat, Oct 22, 2011 at 5:14 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
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> Sender: Â Â Â American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: Â Â Â Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject: Â Â Â Re: Q: Did Latin's "niger" (black) originate from an African word
> Â Â Â Â Â Â Â for the Niger River?
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Sat, Oct 22, 2011 at 12:14 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
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>> Sender: Â  Â  Â  American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster: Â  Â  Â  "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
>> Subject: Â  Â  Â Q: Did Latin's "niger" (black) originate from an African word for
>> Â  Â  Â  Â  Â  Â  Â the Niger River?
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> <html>
>> <body>
>> In <i>Black History and Black Identity</i> (p. 99), William D. Wright
>> says:<br><br>
>> <font size=3>“Yet the etymology, the root of the word Negro, has to be
>> traced to Africa. That root is <i>Niger</i>, which was an ancient African
>> word that found its way into Roman Latin. The word itself, in its usage
>> in ancient Africa, had nothing to do with color or race, but was a
>> reference to a river in Africa: the Niger River. Rome brought northern
>> Africa under its domination, which also drew some central Africans under
>> its domination, including those from the area of the Niger River.”
>> <br><br>
>> </font>And later (p. 100), Wright says:<br><br>
>> <font size=3>“J. A. Rogers brought clarity to this etymological matter
>> back in the 1950s: †The word comes from the River Niger, and Nigritae
>> means the people from the River Niger. “Ni” probably means “great” and
>> Ger, or Geir, is African for river. At first Niger had nothing more to do
>> with black than the waters of the river itself. “Ater” was the Latin for
>> black.’[10]” <br><br>
>> </font>[Wright's footnote here is probably only for the quotation from
>> Rogers, and not for the statement on p. 99.]<br><br>
>> All true, partly true, or all false?<br><br>
>> Joel</body>
>> </html>
>>
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>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
> Was Plato black? Was Cleopatra black? If these are questions meriting
> attention, then I guess random claims WRT the etymology of Latin
> _niger_ Â and the etymology of the name of the Niger River also merit
> attention.
>
> --
> -Wilson
> -----
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint
> to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -Mark Twain
>
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>
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