Why Do Nigeria & Niger Have Such Similar Names?

[@NameExplain]

Anyone watching from either of these countries?

[@timilehinoriolayt]

Nigeria here...

[@HomieBox]

There's going to be a lot more Nigerian viewers than Nigerien ones

[@lynx3845]

Homie Box :o

[@dominoofori7854]

Name Explain not related I know but can you make one about all those Guinea’s? Guinea-Bissau, Papua-New Guinea...

[@fiyinfoluwaolatunbosun4019]

Nigeria was coined from the phrase "Niger-area" by Flora Shaw, hence Nigeria. I'm not about the French naming process for Niger.

[@Sharnoy1]

Note: Misspelling either of these countries might get you in trouble. Edit: This is the first time my comment got 600+ likes, thank you everone!

[@christiandevey3898]

Nigeria allows for more error

[@rahultaneja7412]

Or Maybe Name explain can make a video about that Name's History and existence.

[@3goats1coat]

Edgy virtue signaling sjw detected

[@TeaDrinkingColonist]

ok

[@CTMovies]

In our country we read everything just as we write it so in our country country Niger and Nigerija are pronounced as Niger and Nigerja and not as "Najđir" "Najđirija"

[@Triskaan]

You're right, we very rarely use the "-ia" in French. :)

[@NameExplain]

Triskan good to hear! I researched but I was worried I’d missed something super obvious.

[@Mailmanqq]

@@NameExplain Despite almost never "-ia" in French, they have their own version... "-ie". Indonésie, Italie, Colombie, etc. I'm curious why the French didn't take any sort of ending onto the name.

[@FairyCRat]

For some reason tho we still say "Liberia" and not "Libérie"

[@NameExplain]

Mailmanq honestly I think it could make an interesting video into itself. Why Doesn’t French Use The -ia Suffix?

[@aaronodonoghue1791]

@@FairyCRat And "malaria" instead of "malarie" (I know it's not a country, but it's still an "-ia" word), while manie, pneumonie, etc. use the "-ie" suffix

[@therealsosi8204]

He said the n word, like 40 times, the gang is mad now

[@therealsosi8204]

@@archaeas commies mad

[@hussey4826]

Your dp though

[@kneegrowpuleeze7117]

UR FUNNY, NOW RUN AWAY LITTLE PINK BOY.

[@heidic0355]

Not really sure who the gang your referring to is, care to explain

[@Snagprophet]

You think that's bad? Wait til you discover rap and movies ....

[@mackycabangon8945]

insert joke about the racial slur for people of african descent here

[@Jojojoeyx3]

N word

[@alex6027]

Isn't everyone of African descent?

[@TheElderize]

@@alex6027 no

[@alex6027]

@@TheElderize How not?

[@MagicBrianTricks]

@@TheElderize You are wrong. Do you wish to continue?

[@shogunsam]

Donald trump’s auto correct sweats bullets when he mentions these countries

[@caolan3202]

Orangeman bad

[@caolan3202]

@Pecu Alex I dont even like Trump but the joke(if it is one) is just unnecessary

[@janhommen]

@@caolan3202 no joke is necessary

[@ministerofpropagandaindoct4966]

Ah, got 'em

[@basedslav1411]

#maga

[@thomasturner6980]

*both awkwardly avoids the n word*

[@YouGotOptions2]

Both akwardly ARE actually the N word. Not Knee Jer... Believe it or not. Study the history of the wors and you will actually see.

[@MaskedMono]

They both are the early n word

[@markusoliverasagtg9704]

I assume the French use the Latin -ia suffix as -ie, as evidenced in Algerie,Esthonie,Indie,Turquie etc.

[@BangFarang1]

There is no "Indie" in French. We say "Inde".

[@andreaszimmermann6200]

Turkey is not an -ia ending in english... in german we use often -en or -land (e.g. Algerien, Estland, Indien)

[@im0rtalpunk]

Andreas Zimmermann true sometimes what Latin names that end in -ia become -y or -ey in English like in Hungary. In Dutch we either have -ië or -ije for example België (which is not even Belgia but Belgium in English but Belgia in many other languages) Californië, Roemenië but we say Hongarije and Bulgarije

[@TobyBW]

Even closer is Nigerian and Nigerien

[@auviusparemus6421]

Thank you for clearing it out I'm from Niger and most people I meet (not africans) don't know that Niger and Nigeria are two different countries and even one day, someone told me that she tought that "Niger" was a shortening for "Nigeria", in 2019 Sadly, till today, the majority of people are ignorant about some countries or cultures other than theirs, especially towards the African continent. Many people don't know many things. But I hope that people will be more and more open minded and these kinds of videos are helping. Actually, for information, the country Niger was named as it many years before Nigeria followed

[@CieJe.Alexander]

I agree it is sad how little people know about anything outside their own little sphere of life. Even sadder how little some know of their world near, or far! But that being said the map lines, and place names do change quite often. And have many similar sounding names. You can almost tell a map's date by what it calls a place. Also at times different factions call the same place by different names. Its hard to know who is in the right especially when some places put out misleading propaganda - and/or suppress the truth of what is going on in their own land - or about the feelings of their people. It is hard to keep up with, but sometimes it seems like few even try. 😢

[@amehka5416]

Don't act like y'all know everything about other people countries.

[@celestialclouds11]

id say people tend to only know/remember countries that have a significant impact on the world - such as popular tourist destinations, popular imported goods, common languages etc

[@ricardoguanipa8275]

One slipped of the tongue and you get demonetized

[@t.f.r287]

Yes Mauritania, a former french colony

[@marcusrost9611]

Comment!!! I love your stuff bro! You're literally amazing! Sincerely, Marcus (AKA Sky)

[@DISTurbedwaffle918]

French tends to like replacing -ia with -ie or -gne (which sounds like "nye" or "nia").

[@GhastlyG]

Keep up the good work, Patrick!

[@umaradamu5778]

When the Northern and Southern Protectorates were amalgamated by it's first ever Governor General, Sir Lord Luggard in 1914, his wife Ms Flora Shaw suggested the name "Niger (river) Area" to him to be the name of the new nation. He simply called it "Nigeria". FROM: A Nigerian...

[@magnushelin007]

Thanks!

[@oggaming2988]

Love the videos, keep up the great work! Greetings from USA

[@who919]

So you can pronounce the name of Niger correctly at the end of the video but in the beginning of the video your butchering pronunciation

[@hiddenagenda4910]

I'm surprised you missed this but the wife of some colonial official coined the term Niger Area which quickly became Nigeria

[@modmaker7617]

I got a question; Why is the Niger river name so similar to a Racist word?

[@KateeAngel]

Both words derive from word "negro", which means "black" in Spanish and many other romance languages. (And which should not be itself regarded as offensive)

[@malikadiamalou3492]

Different languages, different meanings. Remember Niger is pronounced Niijer it's not prounounced with a hard g as Latin languages.

[@keshinro...6979]

All these comments are wrong. The river Niger is a corrupted Amazigh word of the river which is Gerjer (River of Rivers) technically Niger/Gijer means River. It has nothing to do with European languages.

[@pierreabbat6157]

Latin -a usually becomes -e in French. It went through stages /a/, /ɑ/, /ɔ/ (still pronounced that way in Occitan), /ə/ (written ), nothing (but still written ). This happened to -ia as well, becoming -ie (pronounced /i/), e.g. Italie. Of course there are exceptions (Francia became France, not Francie).

[@Drawphilic]

According to me.... *'ia' means the 'east of ' in Greek language. Because the Nigeria contains the eastern part of Niger river so that might be the reason for the 'ia' suffix*

[@thanasismavromixailidis918]

It means something like"land of".

[@cv4809]

@@thanasismavromixailidis918 it just means "...of"

[@Drawphilic]

@@thanasismavromixailidis918 no it means 'land east of'... For example India is situated east of indus river... So that's why India=east of ind (indus)

[@pietromeroni2023]

many countries use the "ia" suffix derived from latin. In latin the "ia" suffix is commonly used to indicate a territory by reffering to the people living there. For example in latin "germania" (germany in english) means "the land of the german people", or for example "italia" means "the land of the italic people". This is a very common thing to see in the latin language and since many modern languages inherited latin names for countries it's easy to deduce from where the modern use of "ia" and its derivations came from.

[@thanasismavromixailidis918]

@@cv4809 Yeah but in the context of countries?

[@Vuldo]

*Mrs. Obama get down!*

[@v5in88]

*explodes

[@slumped8102]

*_NIGGA_*

[@marvelleapipecintaka1849]

@@slumped8102 TF😂

[@zak.886]

Why? because they can (just joking)

[@therearenoshortcuts9868]

"because fuck you that's why" lol

[@steelkota]

you should use the N-WARD PASS

[@e1123581321345589144]

3:20 they don't remove it, they change it ti the french version which is "ie"

[@tolkiendil4806]

-ie would be the French equivalent to English -ia suffix, as in Algérie, Bulgarie, Bolivie, Russie, Italie etc, often Latin final turns to a written (but not pronounced) in French, for example: capram 'female goat' > chèvre

[@interbeamproductions]

Nigerien vs Nigerian

[@KAZVorpal]

Indonesia is named after the European obsession with India as iconic of the East, not the Indus River. Being named after a thing named after a thing named after a river does not count.

[@murlough23]

Speaking of countries named after rivers that run through them: I always thought it was weird that the Po River did not, in fact, run through Poland.

[@r.v.b.4153]

As a kid of around 8 years old, I taught myself the names of most countries, including those of Africa. The issue came with the name of the country "Niger". Although I could read all of its letters, I didn't know how to pronounce it. I realized my own G pronunciation likely wasn't native over there and recently saw an American movie of some guy shouting "ni**er". So I assumed that the English G would be the accurate one. When we started learning them in class and my teacher pointed out ''Niger" on the map, I as a good student decided to say "ni**er" out loud. The teacher sighed, was visibly annoyed and I didn't understand why. After class, my black classmates cornered me in an alleyway and started kicking and punching me.

[@professional.commentator]

Omg that's fucked up though. You should've told them you didn't know.

[@akale2620]

Cute story

[@kairon156]

I usually thought rivers were named after the places they were in. Though knowing countries and their names are more "recent" than the names of a lot of ancient rivers, It makes sense that it's the other way around.

[@lawaldanladi9129]

Drive across the border of the two countries say from Katsina in Nigeria to Maradi in Niger you would be perplexed by how much the two countries have in common. These countries are indeed one country divided by artificial border. Isn't it time we start thinking about.....,...

[@manchest_hair_united1161]

Woh! mate, who gave you the permission .

[@TheSenator007]

The Rue d'Alésia in Paris is a street that ends with -ia. It was named after the Gallic city of Alesia which became famous for the Battle of Alesia in which Caesar defeated Vercingetorix near the end of the Gallic wars.

[@kaloarepo288]

Once the entire continent of Africa was known as Libya and "Africa" only referred to a fairly small area of what is now Tunisia -similarly the areas inhabited by black people was known as "Ethiopia" but eventually became restricted to only the modern country of that name.

[@RBunctious]

I said Nigeria as the "N" word in Eighth Grade, and my teacher just corrected me. That's how you know I had a beautiful teacher. I didn't do anything wrong. Very hyper with ADHD, didn't realize what I was blurting out sounded offensive.

[@yotamgreenfield4451]

One of the first to watch!

[@isis2523]

Not first

[@Blueweek1]

We need a great reset with these names

[@peabody1976]

Hyacinth Bucket voice: _it's "nee-ZHEHR"_ "Nigerien" = "nee-ZHER-yehn" (the French pronounce it slightly differently, with the nasal at the end). And yes, French uses "-ie" for many countries that in English have "-ia" (except for Cambodia and Liberia, which are "(le) Cambodge" and "(le) Liberia"). Those affixes are from the same Latin source.

[@ElementEvilTeam]

Whaddup mah neejers.

[@JayTemple]

The other interesting thing about Nigeria's name is that, unlike most other English place names that end in -ia, the French name doesn't end in -ie. It's Nigeria, and where most -ie's are feminine, Nigeria is masculine.

[@mixererunio1757]

[REDACTED]

[@Pining_for_the_fjords]

To quote The Onion: Not only are Nigeria and Niger different countries, they are spelt differently.

[@joanignasi91]

Terms that end with ia in english tend to end with ie in french like Nigeria is called Nigerie in french

[@jynxie17]

Hiiiiii! I love your videos! Keep up the good work

[@maticonba]

Love all this content man. Keep it up!

[@im0rtalpunk]

In French -ie like you’ve shortly shown in the video (Bulgarie, Roumanie, Californie) is the equivalent of -ia which is Latin I believe. French tend to not end use -a on the end of a word where Latin and later Spanish and Italian do for example Maria in Spanish becomes Marie in French they change everything or almost to -e. Also note that in Dutch the -ia suffix becomes -ië

[@_Arindam.]

How Indonesia is named after Indus river?

[@cameron4622]

Nice video. Very cool

[@fabulousauruspeks7010]

New Caledonia is a French overseas territory, though its called "Nouvelle-Calédonie" in French.

[@Felishamois]

-ia is -ie in french. So it would be Nigérie if the suffix had been applied... just like Algérie, Picardie, Somalie, Coulibalie, Frénésie, Sidonie, Ravepartie and the list goes on.

[@tysonl.taylor-gerstner1558]

Latin -ia is rendered in French as ie Patagonie, Francie (Frankia, as in East and West), Anatolie, Lusitanie In Southern French this final -e is pronounced as a sort of schwa. So basically these all end in -ia, they just changed the spelling. -cia, is often reduce to -ce France [Spanish/Italian, Francia, though it is palatalized in italian making it somehow "between" (Southern)French and Spanish...], -sia to -se (ze), Frisia (and its modern descendant Friesland) = La Frise (thus, freeze, as you will do if you live there in the winter).

[@risshiss]

@name explain can you do one about the Guinea's? Please! Thanks anyway if your reading!

[@bondthefifth]

I don't think Indonesia is called Indonesia because the Indus river. I think it's more influenced by the Colonial Dutch who called Indonesia by the name of East India (Oost Indische)

[@khaledbouzit2682]

some countries end with ''ie'' like Italie, Géorgie, Arménie, Albanie, Serbie, Mongolie, Australie, Indonésie, Malaysie, Namibie, Gambie… and there is alson some of french regions with this 'ie' like Picardie, Normandie

[@TaiFerret]

I seriously thought it was named after the skin colour of the people.

[@Vuldo]

*insert n-word joke here*

[@nizam8921]

What's the connection? A French Connection. Ok, that joke drowned, I'll see myself out.

[@magnushelin007]

That joke was fine Nidzam :-)

[@Oddity2994]

Dude chill out you have a limit on those passes

[@laurarussell9526]

It was one of my ancestors that helped the British name Nigeria , and yes she named it after the river that flows through it.

[@vladimerk.8238]

In Georgian, we pronounce Niger as the n-word, hard r version, and Nigeria the same as Niger, but with an -ia suffix. It is somewhat alright because we have different words for black people, preferably, შავგრემანი (Shahv-greh-mahn-ee)

[@stikupartist3698]

You're country sounds retarded.

[@belstar1128]

Your country is racist and should be invaded

[@mixtapemania6769]

Negar is a word in Spanish

[@rolandmasa2956]

budapest and bucharest?

[@jossecreverdin4335]

excellent job. :)

[@Richard_Nickerson]

In a language video, I think it would be relevant to mention that E in French is pronounced as A in English. You show that essentially every instance of -ia becomes -ie in French, so you should just take -ie as being the exact same as -ia...

[@jenko6575]

Can you make a video about Luxembourg

[@faboomkomapper]

KZbin: Somebody's about to be demonetized!

[@gigglysamentz2021]

In French you get "-ia" in the conjugation of verbs, eg "cria" (screamed) and "lia" (bound) Latin words as well eg Brugmansia Countries probably not, but cities or regions may finish in -ia... Can't think of any XD

[@orphan961]

I never thought about how similar these names were until now

[@matijaasler6981]

Good video

[@jonathanmitchell2040]

The Latin suffix "-ia" became "-ie" in French, which is why it disappears in French place names. English partially inherited this trait too (and modified it slightly), which is why we speak of Italy, Hungary, Germany, etc. instead of Italia, Hungaria, Germania, etc.

[@lupohutchington269]

In spanish we Say Italia ,Hungria , Germania(Roman province)

[@rustictango6933]

In Ukrainian Niger is pronounced phonetically (as in,each letter corresponds to a single sound).The problem is that ніґер(niger/sounds as neegar) as a word literally means a negro/racial slur. As a child it always baffled me why would a country use such a word for its name,some goes for Nigeria.

[@dg-hughes]

Here is south-eastern Canada there was Acadia not a country but it is associated with French language. It is pretty much what the Maritimes are today the provinces of NB, NS and PEI. Although it isn't really an "-ia" word since it isn't pronounced, I believe it is pronounced "A-ca-dee"since most French words ending in vowels do not pronounce the vowel.

[@williammakupa5896]

In one of the Africa history books I read in secondary school, there is a suggestion that Lord Lugard's wife was the one who came up with the name Nigeria.

[@isaachp9673]

HOW ABOUT BENIN REPUBLIC AND BENIN CITY THE CAPITAL OF EDO STATE OF NIGERIA

[@gachacasperjohn7958]

People in Nigeria calls themselves Nigerian People in Niger calls themselves... Nigerian...

[@ugwuanyicollins6136]

Nigeriens

[@nzubechukwu]

I’m half Nigerian

[@gmann]

French place with -ia: New Caledonia

[@Gameflyer001]

Yeah, but in French, the name is Nouvelle Caledonie I believe.

[@shreyarajani17]

Cool

[@heronimousbrapson863]

Okanagan river (Canada); Okanogan river (USA). Kootenay river (Canada); Kootenai river (USA).

[@nolader28]

The flippin' nword lmao

[@Thisguy152]

In the pacific you have the former French colonies of New Caledonia and French Polynesia.

[@sohopedeco]

Nouvelle Calédonie and Polynésie though.

[@Zerohhhd]

Did you do this video because of Drew Binsky

[@TheMuddySea]

Not many French names use the "ia" suffix, but many use the French equivalent of "ie". For example, just to the north, Algeria, in French is l'Algérie.

[@TheMuddySea]

Also, Nigeria in French is Nigeria 😉

[@tocov]

OOOHHHHH BOY. He went there.

[@joard5156]

Hi

[@SteinGauslaaStrindhaug]

Hmm I thought "Niger" rhymed with "tiger". There's even a limerick where it's used to rhyme that way.... Though come to think about it: tigers in Africa? Or maybe tiger is pronounced "teejehr" in that limerick...

[@afganjabrailov2472]

Should be renamed to N-word and N-wordia. Or Jogger and Joggeria.

[@theillegalseagull6838]

Didn't France occupy Algeria? Or was it Libya?

[@roseashkiiii4361]

Fun fact in Nigeria the river is called ( Nine jer ) not ( Nee jer )

[@hampterhamster]

The forbidden country name

[@rnnpti8886]

Great 👍

[@meryemkbm]

damn the thumbnail had me confused for a second

[@oscardaggberg7737]

#Things you learned in primary school 👍 good vid do🤘

[@jjc5475]

please make a dark mode version of your videos.

[@wannabehistorian371]

Didn’t you already sort of cover these two?

[@syn8939]

Whoa whoa whoa what we got here?

[@simonphamandcompany]

Nobody: The comment section: Did he just said the N word?

[@hoseja]

MRS. OBAMA GET DOWN!!

[@foxslifts]

Please do one of Moldova and Mongolia

[@danielbickford3458]

As for most of these I blame Europe