Much as Marika indicates, the term originates from historical sources. The term actually comes from the Latin word for black, niger. John Rolfe first listed a shipment of slaves from Africa to Virginia in 1619 as "nigars." Webster in his early research into lexicons referred to Negroes as "negers." The term niggardly is quite different, and unrelated I would think.
For more information, see Randall Kennedy's book "Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word" from Pantheon, 2002.
FYI: We as African Americans still HATE that term more so, than not.
Darrell M. Newton, Ph.D.
Associate Professor,
The Department of Communication Arts
Salisbury University
269 Fulton Hall
Salisbury, MD 21801
(410) 677-5060 Office
(410) 543-6229 Department
http://faculty.salisbury.edu/~dmnewton/
>>> Marika Sherwood <[log in to unmask]> 08/30/08 10:32 AM >>>
'negra' and 'nigra' were used to describe Africans in 16th century England.
Thought this came from Spanish/Portuguese 'negro', meaning black. I presume
the river was called 'Niger' as it flows through the lands of the Blacks...
Nigeria was coined by the British governor in Lagos when he united it with
the other British-'owned' territories to form one colony.
Marika
|