International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) issues 2-letter, 3-letter and numeric codes. Uses include internet domains (though some exceptions e.g. United Kingdom is .UK and not .GB) and postal service.
Isn't the local name "Al-Jazair"? Even so, Dzayer does not sound like Jazair. Maybe some French or other Westerner got confused in the translation of phonetics?
Transliteration has a range of interpretations, depending on what language you speak (this goes both ways, so someone can be a native Arabic speaker transliterating into another language, or *not* a native speaker and transliterating from Arabic into their own language). It also depends on the extent to which transliteration has been standardised (e.g. romanji for Japanese).
The fun really begins when sounds do not exist in one of the languages in question. In the case of Algeria/Dzayer/Aljazair etc, the letter ج is near English d, z, j, or soft g (e.g. as in 'assuage'); it has regional differences. Dz is one transliteration, as is J or G. ('Al' just means "the" btw, so it's sensibly dropped for the country code; you wouldn't use TH for The United States).
One solution is to just use IPA (international phonetic alphabet) which in this case is d͡ʒ but IPA is not so user-friendly. And don't get me started on English speeling ;)
The IPA would struggle with the same thing though, right? If there are regional differences in pronunciation then people on one side of the country would use a different IPA character from those on the other side.
In standard Arabic it's "Al-Jazeera", but in the local dialects, the "J" sound is pronounced "Dj", like 'Jebel = Djebel" (Mount.), Jazair = Djazaier/Dzaier.
In standard Arabic, it's Al-Jazaaʾir /ʔæl.d͡ʒæzæːʔir/, but it underwent several changes in Algerian Arabic (not necessarily in that specific order):
1. Algerian Arabic generally drops glottal stops /?/ or replaces them with easier sounds → /æl.d͡ʒæzæjr/.
2. Algerian Arabic simplifies the definite article /æl/ into /l/.
3. Algerian Arabic generally drops the first short vowel → /l.d͡ʒzæjr/.
4. Given that "jz" /d͡ʒz/ is hard to pronounce, it is simplified to "dz" → /l.dzæjr/.
5. Now that it begins with "d," the article must be assimilated → /d.dzæjr/.
@redsplat In the Maghreb, transliteration is based on French phonetics; thus, /ʒ/ is rendered as "j" (e.g., Béjaïa, Oujda), and /d͡ʒ/ is rendered as "dj" (e.g., Djurdjura, Djerba). "Z" is only used for /z/, so you will never have "dz" for /d͡ʒ/ or "zh" for /ʒ/.
@Rivvr "Al-Jaziirah" (the island) is the singular form of "Al-Jazaaʾir"; nobody ever calls it that. Standard Arabic actually pronounces ج as /d͡ʒ/, not /ʒ/.
The question about 2nd largest country feels out of place, would be a better quiz if that wasn't there or could be swapped for a different question that is actually about Algeria. Suggest something asking about where Algerians predominantly emigrate to when they leave their country might be a good choice.
I agree, you could ask a question about the Algerian War (Charles de Gaulle, FLN, Évian Accords) or maybe Camus or The Stranger. Also, I was doing research for a quiz just yesterday and learned that Algiers is home to the world's third-largest mosque and the tallest minaret, which could easily be made into a question.
yes agreed - questions on other countries is a real cop out. Not sure the punic one makes much sense either given that territory in Algeria was fairly tangential to the conflict.
More Algeria-specific questions might include rai music, St Augustine and the 250,000-1,500,000 Algerians killed in the war of independence.
Carthiginian territory consisted of all of the northern coasts of Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco as well as southern Spain, Corsica, Sardinia, and part of Sicily. Though..... I don't think there were any battles that took place on the Algerian coast so the question's inclusion is still a bit odd.
Just wondering: is there any logic to the order in which you list the bordering countries? It's not alphabetical and doesn't seem to follow a clockwise progression either...
I could feel my brain muscles squeezing out the name of the series of wars. I only need that brain cell every ten years or so...I always remember them as 'punishing' which helps get me rolling on the name.
i would suggest instead of asking for the percentage you ask ‘what religion do ~99% of the population belong to’ - it actually shows knowledge about algeria rather than just ability to guess a number
Quiz by Denzal.
Coincidence?
The fun really begins when sounds do not exist in one of the languages in question. In the case of Algeria/Dzayer/Aljazair etc, the letter ج is near English d, z, j, or soft g (e.g. as in 'assuage'); it has regional differences. Dz is one transliteration, as is J or G. ('Al' just means "the" btw, so it's sensibly dropped for the country code; you wouldn't use TH for The United States).
One solution is to just use IPA (international phonetic alphabet) which in this case is d͡ʒ but IPA is not so user-friendly. And don't get me started on English speeling ;)
1. Algerian Arabic generally drops glottal stops /?/ or replaces them with easier sounds → /æl.d͡ʒæzæjr/.
2. Algerian Arabic simplifies the definite article /æl/ into /l/.
3. Algerian Arabic generally drops the first short vowel → /l.d͡ʒzæjr/.
4. Given that "jz" /d͡ʒz/ is hard to pronounce, it is simplified to "dz" → /l.dzæjr/.
5. Now that it begins with "d," the article must be assimilated → /d.dzæjr/.
@redsplat In the Maghreb, transliteration is based on French phonetics; thus, /ʒ/ is rendered as "j" (e.g., Béjaïa, Oujda), and /d͡ʒ/ is rendered as "dj" (e.g., Djurdjura, Djerba). "Z" is only used for /z/, so you will never have "dz" for /d͡ʒ/ or "zh" for /ʒ/.
@Rivvr "Al-Jaziirah" (the island) is the singular form of "Al-Jazaaʾir"; nobody ever calls it that. Standard Arabic actually pronounces ج as /d͡ʒ/, not /ʒ/.
PS: I am algerian.
More Algeria-specific questions might include rai music, St Augustine and the 250,000-1,500,000 Algerians killed in the war of independence.