The designation
modern Arabic mathematical notation is used for a
mathematical notationA mathematical notation is a system of symbolic representations of mathematical objects and ideas. Mathematical notations are used in mathematics and the physical sciences, engineering and economics...
based on the Arabic script that is widely used in the
Arab worldThe Arab World refers to Arabic-speaking countries stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the east, and from the Mediterranean Sea in the north to the Horn of Africa and the Indian Ocean in the southeast...
, especially at pre-university levels of education. Its form is mostly derived from Western notation, but has some notable features that set it apart from its Western counterpart. The most remarkable of those features is the fact that it is written from right to left following the normal direction of the Arabic script.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'Modern Arabic mathematical notation' Start a new discussion about 'Modern Arabic mathematical notation' Answer questions from other users |
The designation
modern Arabic mathematical notation is used for a
mathematical notationA mathematical notation is a system of symbolic representations of mathematical objects and ideas. Mathematical notations are used in mathematics and the physical sciences, engineering and economics...
based on the Arabic script that is widely used in the
Arab worldThe Arab World refers to Arabic-speaking countries stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the east, and from the Mediterranean Sea in the north to the Horn of Africa and the Indian Ocean in the southeast...
, especially at pre-university levels of education. Its form is mostly derived from Western notation, but has some notable features that set it apart from its Western counterpart. The most remarkable of those features is the fact that it is written from right to left following the normal direction of the Arabic script. Other differences include the replacement of the
Latin alphabetThe Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world today. It evolved from the western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, and was initially developed by the ancient Romans to write the Latin language.During the...
letters for symbols with Arabic letters and the use of Arabic names for functions and relations.
Some features of Arabic mathematical notation
- The most remarkable of those features is the fact that it is written from right to left following the normal direction of the Arabic script. Other differences include the replacement of the Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world today. It evolved from the western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, and was initially developed by the ancient Romans to write the Latin language.During the...
letters for symbols with Arabic letters and the use of Arabic names for functions and relations.
- The notation exhibits one of the very few remaining vestiges of non-dotted Arabic scripts, as dots over and under letters are usually omitted.
- Letter cursivity (connectedness) of Arabic is also taken advantage of, in a few cases, to define variables using more than one letter. The most widespread example of this kind of usage is the canonical symbol for the radius of a circle نق , which is written using the two letters nūn
Nun is the fourteenth letter of many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew and Arabic alphabet . It is the third letter in Thaana , pronounced as "noonu"...
and qāfQaf may mean:* Qāf , a letter in the Arabic alphabet.** the Surat Qaf of the Qur'an* Qaf , a letter in the Kazakh, Uzbek, and Abkhaz alphabetsin popular culture:...
. When variable names are juxtaposed (as when expressing multiplication) they are written non-cursively.
Arabic mathematical notation in different regions
The notation differs slightly from region to another. In university-level education most regions use the Western notation.
The notation mainly differs in numeral system used, and in mathematical symbol used
Numeral systems used in Arabic mathematical notation
There are three numeral systems used in right to left mathematical notation.
- "Western Arabic numerals"-sometimes called European-: are used in western Arabic regions (‘‘‘e.g.’’’:Morocco
Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 32 million and an area just under . Its capital is Rabat, and its largest city is Casablanca. Morocco has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean that reaches past the Strait of Gibraltar into the...
)
- "Eastern Arabic numerals
The Eastern Arabic numerals are the symbols used to represent the Hindu-Arabic numeral system in conjunction with the Arabic alphabet in Egypt, Sudan as well as Asian non-Arabic countries, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and parts of India, as well as with the obsolete Ottoman Turkish alphabet...
"are used in middle and eastern Arabic regions (‘‘‘e.g.’’’:EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
,SyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south and Israel to the southwest....
)
- "Eastern Arabic-Indic numerals" are used in Persian
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is widely spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and to some extent in Iraq and Bahrain, and has a status of official language in the first three countries under different names...
and UrduUrdu is a Central Indo-Aryan language of the Indo-Iranian branch, belonging to the Indo-European family of languages. It is one of the two official languages of Pakistan. It is also one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of five Indian states...
speaking regions (e.g.IranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanid period and came into international use from 1935, before which the country was known internationally as Persia...
)
Arabic symbols and mirrored Latin symbols
- Sometimes, The symbols used in Arabic mathematical notation differs according to the region
e.g.
- Sometimes, mirrored Latin symbols are used in Arabic mathematical notation (especially in western Arabic regions)
e.g.
Mathematical constants and unitsA measurement unit is a scalar quantity, defined and adopted by convention, with which any other quantity of the same kind can be compared to express the ratio of the two quantities as a number....
| Description |
Latin |
Arabic |
Notes |
| Euler's number |
|
 |
|
| imaginary unit In mathematics, physics, and engineering, the imaginary unit is denoted by i or the Latin j or the Greek iota...
|
|
 |
|
piPi or π is a mathematical constant whose value is the ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter in Euclidean space; this is the same value as the ratio of a circle's area to the square of its radius. The symbol π was first proposed by the Welsh mathematician William Jones in 1706...
|
|
 |
also in some regions |
radiusIn classical geometry, a radius of a circle or sphere is any line segment from its center to its perimeter. By extension, the radius of a circle or sphere is the length of any such segment, which is half the diameter....
|
|
 |
|
| kilogram The kilogram is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units .[The spelling kilogram is the modern spelling used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures , the U.S...]
|
kg |
 |
In some regions alternative symbols like  or  are used |
gramThe gram , ; symbol g, is a unit of mass.Originally defined as "the absolute weight of a volume of pure water equal to the cube of the hundredth part of a metre, and at the temperature of melting ice" , a gram is now defined as one one-thousandth of the SI base unit, the kilogram, or...
|
g |
 |
|
| meter |
m |
 |
|
| centimeter |
cm |
 |
|
| millimeter |
mm |
 |
|
| kilometer |
km |
 |
also  in some regions |
| second The second , sometimes abbreviated sec., is the name of a unit of time, and is the International System of Units base unit of time...
|
s |
 |
|
| minute A minute is a unit of measurement of time or of angle.The minute is a unit of time equal to 1/60th of an hour or 60 seconds. In the UTC time scale, a minute occasionally has 59 or 61 seconds; see leap second...
|
min |
 |
also  in some regions |
| hour The hour is a unit of time. It is not an SI unit but is accepted for use with the SI.-Definition:In modern usage, an hour is a unit of measurement of time of the duration of 60 minutes, or 3600 seconds...
|
h |
 |
|
| kilometer per hour |
km/h |
 |
|
| degree Celsius |
°C |
 |
also  in some regions as a reference for centigrade |
| degree Fahrenheit |
°F |
 |
|
| millimeters of mercury The torr is a non-SI unit of pressure defined as of a standard atmosphere, chosen to be roughly equal to the fluid pressure exerted by a millimeter of mercury, i.e. a pressure of 1 Torr is approximately equal to 1 mmHg...
|
mmHg |
 |
|
| Ångström The ångström or angstrom is an internationally recognized unit of length equal to 0.1 nanometre or 1 metres. It is named after Anders Jonas Ångström...
|
Å |
 |
|
Sets and number systems
| Description |
Latin |
Arabic |
| Natural numbers |
|
 |
| Integers |
|
 |
| Rational numbers |
|
 |
| Real numbers |
|
 |
| Imaginary numbers |
|
 |
| Complex numbers |
|
 |
| Empty set In mathematics, and more specifically set theory, the empty set is the unique set having no members; its size is zero. Some axiomatic set theories assure that the empty set exists by including an axiom of empty set; in other theories, its existence can be deduced...
|
|
|
| Is an element In mathematics, an element or member of a set is any one of the distinct objects that make up that set.- Sets :Writing A = {1, 2, 3, 4 }, means that the elements of the set A are the numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4. Sets of elements of A, for example {1, 2}, are...
of |
|
|
SubsetIn mathematics, especially in set theory, a set A is a subset of a set B if A is "contained" inside B. Notice that A and B may coincide...
|
|
|
| Superset SuperSet Software was a group founded by friends and former Eyring Research Institute co-workers Drew Major, Dale Neibaur, Kyle Powell and later joined by Mark Hurst...
|
|
|
| Universal set In set theory, a universal set is a set which contains all objects, including itself. The most widely-studied set theory with a universal set is Willard Van Orman Quine’s New Foundations, but Alonzo Church and Arnold Oberschelp also published work on such set theories...
|
|
 |
ArithmeticArithmetic or arithmetics is the oldest and most elementary branch of mathematics, used by almost everyone, for tasks ranging from simple day-to-day counting to advanced science and business calculations, such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division...
and algebraAlgebra is the branch of mathematics concerning the study of the rules of operations and the things which can be constructed from them, including terms, polynomials, equations and algebraic structures...
| Description |
Latin |
Arabic |
Notes |
| Decimal Point |
|
|
a Decimal comma is used |
| Comma A comma is a type of punctuation mark .Comma may also refer to:* Comma , a type of interval in music theory* Comma , a species of butterfly* Comma , a short clause in Greek rhetoric...
|
|
، |
، is used istead of , in Latin notation |
| Percent |
% |
 |
|
PermilleA per mil or per mille is a tenth of a percent or one part per thousand. It is written with the sign ‰ ., which looks like a percent sign with an extra zero at the end...
|
‰ |
 |
|
Is proportional toIn mathematics, two quantities are said to be proportional if they vary in such a way that one of the quantities is a constant multiple of the other, or equivalently if they have a constant ratio.Proportion also refers to the equality of two ratios....
|
|
 |
|
| n th root In mathematics, a root of a number x is any number which, when repeatedly multiplied by itself, eventually yields x:In terms of exponentiation, r is a root of x iffor some positive integer n...
|
|
 |
|
| Logarithm In mathematics, the logarithm of a number to a given base is the power or exponent to which the base must be raised in order to produce the number....
|
|
 |
|
| Logarithm to base b In mathematics, the logarithm of a number to a given base is the power or exponent to which the base must be raised in order to produce the number....
|
|
 |
|
Natural logarithmThe natural logarithm is the logarithm to the base e, where e is an irrational constant approximately equal to 2.718 281828...
|
|
 |
|
| Summation Summation is the addition of a set of numbers; the result is their sum or total. An interim or present total of a summation process is termed the running total. The "numbers" to be summed may be natural numbers, complex numbers, matrices, or still more complicated objects. An infinite sum is a...
|
|
 |
also a mirrored sign  is use in some regions |
| Product In the a mathematics, a product is the result of multiplying, or an expression that identifies factors to be multiplied. The order in real or complex numbers are multiplied has no bearing on the product; this is known as the commutative law of multiplication...
|
|
 |
also a mirrored sign is use in some regions |
factorialIn mathematics, the factorial of a non-negative integer n, denoted by n!, is the product of all positive integers less than or equal to n...
|
|
 |
also  is used in some regions |
| permutations |
|
 |
also .png) is used in some regions as |
| Combinations |
|
 |
also .png) is used in some regions as
and .png) as the binomial coefficientIn mathematics, the binomial coefficient is the coefficient of the x k term in the polynomial expansion of the binomial power n....
|
Trigonometric functions
| Latin |
Arabic |
Notes |
| |
 |
also  is used in some regions (e.g. : Syria) |
| |
 |
also  is used in some regions (e.g. : Syria) |
| |
 |
also  is used in some regions (e.g. : Syria) |
| |
 |
also  is used in some regions (e.g. : Syria) |
| |
 |
|
| |
 |
|
Hyperbolic functions
The letter
is added to the end of a trigonometric functions to express a hyperbolic functions (The same way of the letter
h in the Latin notation)
Inverse trigonometric functions
The notation is the one used in Arabic notation for the inverse functions like:
Inverse hyperbolic functions
CalculusCalculus is a discipline in mathematics focused on limits, functions, derivatives, integrals, and infinite series. This subject constitutes a major part of modern mathematics education. It has two major branches, differential calculus and integral calculus, which are related by the fundamental...
Complex analysis
| Latin |
Arabic |
| |
 |
External links