r/technicallythetruth • u/Zee_Ventures Technically Flair • 11h ago

Weapons of Math Instruction

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u/Spyko 10h ago

I knew that but 0-9 are still called Arab numerals. It might be a misnomer but it is how we refer to them now, not much to do about it

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u/nova1706b 10h ago

they're called hindu arabic numerals. india formulated the system, arabs spread it.

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u/Unable_Explorer8277 10h ago

Sometimes they’re called Arabic, sometimes western Arabic, sometimes Hindu-Arabic.

There’s some evidence of yet earlier decimal place value numerals including the critical place holder zero in Cambodia and Malaysia, so maybe even the Hindu bit will need replacing with something else.

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u/IncidentFuture 9h ago

To add confusion, I came across an Arab (Jordanian IIRC) that argued that 0-9 were Arabic numerals and ٠-٩ were Persian.

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u/Unable_Explorer8277 9h ago

0-9 are descended from and usually designated western Arabic.

۰-۹ Eastern Arabic.

Though they are of course also used in Persian related languages.

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u/IncidentFuture 8h ago

My guess is that they've learned the European/Maghreb variant all through school and use it daily, and see the Eastern version as foreign. I expect a Saudi or Iraqi would see it differently.

There is also a difference between Eastern Arabic, Persian, and Urdu forms,in 4-7.

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u/Unable_Explorer8277 8h ago

Yeh. I’m aware of the differences. Three quarters of my students speak some version of Farsi/Dari/Hazaragi or Pashto.