LESSON 1 CHARACTERISTICS OF MATHEMATICAL LANGUAGE

From the activity above, you were challenged in answering the situation because the
language used is not familiar with you. This explains the significant role of language in
communication. Communication would not be a chaos if every people speak common language.

Language is a way of in which people expressed their idea about something. Language
is a system of communication common to every locality, organization and disciplines. Language,
a system of conventional spoken, manual (signed), or written symbols by means of which
human beings, as members of a social group and participants in its culture, express themselves.
The functions of language include communication, the expression of identity, play, imaginative
expression, and emotional release. (Britain. com) In the same note, Dictionary.com, defines it
as a body of words and the systems for their use common to a people who are of the same
community or nation, the same geographical area, or the same cultural tradition. Thus, in short,
it is a tool used in communication that comprises symbols and sound be it in written or spoken.
It is the system of communication common to a group or accepted within the group.

On a further note, language is invented or developed to communicate ideas to others or

used to transmit information we want to convey. It is also the tool to understand the expressed
ideas and emotions of others. Language is used as identity of individual in terms of their
ethnicity and geographical locations. Language is a tool that unifies people. This plays a vital
role in maintaining peace and cooperation among individuals.

Intuitively, language is a set of symbols and sound used to communicate ideas through
written or spoken form. The English language for instance, used the English alphabet to
organized words and sentences applying conventional rules. On similar note, mathematics is
considered language. It is a symbolic language. For many thousand years ago, mathematicians
had developed spoken and written natural language that are highly efficient and effective in for
expressing mathematical language. Centuries passed, the symbolic system of Mathematics has
evolved a lot and become more complex in this present-day scenario. Mathematics is a
language because we can write something about it through number, constant and variables and
we can do something about applying it processes like addition, subtraction, multiplication and
division. Similar to our language, mathematics is composed of structural rules governing the
use of symbols of mathematical object of interest.

The symbol system of Mathematics is distinct from that of human language. Notably,
symbols in mathematical languages include the counting numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and
9. In the mathematics conventions, we represent nothing as zero or “0”. Be it in word or in
symbol the idea means the same. Moreover, there are lots of symbol in mathematics and most
are used as precise representation in shorthand. Memorizing and remembering the symbolic
system of mathematical language will lead us to better understanding of its rigors.
 The system of mathematical language is used to communicate mathematical ideas. It
consists of highly technical or mathematical term which is unique from the other languages.
The symbolic system is used to express ideas using the grammatical conventions that are
uncommon to mathematical discourse, supplemented by highly specialized notations for
mathematical formulas. Mathematics has its own grammar different from that of the English
language. The uniqueness of the mathematical language makes it as a universal language.

The language of mathematics is constructed to be precise, concise and powerful. The

discreteness of this language conveys that it consists of minimal units. Its grammar tells that
the language consists of rules and patterns to arrange units and productivity shows that
language can create totally novel statements that could be understood by all. Moreover, its
displacement reveals that language can convey imaginary, distant, past, present and future
statements.

Mathematics is a precise language. Precision means it is requiring the culture of

correctness every time. Definitions and limits must be clearly stated and distinct from each
other. Though, concepts and ideas in Math was developed informally yet Math is done formally,
with appropriate and enough condition stated up front and restricting the discussion to a
particular class of objects.

Mathematics is language in addition must be concise or it must show simplicity. Ideas

expressed must be conveyed briefly. This characteristic is a strong part of the culture in
mathematical language. Further, conciseness means that one can express long expositions or
sentences briefly.

Finally, mathematics language must also be a powerful language. Powerfulness of the

language means that we can clearly and ably express complex thoughts with relative ease. The
abstraction on Mathematics is the desire to unify diverse instances under a single conceptual
framework and allows easier penetration of the subject and the development of more powerful
methods.

One of the famous lines of Galileo states that Mathematics is the language in which God
has written the universe. It can be attributed that mathematics is a universal language since the
cornerstones and principles of Mathematics is known everywhere around the world.