Below each letter is a number in Arabic. Arabic numerals: who invented them? What do Arabic numerals look like?

They are simpler and more convenient to use; all civilized states have been using them for calculations for several centuries. Scientists still argue about their origin today. Many of them consider the name “Arabic numerals” to be a consequence of a historical error and claim that their homeland is India.

A brief excursion into history

When and where did Arabic numerals originate? The history of their appearance remains a mystery today. Characteristic symbols are found in documents dating back to the 4th century, compiled in India.

The Indian version of their origin has been considered the main one since the 18th century. Russian orientalist Kera for a long time I found out who invented numerical symbols, and came to the conclusion that they were invented not just anywhere, but in India.

This hypothesis is supported by the peculiarities of writing the characters - from left to right. In Arabic they are written from right to left. There is a second proof of the Indian origin of numbers - “The Book of Indian Accounting,” written by the famous medieval mathematician Abu Musa al-Khwarizmi.

The scientist was born in 783 and died in 850. In his treatise, Abu Musa described in detail the numbers and the decimal system. His work has partially survived to this day, but from the name it is already clear who created the existing number system.

Further research on this topic states that the number signs originate from the Indian Devangari alphabet and correspond to the style of the initial letters of numerals in Sanskrit.

There is another explanation, according to which the indicated signs are segments connected to each other at right angles. Quantity formed angles corresponded to one, two and further down the line.

Zero

Zero did not have a single angle, but it itself acquired its full functions later than the other signs of the number series. In Europe, the symbol "0" was not used until the 12th century, although such attempts were made in prehistoric times.

The first written evidence of the use of a sign reminiscent of a modern zero was discovered in the territory of Babylon. According to experts, the documents date back to the 3rd-2nd millennia BC. At that time, “0” was not used as an independent number - only as an auxiliary sign to identify tens, hundreds and thousands.

The introduction of zero, also attributed to an Indian mathematician, was a breakthrough and gave rise to positional notation of numbers.

Conquest of Europe

In the Middle Ages, Europeans used Roman calculus, although they were in contact with Arabic and African countries and have probably heard messages on the topic of Arabic numerals.

In their current spelling, they originated in the North African city of Bijan, near Algeria. This is the merit of the famous mathematician Leonardo of Pisa, better known under the pseudonym Fibonacci. He is the author of the modern digital system and has largely contributed to its popularization and dissemination throughout the world.

Europeans were introduced to new numerical signs by another scientist, Herbert of Aurillac. This happened at the end of the 10th century in Spain. The Europeans resisted and did not accept the “know-how” for a long time.

Almost no one used them in everyday life, although university students studied the Arabic number system. What is the reason for the everyday suspicion of citizens?

The explanation is simple - Europeans were confused by the ease of writing symbols and the ability to quickly correct 1 to 7, add a second number to the front or back. And this is already a high risk of fraud. The authorities of Florence went so far as to prohibit officials and citizens from using Indian accounts at work and at home - this happened in 1299. It took Europeans more than a century and a half to appreciate its advantages and abandon the Roman system.

Russian account

In Russia, the Old Church Slavonic number system was used, and the transition to Arabic numerals took place in the 18th century, during the reign of Peter the Great.

The transition to a positional digital system took place on the basis of a royal decree. Thus, Russia became one of the first states to officially introduce Arabic numerals into everyday use.

Modernity

IN modern world Speed ​​of typing and writing is important, so users in most countries prefer Arabic numerals of Indian origin. Ease of writing is not the only advantage. A serious plus is the positionality of the system, in which the value of a number depends on the position of the signs. Mathematicians consider it more perfect and simpler.

Yet there is no mistake in the Arabic origin of the numerical symbols. In this case, it is not so important where they were invented, because the great discovery of Indian scientists was improved, adapted and disseminated throughout the civilized world by their Arab colleagues.

In conclusion, here are two interesting facts. The noun "digit" is translated from Arabic as “0” - this is what later all numerical signs began to be called.

Try writing "0" in Roman numerals. It won't work because the Roman zero doesn't exist.

To all people with early childhood Familiar with the numbers used to count objects. There are only ten of them: from 0 to 9. That is why the number system is called decimal. Using them you can write down absolutely any number.

For thousands of years, people have used their fingers to mark numbers. Today, the decimal system is used everywhere: to measure time, when selling and buying something, in various calculations. Each person has his own numbers, for example, in his passport, on a credit card.

By milestones of history

People are so accustomed to numbers that they don’t even think about their importance in life. Probably many have heard that the numbers that are used are called Arabic. Some were taught this at school, while others learned it by accident. So why are the numbers called Arabic? What is their story?

And it is very confusing. There are no reliably accurate facts about their origin. It is known for sure that it is worth thanking the ancient astronomers. Because of them and their calculations, people today have numbers. Astronomers from India, somewhere between the 2nd and 6th centuries, became acquainted with the knowledge of their Greek colleagues. From there the sexagesimal and round zero were taken. Greek was then combined with the Chinese decimal system. The Hindus began to denote numbers with one sign, and their method quickly spread throughout Europe.

Why are numbers called Arabic?

From the eighth to the thirteenth centuries, Eastern civilization actively developed. This was especially noticeable in the field of science. Great attention was paid to mathematics and astronomy. That is, accuracy was held in high esteem. Throughout the Middle East, the city of Baghdad was considered the main center of science and culture. And all because it was geographically very advantageous. The Arabs did not hesitate to take advantage of this and actively adopted many useful things from Asia and Europe. Baghdad often gathered prominent scientists from these continents, who passed on experience and knowledge to each other and talked about their discoveries. At the same time, the Indians and Chinese used their own number systems, which consisted of only ten characters.

It wasn't invented by the Arabs. They simply highly appreciated their advantages compared to the Roman and Greek systems, which were considered the most advanced in the world at that time. But it is much more convenient to display indefinitely with only ten characters. The main advantage of Arabic numerals is not the ease of writing, but the system itself, since it is positional. That is, the position of the digit affects the value of the number. This is how people define units, tens, hundreds, thousands, and so on. It is not surprising that Europeans also took this into account and adopted Arabic numerals. What wise scientists there were in the East! Today this seems very surprising.

Writing

What do Arabic numerals look like? Previously, they were composed of broken lines, where the number of angles was compared with the size of the sign. Most likely, Arab mathematicians expressed the idea that it was possible to associate the number of angles with the numerical value of a digit. If you look at the ancient spelling, you can see how big the Arabic numerals are. What kind of abilities did scientists have in such ancient times?

So, zero has no angles when written. The unit includes only one acute angle. The deuce contains a pair of acute angles. A three has three corners. Its correct Arabic spelling is obtained by drawing the postal code on envelopes. The quad includes four corners, the last of which creates the tail. The five has five right angles, and the six, respectively, has six. With the correct old spelling, seven has seven corners. Eight - out of eight. And nine, it’s not hard to guess, is out of nine. That is why the numbers are called Arabic: they invented the original style.

Hypotheses

Today there is no clear opinion about the formation of the writing of Arabic numerals. No scientist knows why certain numbers look the way they do and not some other way. What were ancient scientists guided by when giving numbers shapes? One of the most plausible hypotheses is the one with the number of angles.

Of course, over time, all the angles of the numbers were smoothed out, they gradually acquired the familiar modern man appearance And for a huge number of years, Arabic numerals around the world have been used to denote numbers. It's amazing that just ten characters can convey unimaginably large meanings.

Results

Another answer to the question of why numbers are called Arabic is the fact that the word “number” itself is also of Arabic origin. Mathematicians translated the Hindu word “sunya” into their native language and it turned out “sifr”, which is already similar to what is pronounced today.

This is all that is known about why the numbers are called Arabic. Perhaps modern scientists will still make some discoveries in this regard and shed light on their occurrence. In the meantime, people are content with only this information.

Alphabetical Abjadia
Armenian
Aryabhata
Cyrillic Greek
Ethiopian
Jewish
Akshara-sankhya Other Babylonian
Egyptian
Etruscan
Roman
Danube Attic
Kipu
Mayan
Aegean
KPPU symbols Positional , , , , , , , , , , Nega-positional Symmetrical Mixed systems Fibonacci Non-positional Unit (unary)

Arabic numerals- traditional name for a set of ten characters: 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ; now used in most countries to write numbers in the decimal system.

Story

Arabic and Indo-Arabic numerals are modified styles Indian numerals, adapted to Arabic writing.

The Indian notation system was widely popularized by the scientist Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn Musa Al-Khwarizmi, author of the famous work “Kitab al-jabr wa-l-muqabala”, from the name of which the term “algebra” was derived. Al-Khwarizmi wrote a book “On Indian Counting”, which contributed to the popularization of the decimal positional system of recording numbers throughout the Caliphate, right up to Muslim Spain. Vigilan Codex contains the first mention and depiction of Arabic numerals (other than zero) in Western Europe. They appeared through the Moors in Spain around 900.

Arabic numerals used in Arab countries Africa (except Egypt)	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Indo-Arabic numerals used in Arab Asian countries and Egypt	٠	١	٢	٣	٤	٥	٦	٧	٨	٩
Persian numerals	۰	۱	۲	۳	۴	۵	۶	۷	۸	۹
Indian numerals (in Devanagari script) used in India	०	१	२	३	४	५	६	७	८	९
Numbers in Gujarati script	૦	૧	૨	૩	૪	૫	૬	૭	૮	૯
Numbers in Gurmukhi script	੦	੧	੨	੩	੪	੫	੬	੭	੮	੯
Chinese characters corresponding to numbers		一	二	三	四	五	六	七	八	九
Numbers in Bengali script	০	১	২	৩	৪	৫	৬	৭	৮	৯
Numbers in Oriya letter	୦	୧	୨	୩	୪	୫	୬	୭	୮	୯
Numbers in Telugu writing	౦	౧	౨	౩	౪	౫	౬	౭	౮	౯
Numbers in Kannada writing	೦	೧	೨	೩	೪	೫	೬	೭	೮	೯
Numbers in Malayalam writing	൦	൧	൨	൩	൪	൫	൬	൭	൮	൯
Numbers in Tamil script	೦	௧	௨	௩	௪	௫	௬	௭	௮	௯
Numbers in Tibetan script	༠	༡	༢	༣	༤	༥	༦	༧	༨	༩
Numbers in Burmese script	၀	၁	၂	၃	၄	၅	၆	၇	၈	၉
Numbers in Thai writing	๐	๑	๒	๓	๔	๕	๖	๗	๘	๙
Numbers in Khmer writing	០	១	២	៣	៤	៥	៦	៧	៨	៩
Numbers in Lao writing	໐	໑	໒	໓	໔	໕	໖	໗	໘	໙

The name “Arabic numerals” was formed historically, due to the fact that it was the Arabs who spread the decimal positional number system. The numbers used in Arab countries are very different in design from those used in European countries.

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Notes

Links

• // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
• - translator of national characters of Arabic and other numbers
• J. J. O"Connor, E. F. Robertson. . MacTutor History of Mathematics archive. School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews, Scotland.

Reviews Writing Arabic alphabet Letters Periodization Varieties Academic Calligraphy Linguistics

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Mathematics, along with philosophy, is a fundamental discipline on the basis of which the applied sciences were created, which gave us space flights, complex operations with the human body, communication via radio and electromagnetic waves and much more. Since ancient times, mathematics as such has developed, starting with the most primitive head counting livestock through notches and sticks, and increasing to a complex level of astronomical calculations and the creation of functional mechanisms. One of important aspects development of mathematics was a counting system. After all, a lot depends on it: on the convenience of recording large numbers, to some of the revolutionary concepts that Arabic numerals introduced. But this will be discussed below.

Origin of Arabic numerals

It would seem that there is no intrigue here, and the answer is already in the title. Well, what is there to think about, what people invented Arabic numerals? Of course Arabs! However, not everything is as simple as it seems at first glance. Today we call them that because it was the Arabs who introduced Europeans to such recordings. In the Middle Ages, this people also gave the world many outstanding scientists, thinkers and poets. However, they were not the ones who created Arabic numerals. The history of this calculation is much older than the Arab civilization itself, and it lies further in the East, in India. It was here, in a mysterious land that has always been shrouded in the West in an aura of fabulousness and fantasy, that Arabic numerals were invented. It is not known exactly when exactly this happened, but it has been proven that no later than the 5th century AD. In this country they first began to be used, and only several centuries later a convenient recording system was borrowed by the mathematicians of the Caliphate. In this state they were first popularized by the scientist al-Khwarizmi in the first half of the 9th century. Initially, Indian numerals had angular shapes. According to one version, each of them had the same number of angles as they nominally indicated. This can be easily seen in the first figure. However, over time, the need to adhere to a strict number of angles disappeared. And among the Arabs, they were completely adapted to the local script and acquired rounded shapes. The new popular notation of calculus began to rapidly conquer the Muslim world. And already around the year 900, the Spaniards first became acquainted with it through the Pyrenean Moors. The close ties between Christian Barcelona and Arab Cordoba contributed to the speedy adoption of the convenient system by Europeans. And soon Indian numbers conquered the entire continent.

Arabic numbers and their meaning

TO today The Indian recording system has almost completely supplanted all once competing ones. The Arabs, who wrote alphabetic meanings before her, abandoned this method. Roman numerals are still used, but rather as a tribute to tradition in some notations. Arabic numerals have completely gained serious positions. In addition to the fact that the system is simply convenient because it contains only ten digits - from zero to nine, it is also laconic. However, the most important concept that came to Europe with Indian numerals is the concept of zero, which made it possible to denote what is not there.

In contact with

We are all accustomed to the fact that at school children are told about how modern numbers appeared. That, they say, this is a set of independent signs that came to us from the Arabs, and they, they say, do not use them, because preferred Indian digital heritage. Who will check the axiom? The Earth revolves around the Sun, the numbers are Arabic, period... ...no, let's check it out!

How were numbers depicted in ancient times?

How will we check? Let's see how numbers were written down in ancient times (deep, very deep). Let's open old texts where, in theory, there should be numbers. Where will we watch? Let's look at old biblical and Koranic manuscripts and, for fun, in ancient Slavic, Arabic and Hebrew. Surprisingly, everywhere the numbers are represented by the first nine letters of the corresponding alphabets. I wonder what is the oldest alphabet? . Who is the legal successor? . What language has been continuous since then? . Let's compare each of the nine modern digits with the first nine letters of the Phoenician, Hebrew and (for the purity of the experiment) Arabic alphabets.

Comparison of Semitic letters and modern numbers

1 corresponds to the first letter of the alphabets:

• Phoenician -
• Hebrew - א or capital -
• Arabic- or

What do we see? The vertical part of the Phoenician letter in the Hebrew alphabet tilted to the left (in the Hebrew alphabet to the right). The horizontal frame has changed: it has become a support on the left and raised on the right, and in the copybook it has become a bracket to the right of the vertical line. In the Arabic alphabet, the slant to the left has become smaller, almost invisible, and the marking has gone into the hamza, which is placed above or (less often) below the alif. In all three cases the unit is clearly visible: a vertical line and, as a rule, a beak (attachment) on the left. The modern beak may be spelled longer (Anglo-American spelling) or shorter (for example, Russian spelling) or absent altogether. Conclusion: number 1 is a modified Semitic (Phoenician, Hebrew, Arabic) letter aleph. 2 corresponds to the second letter (ba) of the alphabets:

• Phoenician -

• Hebrew - ב or capital -
• Arabic -

What do we see? Formation in Phoenician, evolution in Hebrew and decline (overturning) in the Arabic alphabets of the upper part of the letter, similar to the upper part of the number 2. The base of the letters was mirrored, which happens when moving from writing from right to left to writing from left to right. Conclusion: number 2 is a modified Semitic (primarily Phoenician and Hebrew) letter bet. 3 corresponds to the third letter (jim) of the alphabets:

• Phoenician -

• Arabic -

What do we see? The Phoenician letter begins to form top part threes, in Hebrew the middle part is formed, and in Arabic, taking into account mirroring, the lower part is formed. Conclusion: the number 3 is a modified Semitic (Phoenician, Hebrew and Arabic) letter Gimel (jim). 4 corresponds to the fourth letter (dal) of the alphabets:

• Phoenician -

• Hebrew - or capital -
• Arabic -

What do we see? The bottom side of the Phoenician letter triangle rises up in the Hebrew letter and almost merges with the top, creating a bulge or protrusion. The vertical side remains in place. The capital Hebrew letter is especially similar to the number four if you look at its mirror image. The intermediate stage, which may have existed at some point, is the spitting image of the four. The Arabic letter, a smoothed spelling of the Hebrew, is unlikely to have seriously influenced the spelling of the four. Conclusion: the number 4 is a modified Semitic (primarily Phoenician and Hebrew) letter Dalet. 5 corresponds to the fifth letter (ha) of the alphabets:

• Phoenician -

• Hebrew - ה or capital -
• Arabic -

What do we see? If you turn the Phoenician and Hebrew letters upside down, a peak of five is formed on top, and the middle and lower parts turn into a rounding, which is fixed in the Arabic letter. Conclusion: the number 5 is a modified Semitic (Phoenician, Hebrew and Arabic) letter Hey. 6 corresponds to the sixth letter (ua) of the alphabets:

• Phoenician -

• Hebrew - ו
• Arabic -

What do we see? In Phoenician, one of the visors goes away, and the vertical line bends; in Hebrew, the vertical line bends, the letter is reversed. It's the same in Arabic. Conclusion: the number 6 is a modified Semitic (Phoenician, Hebrew and Arabic) letter vav. 7 corresponds to the seventh letter (zai) of the alphabets:

• Phoenician -

• Hebrew -
• Arabic -

What do we see? The base of the Phoenician letter disappears, the visor moves to the left. As a result, why not seven? Conclusion: the number 7 is a modified Semitic (Phoenician, Hebrew and Arabic) letter zayn (zay). 8 corresponds to the eighth letter (ha) of the alphabets:

• Phoenician -

• Arabic -

What do we see? The Phoenician letter is very similar, the Hebrew one has lost the base, and the Arabic one has lost the top. Conclusion: the number 8 is a modified Semitic (Phoenician, Hebrew and Arabic) letter het (ha). 9 corresponds to the eighth letter (ta) of the alphabets:

• Phoenician -

• Hebrew - and capital -
• Arabic - or

What do we see? The Phoenician letter includes a nine in its image. Everything is further simplified in the Hebrew letter, which, if turned slightly counterclockwise, reveals a nine. In an Arabic letter, under a similar condition, the nine is also visible. Conclusion: the number 9 is a modified Semitic (Phoenician, Hebrew and Arabic) letter tet (ta).

General conclusion

1. Numbers are not unique characters.
2. They come from the Middle East from Semitic languages ​​and are derived from the first nine letters of the major alphabets: Phoenician, Hebrew and Arabic.
3. It seems to me that it would be correct to call them Phoenician numerals.

Instead of a conclusion

Serious work has been done, a great job has been done, as my grandmother said. Among the Beatles' songs, by the way, she loved the song "All together now", which perfectly describes the topic of today's research. Let's listen and watch.

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"Arabic numerals" - Wikipedia article

We must be critical!

“Arabic numerals are the traditional name for a set of ten characters: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9; now used in most countries to write numbers in decimal system Reckoning.

Indian numerals arose in India no later than the 5th century. At the same time, the concept of zero (shunya) was discovered and formalized, which made it possible to move on to positional notation of numbers.

Arabic and Indo-Arabic numerals are modified styles of Indian numerals adapted to Arabic writing.

The Indian notation system was widely popularized by the scientist al-Khwarizmi, the author of the famous work “Kitab al-jabr wa-l-muqabala”, from the name of which the term “algebra” was derived. Al-Khorezmi wrote the book “On Indian Counting,” which contributed to the popularization of the decimal positional system for recording numbers throughout the Caliphate, right up to Muslim Spain. The Vigilan Codex contains the first mention and depiction of Arabic numerals (other than zero) in Western Europe. They appeared through the Moors in Spain around 900.

Arabic numerals became known to Europeans in the 10th century. Thanks to the close ties between Christian Barcelona (Barcelona County) and Muslim Córdoba (Cordoba Caliphate), Sylvester II (Pope from 999 to 1003) had access to scientific information, which no one had in Europe at that time. In particular, he was one of the first among Europeans to become acquainted with Arabic numerals, understood the convenience of their use compared to Roman numerals, and began to promote their introduction into European science. In the 12th century. Al-Khorezmi’s book “On Indian Accounting” was translated into Latin language and played a very important role in the development of European arithmetic and the introduction of Indo-Arabic numerals.”