The Hindu-Arabic Numerals | Page 2

THE QUESTION OF THE INTRODUCTION OF THE
NUMERALS INTO EUROPE BY BOETHIUS 63
VI. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NUMERALS AMONG THE
ARABS 91
VII. THE DEFINITE INTRODUCTION OF THE NUMERALS INTO
EUROPE 99
VIII. THE SPREAD OF THE NUMERALS IN EUROPE 128
INDEX 153
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PRONUNCIATION OF ORIENTAL NAMES
(S) = in Sanskrit names and words; (A) = in Arabic names and words.
B, D, F, G, H, J, L, M, N, P, SH (A), T, TH (A), V, W, X, Z, as in
English.
A, (S) like u in but: thus pandit, pronounced pundit. (A) like a in ask or
in man. [=A], as in father.
C, (S) like ch in church (Italian c in cento).
[D.], [N.], [S.], [T.], (S) d, n, sh, t, made with the tip of the tongue
turned up and back into the dome of the palate. [D.], [S.], [T.], [Z.], (A)
d, s, t, z, made with the tongue spread so that the sounds are produced
largely against the side teeth. Europeans commonly pronounce [D.],
[N.], [S.], [T.], [Z.], both (S) and (A), as simple d, n, sh (S) or s (A), t, z.
[D=] (A), like th in this.
E, (S) as in they. (A) as in bed.
[.G], (A) a voiced consonant formed below the vocal cords; its sound is
compared by some to a g, by others to a guttural r; in Arabic words
adopted into English it is represented by gh (e.g. ghoul), less often r
(e.g. razzia).
H preceded by b, c, t, [t.], etc. does not form a single sound with these
letters, but is a more or less distinct
h sound following them; cf. the
sounds in abhor, boathook, etc., or, more accurately for (S), the
"bhoys" etc. of Irish brogue. H (A) retains its consonant sound at the
end of a word. [H.], (A) an unvoiced consonant formed below the vocal
cords; its sound is sometimes compared to German hard ch, and may be
represented by an h as strong as possible. In Arabic words adopted into
English it is represented by h, e.g. in sahib, hakeem. [H.] (S) is final
consonant h, like final h (A).

I, as in pin. [=I], as in pique.
K, as in kick.
KH, (A) the hard ch of Scotch loch, German ach, especially of German
as pronounced by the Swiss.
[.M], [.N], (S) like French final m or n, nasalizing the preceding vowel.
[N.], see [D.]. Ñ, like ng in singing.
O, (S) as in so. (A) as in obey.
Q, (A) like k (or c) in cook; further back in the mouth than in kick.
R, (S) English r, smooth and untrilled. (A) stronger. [R.], (S) r used as
vowel, as in apron when pronounced aprn and not apern; modern
Hindus say ri, hence our amrita, Krishna, for a-m[r.]ta, K[r.][s.][n.]a.
S, as in same. [S.], see [D.]. ['S], (S) English sh (German sch).
[T.], see [D.].
U, as in put. [=U], as in rule.
Y, as in you.
[Z.], see [D.].
`, (A) a sound kindred to the spiritus lenis (that is, to our ears, the mere
distinct separation of a vowel from the preceding sound, as at the
beginning of a word in German) and to [h.]. The ` is a very distinct
sound in Arabic, but is more nearly represented by the spiritus lenis
than by any sound that we can produce without much special training.
That is, it should be treated as silent, but the sounds that precede and
follow it should not run together. In Arabic words adopted into English
it is treated as silent, e.g. in Arab, amber, Caaba (`Arab, `anbar,
ka`abah).

(A) A final long vowel is shortened before al ('l) or ibn (whose i is then
silent).
Accent: (S) as if Latin; in determining the place of the accent [.m] and
[.n] count as consonants, but h after another consonant does not. (A),
on the last syllable that contains a long vowel or a vowel followed by
two consonants, except that a final long vowel is not ordinarily
accented; if there is no long vowel nor two consecutive consonants, the
accent falls on the first syllable. The words al and ibn are never
accented.
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THE HINDU-ARABIC NUMERALS
CHAPTER I
EARLY IDEAS OF THEIR ORIGIN
It has long been recognized that the common numerals used in daily
life are of comparatively recent origin. The number of systems of
notation employed before the Christian era was about the same as the
number of written languages, and in some cases a single language had
several systems. The Egyptians, for example, had three systems of
writing, with a numerical notation for each; the Greeks had two
well-defined sets of numerals, and the Roman symbols for number