MATHEMATICAL

LANGUAGE
Language
Language is “a systematic
means of communicating by the use of
sounds or conventional symbols”(Chen,
2010, p.353)
Components of Language
 a vocabulary of symbols or words
 a grammar consisting of rules on the use
of these symbols
 a community of people who use and
understand these symbols
 a range of meanings that can be
communicated with these symbols
 Vocabulary

Grammar Mathematics Community

Range of meanings
 Mathematical Language
& Symbols

A. Characteristics

Precise
- be able to make very fine distinctions
Concise
- use symbols to be able to express
more
Powerful
- be able to express complex thoughts
with relative ease
MATHEMATICS
Mathematics is a system of
communication about objects like numbers,
variables, sets, operations, functions and
equations. It is a collection of both symbols
and their meaning shared by a global
community of people who have an interest
in the subject.
Elements of the Mathematical
Language
Like other languages, mathematics
has nouns, pronouns, verbs and sentences. It
has its own vocabulary, grammar, syntax,
synonyms, negations, sentence structure,
paragraph structure, conventions and
abbreviations.
Illustration
Even though the words “noun”, “verb”, or
“pronoun” are not used in Mathematics, the
similarities with the English language can be
observed:
 Nouns could be constants, such as
numbers or expressions with numbers.
 A verb could be the equal sign =, or the
inequality symbols like < or >.
 Pronouns could be variables like x or y.
 Elements of the
Mathematical Language
Mathematics uses many symbols.
There are ten digits (0,1,2,3,…,9), symbols
for operations ( +, −,×,÷), symbols that
represent values (x,y,z,etc.) and many other
special symbols (=, <, ≠, 𝜋 etc.).
Letters often (but not always) have
special uses as follows:
Start of the a,b,c For constants
alphabet (fixed values)
From i to n i,j,k,n Positive
integers(for
counting)
End of the x,y,z For variables
alphabet (unknowns)
Illustration
In the equation 𝑦 = 𝑎𝑥 + 𝑏, it is
assumed that a and b are constants and x is
a variable whose value changes, which in
turn makes the variable y change its value as
well.
 Mathematical Language
6
& Symbols

Noun versus Sentences

ENGLISH

Noun Sentence
(name given to object (must state a complete
of interest thought)

• Person • TRUE:The word “math” has

four letters.
• Place
• FALSE: The word “math” has 5
• Thing letters
• Sometimes True/Sometimes
False: Math is a difficult
subject.
 Mathematical Language
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& Symbols

B. Expressions versus Sentences

MATHEMATICS

Expression Sentence
(name given to (must state a complete
mathematical object of thought)
interest
• Number
• TRUE :1+ 2 =3
• Set
• FALSE: 1+2 =4
• Ordered pair
• ST/SF :x=1
• Average
 Mathematical Language
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& Symbols

B. Conventions in the
Mathematical Language
Ideas Regarding Expressions

Expressions have different

names Example:
5 2 +3 10÷2 (6 - 2) +1 1 +1+ 1 +1+1
Common in solving expressions is to
SIMPLIFY
 Mathematical Language
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& Symbols

What does SIMPLER mean?

Fewer symbols
Fewer operations
Better suited to currentuse
Preferred style/format
 Mathematical Language
10 &Symbols

Mathematical Sentence
A mathematical sentence is the
analogue of an English sentence; it is a
correct assignment of mathematical
symbols that states a complete thought.
 Mathematical Language
11 &Symbols

Ideas regarding Mathematical

sentence
Mathematical Sentences have
verbs and connectives
Truth of Sentences
The notion of truth (the
property of being true or false) is of
fundamental importance in the
mathematical language.
 12

How to decide whether

something is a Sentence?
Read it aloud, and ask yourself the
question: Does it state a complete
thought? If YES, then it is a
sentence.
You may also ask yourself the
question: Does it make sense to ask
about the truth of it?
Exercise 1
Identify the following as either expression
or sentence.
(a)3𝑥 + 7
(b)𝑥 = 2𝑥 − 5
(c) 𝑥 2
(d) 𝑥 2 > 25
 Mathematical Language
13 &Symbols

Activity
2.1.docx
 Mathematical Language
14 &Symbols

The Grammar of Mathematics

It is the structural rules governing the use of

symbols representing mathematical
objects.
Express the following using
mathematical symbols
a. 5 is the square root of 25
b. 5 is less than 10
c. 5 is a prime number
 Mathematical Language
15 &Symbols

Some difficulties in math

language
The word "is" could mean
equality, inequality or membership
in a set
Different uses of a number; to express
quantity (cardinal), to indicate the order
(ordinal), and as a label (nominal)
Mathematical objects may be represented
in many ways, such as sets and functions
The words "and' & "or" means different
from its English use
 Mathematical Language
16 &Symbols

Objects that we use in Math

Numbers (4 operations and properties)
Variables
Operations (unary & binary)
FOUR BASICCONCEPTS:
Sets (relationships, operations, properties)
Relations (Equivalence relations)
Functions ( injective, Surjective, Bijective)
BinaryOperations
 17

ACTIVITY: CONCEPT MAP

NUMBERS AND OPERATIONS
 Mathematical Language
18 &Symbols

Numbers and 4operations

Can you think of any more terms that you

can add to the mind map?
 Mathematical Language
19 &Symbols

Variable
A variable is any letter used to
stand for a mathematical object.
 Mathematical Language
20 &Symbols

Operations (Unary or Binary)

A Unary operation is an operation on a

single element.
Example: negative of 5
multiplicative inverse of 7
A binary operation is an operation that
combines two elements of a set to give a
single element.
e.g. multiplication 3 x 4 =12
 Mathematical Language
21 &Symbols

Sets

Definition of a Set
Methods of naming a set
Properties of Sets
Operation on Sets
Venn Diagram
 22

Solve The Problem using a Venn

Diagram
A history teacher was interested to know about her
class of 42 students who keeps up with current events. She
gathered the following data:
9 students read the newspaper,
18 students listen to the radio,
30 students watch television,
3 students both read newspaper and listen to the radio,
12, students both listen to the radio and watch
television,
6 students both read the newspaper and watch
television, and
2 students read the newspaper, listen to the radio and
watch television.
Organize the data using the Venn Diagram.
 Mathematical Language
24 &Symbols

Relations
A relation is a correspondence between
two things or quantities. It is a set of ordered
pairs such that the set of all first coordinates
of the ordered pairs is called Domain and
the set of all the second coordinates of the
ordered pairs is called Range.
A relation maybe expressed as a statement,
arrow diagram, table, equation, set-builder
notation and graph.
Example: R={(1, 2), (2, 4), (3, 6), (4, 8), (5,10)}
 Mathematical Language
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&Symbols

Types of Relations
1.one - to –one relation
2.one –to –many relation
3. many –to –one relation

An Equivalence Relation has the following properties:

i. Reflexive : 𝑥~𝑥
i. Symmetric :If 𝑥~𝑦 , then y~𝑥.
iii. Transitive :If 𝑥~ 𝑦& y~ 𝑧, then𝑥~ 𝑧.

Show that R ={(1,1), (1,3), (2,2), (3,1), (3,3)) is an

equivalence relation from a set A ={1, 2, 3}.
 Mathematical Language
26 &Symbols

Relations in Language of Math

Grammatical rules for the use of symbols
To use <in a sentence, one should
precede it by a noun and follow it by a
noun.
Other examples of relations are “equals”
and “ is an element of”
It is important when specifying a relation
to be careful about which objects are to
be related.
\ Mathematical Language
27 &Symbols

Functions
A function is a relation such that each
element of the domain is paired with exactly one
element of the range. To denote this relationship,
we use the functional notation:
y =f(x)
where f indicates that a function exists between
variables x and y.
 Mathematical Language
28 &Symbols

The notation f : A → B is used to

denote a function which means that f
is a function with domain A and range
B; f(x) = y means that f transform x
(which must be an element of A) into y
( which must be an element of B)
 Mathematical Language
29 &Symbols

Evaluating Functions
The functional notation y = f(x) allows us to
denote specific values of a function. To
evaluate a function is to substitute the specified
values of the independent variable in the
formula and simplify.
Example:
When f(x) =2x –3, find f(2)
Solution:
f(2) =2(2) –3 =4 – 3
f(2) =1
 Mathematical Language
30 &Symbols

Inverse of a Function
The inverse of a function is another
function that undoes it, and that it undoes.
For example, the function that takes a
number n to n – 5 is the inverse of the function
that takes n to n +5.

What is the inverse of y=2x-1?

 Mathematical Language
31 &Symbols

Binary Operations

A binary operation on a set A is a function

that takes pairs of elements of A and produces
elements of A from them.
We use the symbol *to denote arbitrary
binary operation on a set A.
Four Properties:
1. Commutative x*y =y *x
2. Associative x*(y*z) =(x*y)* z
3. Identity e*x =x*e
4. Inverse x*y =y*x =e
 35

Possible activity:
Video Watching
Math isn't hard_ it's a language _ Randy
Palisoc _TEDxManhattanBeach.mp4
Propositional Calculus
A proposition is a complete declarative
sentence that is either true or false, but not
both.
Illustration
1. Manila is the capital of the Philippines.
2. Shanghai is the capital of China.
3. 1 + 1 = 2
4. 2 + 2 = 3
Illustration
1. Is it time?
2. Pay attention to this.
3. 𝑥 + 1 = 2
4. 𝑥 + 𝑦 = 𝑧
Compound Propositions
Propositions built up by combining
propositions using propositional connectives
are called compound propositions.
Propositional Connectives
A propositional connective is an
operation that combines two propositions
to yield a new one whose truth value
depends only on the truth values of the two
original propositions.
 The propositional connectives ∧,∨
, ۩, ⇒, and ⟺ are called conjunction,
disjunction, exclusive or, implication, and
biconditional respectively.
Example
Let p and q be the propositions “Today is
Friday” and “It is raining today”, respectively.
Find
(a)𝑝 ∧ 𝑞
(b) 𝑝 ∨ 𝑞
(c) 𝑝 ⇒ 𝑞
(d)𝑝 ⇔ 𝑞
Negation
The expression ¬𝑝 is read as
“not p”. The symbol ¬ is called the negation
connective. It should be noted that ¬ is a
unary rather than a binary connective.
Example
Find the negation of the proposition “Today
is Friday.”
Tautology, Contradiction and
Contingency
Tautology
A compound proposition that is always true,
regardless of the truth values of the
propositions that occur in it, is called a
tautology.
Example: 𝑝 ∨ ¬𝑝
Contradiction
A contradiction is a compound proposition
that is always false.

Example: 𝑝 ∧ ¬𝑝
Contingency
Contingency is neither a tautology nor a
contradiction.
Example: ¬(𝑝 ∨ 𝑞)
Logical Equivalent Statements
Logical Equivalent Statements are
statements with the same truth value(s).
Example:
1. Prove that¬(𝑝 ∨ 𝑞) and ¬p ∧ ¬q are
logically equivalent.
Logical Equivalence Laws
Implications
In an implication of the form
𝑝 ⇒ 𝑞, the proposition p is called the
hypothesis (or the antecedent) and the
proposition q is called the conclusion (or
the consequence).

“If p, then q” or “p implies q”

Conditional Statement(Implication): 𝑝 ⇒ 𝑞
Converse Statement: 𝑞 ⇒ 𝑝
Inverse Statement: ¬𝑝 ⇒ ¬𝑞
Contrapositive: ¬𝑞 ⇒ ¬𝑝
Example
Find the converse and the contrapositive of
the implication “If today is Thursday, then I
have a test today.”
Propositional Functions and
Quantifications
A propositional
function(predicate) is a complete declarative
sentence 𝑃 𝑥 that makes a statement
about the variable x. The variable x is called
the argument of 𝑃(𝑥). If x is assigned a
particular value, then 𝑃 𝑥 becomes a
proposition with a definite truth value.
Example
Let 𝑃(𝑥) denote the statement “𝑥 > 3".
What are the truth values of 𝑃 4 and
𝑃 2 ?
 When all variables in a
propositional function are assigned values,
the resulting statement has a truth value.
There is another method to change
propositional functions into propositions
called quantification which maybe universal
or existential.
Universal Quantification
The universal quantification of 𝑃(𝑥) is the
proposition “𝑃 𝑥 is true for all values of x
in the domain of discourse.”
The notation ∀ 𝑥 𝑃(𝑥), read as “For all x,
P(x)” or “For every x, P(x)”, denotes a
universal quantification of x. The domain of
discourse specifies the possible values of
the variable x.
Example
Express the statement “Every student in this
class has studied calculus” as a universal
quantification.
Example
(a) Let P(x) be “𝑥 + 1 > 𝑥". What is the
truth value of ∀ 𝑥 𝑃(𝑥), where the
domain of discourse is the set of real
numbers?
(b) Let Q(x) be “𝑥 < 2". What is the truth
value of ∀ 𝑥 𝑄(𝑥), where the domain of
discourse is the set of rational numbers?
Existential Quantification
The existential quantification of P(x) is the
proposition “There exists an element of x in
the domain of discourse such that P(x) is
true.”
The notation ∃ 𝑥 𝑃 𝑥 is read as “There is
an x such that” or “For some x, P(x)”.
Example
(a) Let P(x) be “𝑥 + 1 > 𝑥". What is the
truth value of ∃ 𝑥 𝑃(𝑥), where the
domain of discourse is the set of real
numbers?
(b) Let Q(x) be “𝑥 < 2". What is the truth
value of ∃ 𝑥 𝑄(𝑥), where the domain of
discourse is the set of rational numbers?
Exercise 2
Give the formula for the following:
(a) Area of a square
(b) Circumference of a circle
Exercise 3
For each of the following, create one
example that fits the problem pattern and
use the identity to find the value.
a. −𝑎 − 𝑏 = − 𝑎 + 𝑏
𝑎 𝑎𝑐
b. 𝑏 =
𝑏
𝑐
Exercise 4
Determine which of the following sentences
are propositions and indicate their truth
values.
(a) Legazpi is the capital of Albay.
(b) 3 + 4 = 7
(c) 𝑥 + 𝑦 = 𝑦 + 𝑥 for every pair of real
numbers x and y
(d) Answer this question.
(e) 𝑥 + 3 = 5
Exercise 5
Provide the negation of each of the
following propositions.
(a) Today is Tuesday.
(b) There is no pollution in Makati.
Exercise 6
Write the conjunction and the disjunction
of each of the given pairs of propositions p
and q below. Then indicate which, if any of
these statements is true.
(a) p: Three is an even integer.
q: Ten is a positive integer.
(b)p: Birds have four legs.
q: Hamsters have wings.
Exercise 7
Let p and q be propositions:
p: I buy a lotto ticket today.
q: I win the 135-million peso jackpot on
Saturday.
Express each of the following propositions
as an English sentence.
(a)𝑝 ∧ 𝑞
(b) ¬𝑝 ∨ (𝑝 ∧ 𝑞)
Exercise 8
Let p and q be propositions:
p: It is very cold.
q: It is raining.
Write the following propositions using p, q,
and logical connectives.
(a)It is very cold and raining.
(b)If it is very cold, it is also raining.
Exercise 9
Write each of the following statements in
the form “If p, then q.”
(a) It rains whenever the wind blows from
the southwest.
(b) The mango tree will bloom if it stays
warm for a week.
Exercise 10
State the converse and contrapositive of
each of the following implications.
(a) If it does not rain tonight, I will go fishing
tomorrow.
(b) If it rains tonight, then I will stay at home.
Exercise 11
Construct a truth table for each of the
following propositions.
(a) ¬𝑝۩¬𝑞
(b) (𝑝 ∨ 𝑞) ⇒ (𝑝 ∧ 𝑞)
Exercise 12
Use truth tables to verify the following
equivalences.
(a)𝑝 ∧ 𝑇 ⟺ 𝑝
(b)(𝑝 ⇒ 𝑞) ⇒ 𝑟 ⟺ 𝑝 ⇒ (𝑞 ⇒ 𝑟)
Exercise 13
Let P(x) be the statement “The word x
contains the letter a.” What are the truth
values of the following?
(a) P(orange)
(b) P(lemon)
Exercise 15
Let Q(x,y) denote the statement “x is the
capital of y.” What are the truth values of
the following?
(a) Q(Paris, France)
(b) Q(Barcelona, Spain)
Exercise 16
Use quantifiers to express the following
statements.
(a) Every student needs a course in
mathematics.
(b) There is a student in this class who owns
dual SIM smartphone.