Funadvice Logo
Post
More Education & School Questions

Is it true that English numbers are Arabic?

that the English numbers are Arabic and the Arabic numbers are Indian cause who ever made up the English language stole it from Arabs. I don’t believe it, but I just wanted to make sure!

Become an Expert →
Answer #1

Well, they’re not ‘stolen’, rather ‘copied’ because they are such a good idea! The Roman numerals (which you sometimes see on clocks still) were pretty rubbish, and it wasn’t easy to do complex arithmetic with them. So when Europeans first encountered Arabic numerals they realised what a good idea they were, and adopted them.

On the other hand, the ‘Latin alphabet’ worked well for the European languages, so we kept that.

I don’t know about Indian/Arabic number links, but there certainly are some similarities between how the numbers are written.

More Like This
Ask an advisor one-on-one!
Advisor

English Notes Guru

Education, Literature, Online Learning

Advisor

Learn English BD

Education, Language Learning, Online Courses

Advisor

Business English Pod

Education, Language Learning, Online Courses

Advisor

English by the Hour

Language Coaching, Accent Improvement, Speech Training

Advisor

Learn Arabic Language in London

Language School, Education, Cultural Center