In what ways does your mother tongue language and mathematics resemble and differ from each other?

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Stefanie Fuchs

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28.10.03

Language Essay

In what ways does your mother tongue language and mathematics resemble and differ from each other?

Mathematics and language both act as a source of communication, thus both mathematics and language play an important role in life. According to the dictionary, language is defined as a “communication of thoughts and feelings through a system of arbitrary signals, such as voice sounds, gestures, or written symbols.” In comparison, the dictionary defines mathematics as a “the study of the measurement, properties, and relationships of quantities and sets, using numbers and symbols.” Both language and mathematics use symbols, thus both concept are seen as a form of communication. The symbols represent values, which can be understood by the human mind. Language is defined as a code, and both the mother tongue and mathematics are made up of unique symbols that are consistent in their rules in order to be understood properly.

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Mathematics is a very complex, straightforward concept that has fixed meanings. If

x = y = z, then x = y, x = z and y = z. This is a universal phenomenon accepted world wide. Mathematics has been used in the study of science. An example would be the physician Albert Einstein and the discovery of his equation e = mc2. Mathematics is composed of a combination of factors, which can be simplified and broken down. Factorisation of equations is an example. However, if an equation can be factored, then there is only possibility in which it can ...

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