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#1 2019-03-24 14:30:18

Monox D. I-Fly
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From: Indonesia
Registered: 2015-12-02
Posts: 2,000

[ASK] How to Read A'?

If an ABC triangle is transformed, the result will be triangle A'B'C'. In my country, A' is read as "A accent". However, when I saw this transformation video (http://www.watchknowlearn.org/Video.aspx?VideoID=18777&CategoryID=4096), they seem to pronounce A' as "A prime", "A point", "A prune", "A plum", whichever was right since I drag at English-listening. So, can you people tell me what exactly do they say how to pronounce A'?


Actually I never watch Star Wars and not interested in it anyway, but I choose a Yoda card as my avatar in honor of our great friend bobbym who has passed away.
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#2 2019-03-24 16:08:34

Jai Ganesh
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Registered: 2005-06-28
Posts: 45,956

Re: [ASK] How to Read A'?

Hi,

A dash or A prime may be correct!


It appears to me that if one wants to make progress in mathematics, one should study the masters and not the pupils. - Niels Henrik Abel.

Nothing is better than reading and gaining more and more knowledge - Stephen William Hawking.

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#3 2019-03-24 21:51:02

zetafunc
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Registered: 2014-05-21
Posts: 2,432
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Re: [ASK] How to Read A'?

A' is read as 'A dash' in British English and 'A prime' in American English, although at my university 'A prime' was far more common, probably due to American influence.

In Littlewood's Miscellany, Littlewood jokes about this notation used in the context of sets (in point-set topology, A' is the set of all limit points of A, so that A' is called the derived set of A).

John E. Littlewood wrote:

I have had occasion to read aloud the phrase "where E' is any dashed (i.e. derived) set". It is necessary to place the stress with care.

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#4 2019-03-25 02:12:37

phrontister
Real Member
From: The Land of Tomorrow
Registered: 2009-07-12
Posts: 4,810

Re: [ASK] How to Read A'?

zetafunc wrote:

probably due to American influence.

Down here in Australia I haven't come across " ' " being read as "prime".

However, probably also due to American influence, "prime" is popular on English-spoken youtube videos featuring Rubik's cube solution algorithms, where " ' " placed immediately after the letter signifying a cube face denotes the anticlockwise (instead of the default clockwise) rotation of that face (eg, L', R', U', D' for left, right, up, down, respectively).

So for those examples, they say "left prime", "right prime", "up prime", "down prime".

Last edited by phrontister (2019-03-26 00:27:32)


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#5 2019-03-25 14:10:16

Monox D. I-Fly
Member
From: Indonesia
Registered: 2015-12-02
Posts: 2,000

Re: [ASK] How to Read A'?

zetafunc wrote:

A' is read as 'A dash' in British English and 'A prime' in American English, although at my university 'A prime' was far more common, probably due to American influence.

In Littlewood's Miscellany, Littlewood jokes about this notation used in the context of sets (in point-set topology, A' is the set of all limit points of A, so that A' is called the derived set of A).

John E. Littlewood wrote:

I have had occasion to read aloud the phrase "where E' is any dashed (i.e. derived) set". It is necessary to place the stress with care.

And here I thought that A' in the context of sets meant the complement of A.


Actually I never watch Star Wars and not interested in it anyway, but I choose a Yoda card as my avatar in honor of our great friend bobbym who has passed away.
May his adventurous soul rest in peace at heaven.

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#6 2019-03-25 16:49:33

Mathegocart
Member
Registered: 2012-04-29
Posts: 2,226

Re: [ASK] How to Read A'?

Seconding zetafunc and phrontister above, I've always heard A' be called "A prime" in American English. It is interesting to see the diversity of terminology across the world.


The integral of hope is reality.
May bobbym have a wonderful time in the pearly gates of heaven.
He will be sorely missed.

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#7 2019-03-25 20:11:26

Monox D. I-Fly
Member
From: Indonesia
Registered: 2015-12-02
Posts: 2,000

Re: [ASK] How to Read A'?

I wonder how my language read it as "A accent".


Actually I never watch Star Wars and not interested in it anyway, but I choose a Yoda card as my avatar in honor of our great friend bobbym who has passed away.
May his adventurous soul rest in peace at heaven.

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#8 2019-03-25 22:02:39

zetafunc
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Registered: 2014-05-21
Posts: 2,432
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Re: [ASK] How to Read A'?

Monox D. I-Fly wrote:

And here I thought that A' in the context of sets meant the complement of A.

It can indeed -- the notation can be quite varied!

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#9 2019-03-27 13:38:17

Monox D. I-Fly
Member
From: Indonesia
Registered: 2015-12-02
Posts: 2,000

Re: [ASK] How to Read A'?

zetafunc wrote:
Monox D. I-Fly wrote:

And here I thought that A' in the context of sets meant the complement of A.

It can indeed -- the notation can be quite varied!

Wait, there are English-speaking countries which also symbolize the complement of A as A'?


Actually I never watch Star Wars and not interested in it anyway, but I choose a Yoda card as my avatar in honor of our great friend bobbym who has passed away.
May his adventurous soul rest in peace at heaven.

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