Quick MathSpeak™ Tutorial
Without Semantic Interpretation, MathSpeak speaks the symbols as they appear and cannot deduce their meaning. For example, the cross-sign can be either cross-multiplication or cross-product, so MathSpeak will just say "cross." Since it is sometimes ambigious whether a comma is a delimiter or a comma within a number, numbers are spelled out except for the highest level of Semantic Interpretation.
Example 1
brief |
3 plus 4 cross 2 minus minus 2 equals 3 plus 8 plus 2 equals 1 3 |
brief semantics |
3 plus 4 times 2 minus negative 2 equals 3 plus 8 plus 2 equals 13 |
brief semantics high |
3 plus 4 times 2 minus negative 2 equals 3 plus 8 plus 2 equals 13 |
For most fractions, the beginning is indicated with "start fraction", the horizontal line is indicated with "over", and the end of the fraction is indicated by "end fraction". For the semantic interpretation, most numeric fractions are spoken as they are in natural speech. Also if a number is followed by a numeric fraction, the word "and" is spoken in between.
Example 2
brief |
StartFrac
x Over
y EndFrac
|
brief semantics |
StartFrac
x Over
y EndFrac
|
brief semantics high |
TheFrac
x Over
y EndFrac
|
Example 3
brief |
StartFrac
x Over
y EndFrac
plus a equals StartFrac
x plus a y Over
y EndFrac
|
brief semantics |
StartFrac
x Over
y EndFrac
plus a equals StartFrac
x plus a y Over
y EndFrac
|
brief semantics high |
TheFrac
x Over
y EndFrac
plus a equals TheFrac
x plus a y Over
y EndFrac
|
Example 4
brief |
a plus StartFrac
b Over
c plus d EndFrac
not-equals StartFrac
a plus b Over
c EndFrac
plus d |
brief semantics |
a plus StartFrac
b Over
c plus d EndFrac
not-equals StartFrac
a plus b Over
c EndFrac
plus d |
brief semantics high |
a plus TheFrac
b Over
c plus d EndFrac
not-equals TheFrac
a plus b Over
c EndFrac
plus d |
Example 5
brief |
StartFrac
1 Over
2 EndFrac
minus x |
brief semantics |
one-half minus x |
brief semantics high |
one-half minus x |
Example 6
brief |
StartFrac
1 Over
2 minus x EndFrac
|
brief semantics |
StartFrac
1 Over
2 minus x EndFrac
|
brief semantics high |
TheFrac
1 Over
2 minus x EndFrac
|
Example 7
brief |
5 StartFrac
3 Over
8 EndFrac
|
brief semantics |
5 and three-eighths |
brief semantics high |
5 and three-eighths |
Notice that the following numeric fraction is not spoken as "twenty-fifths," since this could be confused with the ordinal value of 25.
Example 8
brief |
StartFrac
2 0 Over
5 EndFrac
|
brief semantics |
StartFrac
20 Over
5 EndFrac
|
brief semantics high |
TheFrac
20 Over
5 EndFrac
|
Fractions that contain other fractions are spoken differently than simple fractions, the beginning of the indicators are repeated to indicate the number of levels of nested fractions.
Example 9
brief |
StartStartFrac
StartFrac
6 Over
2 EndFrac
OveOver
3 EndEndFrac
equals StartFrac
3 Over
3 EndFrac
equals 1 |
brief semantics |
StartFrac
six-halves Over
3 EndFrac
equals three-thirds equals 1 |
brief semantics high |
StartFrac
six-halves Over
3 EndFrac
equals three-thirds equals 1 |
Example 10
brief |
StartStartFrac
6 OveOver
StartFrac
2 Over
3 EndFrac
EndEndFrac
equals StartCancel
6 CancelBy
3 EndCancel
cross StartFrac
3 Over
StartCancel
2 EndCancel
EndFrac
equals 9 |
brief semantics |
StartFrac
6 Over
and two-thirds EndFrac
equals CrossOut
6 With
3 EndCrossOut
cross three-halves equals 9 |
brief semantics high |
StartFrac
6 Over
and two-thirds EndFrac
equals CrossOut
6 With
3 EndCrossOut
cross three-halves equals 9 |
Example 11
brief |
5 plus StartStartFrac
x minus StartFrac
1 Over
2 EndFrac
OveOver
x plus StartFrac
1 Over
2 EndFrac
EndEndFrac
|
brief semantics |
5 plus StartFrac
x minus one-half Over
x plus one-half EndFrac
|
brief semantics high |
5 plus StartFrac
x minus one-half Over
x plus one-half EndFrac
|
"Raised to the power of" is indicated by the term "superscript" - implying that the term following has the level of "raised power." "Super-superscript" implies that there are two levels of superscripts in sequence. A superscript level will continue until a different level is stated. If the expression continues at the original base level, the term baseline is stated.
Example 12
brief |
In 2 Sup
y Base
plus x Sub
n Base
comma Sup
y Base
is a superscript and Sub
n Base
is a subscript period |
brief semantics |
In 2 Sup
y Base
plus x Sub
n Base
comma Sup
y Base
is a superscript and Sub
n Base
is a subscript period |
brief semantics high |
In 2 Sup
y Base
plus x Sub
n Base
comma Sup
y Base
is a superscript and Sub
n Base
is a subscript period |
Square roots are stated with "start root" at the beginning and "end root" at the end.
Example 13
brief |
d equals StartRoot
l-par x 2 minus x 1 r-par Sup
2 Base
minus l-par y 2 minus y 1 r-par Sup
2 Base
EndRoot
|
brief semantics |
d equals StartRoot
l-par x 2 minus x 1 r-par squared minus l-par y 2 minus y 1 r-par squared EndRoot
|
brief semantics high |
d equals StartRoot
l-par x 2 minus x 1 r-par squared minus l-par y 2 minus y 1 r-par squared EndRoot
|
Example 14
brief |
l-brace
x Sup
1 Base
comma x Sup
2 Base
comma x Sup
3 Base
comma x Sup
4 Base
comma ellipsis comma x Sup
n Base
r-brace
|
brief semantics |
StartSet
x Sup
1 Base
comma x squared comma x cubed comma x Sup
4 Base
comma ellipsis comma x Sup
n Base
EndSet
|
brief semantics high |
StartSet
x Sup
1 Base
comma x squared comma x cubed comma x Sup
4 Base
comma ellipsis comma x Sup
n Base
EndSet
|