Numerical notations are neither mere records of language, nor mere adjuncts to writing.
This essay aims to investigate the interrelationship of writing, language, and numerical notation both in historical time – spanning the period from the origin of literacy to the present day – as well as in everyday practice. Numerical notations are semiotically and causally linked to, but distinct from, both the numeral words of their users’ languages and the writing systems used to encode language visually.
1Over the past 5,500 years, humans have invented and used more than 100 distinct graphic, relatively permanent, and largely non-linguistic means for representing numbers.
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