Names for the number 0

There are several names for the number 0 in different languages.

LanguageName and pronunciation
or transliteration
Notes
Arabicصفر (sifr)
Chinese The character 零 (pinyin: líng) means "zero" in Chinese, although 〇 is also common. Etymologically 零 is an onomatopoeic word for "light rain". The upper part of the character is 雨, meaning "rain", and the lower part is 令 (lìng), for the sound.[1]
Czech nula
Dutchnul /nyl/
EnglishzeroThere are many other names
Frenchzéro /zeʁo/
GermanNullWhether the first letter of number names should be capitalized – like all nouns are – or not is disputed
Greekμηδέν /miːðɛn/Literally meaning "not even one"
Gujaratiશૂન્ય (Śūn'ya)
Haitian Creolezewo
Hindiशून्य
Hebrewאֶפֶס (efes)
Indonesiannol /nɔl/Adopted from the Dutch word nul. In addition, people often pronounce it as "kosong" /kɔsɔŋ/, literally meaning 'empty', when spelling telephone numbers.
Japanese零 (read rei)The character 零 (read rei) means "zero" in Japanese, although 〇 is also common. However, in common usage, ゼロ/ぜろ (read zero) is preferred, as it is a direct adaptation of the English equivalent.
KoreanKorean: ; Hanja: ; RR: yeong or Korean: ; Hanja: ; RR: gong
Lojbanno
Malayalamപൂജ്യം (poojyam)
Polishzero /'zɛɾɔ/
Portuguesezero /zæro/
Romanianzero
Russianноль or нуль
Spanishcero
Tamilசுழியம் (sūḻiyam), பூஜ்ஜியம் (poojyam), or சைவர் (saivar)
Teluguసున్న or ౦ (sunna)
Turkishsıfır[2]

References

  1. Chinese character etymology
  2. Çoker, Doğan, and Timur Karaçay. Matematik Terimleri Sözlüğü. Ankara: Türk Dil Kurumu Yayınları, 1983. Print.
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