# E = mc2 (pronunciation)



## Encolpius

Hello, it is a very famous equation, but I wonder how you read it. Context: a documentary on TV, the narrator talks about Einstein, you see that equation on the screen and the narrator says: e equals mc squared. How about languages not using the Latin alphabet?  I cannot imagine how they read it (Russian. Greek, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic). I was able to collect only a few pronunciations, so I hope you can help me. Thanks. 

English: e equals mc squared
Hungarian: e [ɛ:] egyenlő m [ɛm] c [tsɛ:] a négyzeten / or: m-szer [ɛmsɛr] / or mc négyzet 
Czech: e se rovná mc na druhou
Polish: e równa się mc kwadrat
German: e ist gleich mc Quadrat
French: e égale mc carré / or: e égale mc deux
Italian: e uguale emme ci [ʧi:] quadro
Spanish: e igual mc cuadrado


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## 810senior

Hi 

Japanese: イー・イコール・エム・シー・じじょう(or にじょう, スクエアード) transliterated:*ii*[e] *ikooru*[equal] *emushii*[mc] *jijou*(or *nijou*, *skueaado*[squared])
Jijou(自乗) refers to *'multiplying itself'*, nijou(2乗) *'multiplying itself by two times'*, in any way they mean both 'squared' in English.


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## Encolpius

Hello 810senior!  Interesting and simpler than I have thought. So you just say the equation the same way English say, except jijou/nijou. Does it mean you read mathematical equations using the English alphabet (a [ei], b [bi:], x, y, etc.)? Thanks.


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## 810senior

Encolpius said:


> Hello 810senior!  Interesting and simpler than I have thought. So you just say the equation the same way English say, except jijou/nijou. Does it mean you read mathematical equations using the English alphabet (a [ei], b [bi:], x, y, etc.)? Thanks.


Exactly. We read it the way English does.

a: ei[エイ] or ee[エー]
b: bii[ビー]
c: shii[シー]
...
x: ekkusu[エックス]
y: wai[ワイ]
z: zetto[ゼット], zuii[ズィー]　*Though both are allowable I prefer to use zetto because zuii can be mixed up with G[gee].


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## Encolpius

Thank you, 810senoir, very very interesting info for me. I wonder how about our Chinese friends if there will be any here today.  But my guess is they will read it in the English way, too.


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## apmoy70

Greek:

*«Έψιλον ίσον εμ σε τετράγωνο»* [ˈep͡silon ˈison em se teˈtraɣono]


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## frugnaglio

apmoy70 said:


> Greek:
> 
> *«Έψιλον ίσον εμ σε τετράγωνο»* [ˈep͡silon ˈison em se teˈtraɣono]


Interesting how you use έψιλον as if it were a Greek letter, I suppose it's due to the fact that they look the same in uppercase?


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## Encolpius

I agree, interesting they use epsilon.


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## igusarov

Encolpius said:


> How about languages not using the Latin alphabet?


Well, even if the language doesn't use Latin alphabet, people still play chess and write chemical formulas :- ) I.e. they are not total strangers to Latin.

Russian: "Е равно эм це квадрат", [je rɐvˈno ɛm t͡se kvɐˈdrat]

"равно" = "equals"
"квадрат" = "square", a tetragon with 4 right angles and 4 edges of equal length.


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## Encolpius

igusarov said:


> Well, even if the language doesn't use Latin alphabet, people still play chess and write chemical formulas :- )


      Chemical formulas...good tip.


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## Messquito

Chinese: E 等於 M 乘（以） C平方
等於＝equals
乘（以）＝multiply, time
平方＝(lit. plain square-->normal square) squared (compared to 立方(lit. standing square-->cube))


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## Encolpius

I had to check a video on Youtube to learn how it is pronounced, so you use the English pronunciation for the Latin letters. 
It sounds then: [i: děngyú bi: chéng (yǐ) si: píngfāng]


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## Messquito

Encolpius said:


> I had to check a video on Youtube to learn how it is pronounced, so you use the English pronunciation for the Latin letters.
> It sounds then: [i: děngyú em: chéng (yǐ) si: píngfāng]


Yes, and for some people they would pronounce C as [ɕi] because there is no such syllable as [si] in Chinese.
And oops, I forgot to mention that 乘以(multiply) can be dropped as others languages do.
[i dəŋ3 jy2 ɛm (ʈ͡ʂʰəŋ2 ji3) ɕi piŋ2 fɑŋ1]


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## Medune

Portuguese: E é igual a eme cê ao quadrado. [eɛj.gwa.lɐem se ɐw kwa.dra.dů]


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## 810senior

Messquito said:


> Chinese: E 等於 M 乘（以） C平方
> 等於＝equals
> 乘（以）＝multiply, time
> 平方＝(lit. plain square-->normal square) squared (compared to 立方(lit. standing square-->cube))


Can I leave out 乗 between M and C?


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## Encolpius

Messquito said:


> [i dəŋ3 jy2 ɛm (ʈ͡ʂʰəŋ2 ji3) ɕi piŋ2 fɑŋ1]



Thank you! 
(I wonder if people form Mainland Cine use the English pronunciation, too) 



Medune said:


> Portuguese: E é igual a eme cê ao quadrado. [eɛj.gwa.lɐem se ɐw kwa.dra.dů]



Fantastic job with the IPA!


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## Medune

Thank you. I should emphasise that this pronunciation is, as far as I know, characteristic to my region; and also, that the _r_ is a tap instead of a trill.


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## SuperXW

Messquito said:


> Chinese: E 等於 M 乘（以） C平方
> 等於＝equals
> 乘（以）＝multiply, time
> 平方＝(lit. plain square-->normal square) squared (compared to 立方(lit. standing square-->cube))


In Mainland China, it is common to read:
E 等于 MC 方.
(E deng3yu2 MC fang1)


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## ilocas2

pronunciation in Czech:

é se rovná em cé na druhou

é rovná se em cé na druhou

é - long e
r - trilled r
á - long a
c - t͡s
h - voiced h
ou - diphtong


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## Doraemon-

In Spanish I would say: "e igual *a* eme ce cuadrado"
[e i'ɣ̞wal a 'eme 'θe kwa'drado]


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## Encolpius

Thank you, Doraemon, you are the native and know it better.


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## Dymn

I am not sure about Spanish, but in Catalan I would definitely place _al _("to the") before _quadrat_:

_e (és) igual a ema ce al quadrat_
[ɛ(z) iˈɣwaɫ ə ˈemə seɫ kwəˈdɾat]


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## Doraemon-

Diamant7 said:


> I am not sure about Spanish, but in Catalan I would definitely place al ("to the") before quadrat:


Yes, you could also say "c al cuadrado" in Spanish. But in this expression it's far more common to say simply "c cuadrado", as initially said. The reason is that (and I think that in catalan it happens the same thing) the expression "al cuadrado" (tres al cuadrado son nueve) CAN be shortened to simply "cuadrado" when it applies to algebraic expressions (i.e. letters in formulae).
In catalan (valencian) I would say "E igual a ema ce quadrat" [e iˈɣwal a ˈema 'se kwaˈdrat].
PD: Per cert, curiositat: pronuncieu la a com una e neutra?


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## Rallino

*Turkish*: E eşittir em ce kare.

The letter "m" is normally pronounced as "meh" in the Turkish alphabet, but oftentimes we use the _European_ "emm" to make it flow better.


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## Dymn

Doraemon- said:


> PD: Per cert, curiositat: pronuncieu la a com una e neutra?


Si et refereixes a la preposició sí. Si et refereixes al nom de la lletra no.


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