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→Evolution of the glyph
==Evolution of the glyph==
==Evolution of the glyph==
The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glyph glyph] we use today in the Western world to [[represent]] the number 2 traces its roots back to the Brahmin Indians, who wrote 2 as two horizontal lines (it is still written that way in modern [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_written_language Chinese] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_writing_system Japanese]). The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gupta_script Gupta] rotated the two lines 45 [[degrees]], making them diagonal, and sometimes also made the top line shorter and made its bottom end curve towards the center of the bottom line. Apparently for [[speed]], the Nagari started making the top line more like a curve and [[connecting]] to the bottom line. The Ghubar Arabs made the bottom line completely vertical, and now the glyph looked like a dotless closing question mark. Restoring the bottom line to its original horizontal position, but keeping the top line as a curve that connects to the bottom line leads to our modern glyph.
The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glyph glyph] we use today in the Western world to [[represent]] the number 2 traces its roots back to the Brahmin Indians, who wrote 2 as two horizontal lines (it is still written that way in modern [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_written_language Chinese] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_writing_system Japanese]). The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gupta_script Gupta] rotated the two lines 45 [[degrees]], making them diagonal, and sometimes also made the top line shorter and made its bottom end curve towards the center of the bottom line. Apparently for [[speed]], the Nagari started making the top line more like a curve and [[connecting]] to the bottom line. The Ghubar Arabs made the bottom line completely vertical, and now the glyph looked like a dotless closing question mark. Restoring the bottom line to its original horizontal position, but keeping the top line as a curve that connects to the bottom line leads to our modern glyph.
==See also==
*'''''[[Dual]]'''''
[[Category: Mathematics]]
[[Category: Mathematics]]