Math takes special symbols and characters and pronounces them with mathematical meanings. Specifically, the characters in the following table are treated differently:
DECtalk Interpretation of Special Characters
Symbol |
Name |
DECtalk Says... |
+ |
plus |
plus (no change from normal speech) |
- |
hyphen |
minus |
* |
asterisk |
multiplied by |
/ |
slash |
divided by |
^ |
circumflex |
to the power of |
< |
less than |
less than |
> |
greater than |
greater than |
= |
equal sign |
equals |
% |
percent sign |
percent |
. |
period |
decimal point |
xxE-xx |
(spelled) |
(scientific notation) |