How is $\ln$ pronounced by English speakers?

Question

I have always heard an expression like $\ln (x^2)$ pronounced aloud as "ell-enn ex squared". That is, the name of the function $\ln$ is read aloud as a two-letter abbreviation. However, I recently came across a Youtube video in which the speaker consistently pronounces $\ln$ as if it were a single syllable, something like "linn" or "lunn". So $\ln (x^2)$ would be spoken aloud as "linn ex squared".

The speaker in that video has what sounds to me like an Australian accent (apologies to any Kiwis if he is actually a New Zealander) so I am wondering if this is something that varies from country to country — I am from the United States and have never heard it pronounced that way.

So the question: How do you pronounce $\ln$? How is it pronounced by others in your locale?

Please include in your answer any important regional information (Edit: or professional context) that might be significant.

EDITED TO ADD: I am fully aware that many mathematicians prefer to use the notation "$\log x$" for $\log_e x$, and many object to the use of $\log$ for $\log_{10}$, AKA the "common logarithm". Please do not use this question as an opportunity to argue whether $\log_e$ or $\log_{10}$ is more "natural". For the purposes of this question, assume that you are in a context in which the notation $\log$ is reserved for $\log_{10}$, and $\log_e$ is denoted by $\ln$. The question is not about whether or not that notational convention is a good one, it is about how to pronounce it.

SECOND EDIT: I should have thought to include this in my original post, but it may be that the pronunciation varies according to professional context as well: that is, perhaps the mathematicians at your university pronounce it "log", the chemists pronounce it "ell en", and the high school teacher down the block says "lunn". So when answering the question, please provide any relevant context details that might help clarify the scope of your response.

Answer 1

I am used to:

• The natural logarithm of ( )
• lin ( )
• log ( )

Remember $$ \ln(x) =\log_{2.718...}(x) $$ so it is justifiable to refer to it as log

Answer 2

When I was at school (in England), we pronounced it "lonn", but I am sitting next to an (English) maths teacher, who says "lunn". I now just pronounce it "log" FWIW.

(To clarify, I pronounce it "log ex" even in contexts which require me to write $\ln x$, which I sometimes have to deal with!)

Answer 3

In general practice I say "log," no matter what, and if a specific base is used I say "base-n log." Special cases include "binary log" for a base-2 log, which I write $\lg$.

For $\ln$ I just say the letters "ell-enn" or rather just the whole darn thing - "natural log." I sometimes have heard put emphasis on the L and say "lin" or "len," but it's rare that I do.

I'm speaking as a US student - I live in Texas but am not really native to any other state (though I did live in San Diego for high school).

Answer 4

When spoken aloud, the only way that I have ever said it or heard it being said is as "the natural log of $x$ squared" or "log of $x$ squared". I have also sometimes head it said "ell-enn", which is a big time saver, but can be the wrong way to go if you are also dealing with other variables.

I have never heard somebody use "linn" or "lunn" before, though it does also seem like a good way to save time while speaking without confusing it with the names of variables.

Answer 5

I would pronounce $\ln x$ as "log ex", and usually write it as $\log x,$ or sometimes when speaking to freshmen or similarly inexperienced people, as $\log_e x$ .

It is unfortunate that secondary-school algebra textbooks teach students that "log" with no subscript always means the base-$10$ logarithm. Since the natural logarithm is indeed the natural logarithm to use in calculus, it is written as $\log$ with no subscript. Some mathematicians write it as $\ln$ but still understand $\log$ written by others to mean the base-$e$ logarithm. Only among non-mathematicians is that last fact unknown.

What is "natural" about it can be seen here: \begin{align} & \frac d {dx} \log_{10} x = \frac{\text{some consant}} x \\[10pt] & \frac d {dx} \log_6 x = \frac{\text{some other constant}} x \\[10pt] & \text{etc. But only when the base is $e$ rather than 6 or 10 or some} \\ & \phantom{\text{etc. }} \text{other number besides $e$ is the “constant'' equal to 1, i.e.} \\[10pt] & \frac d {dx} \log_e x = \frac 1 x. \end{align}

Answer 6

Vancouver, Canada. I exclusively pronounce it as /lɑn/.

Answer 7

Going to high school in Texas, I always said it as an abbreviation: "el en of ex." Then when I took AP Stats, my Stats teacher was from Canada and she said "lawn of ex." I actually picked up that habit to distinguish the two:

"log of ex" = $log(x)$

"lawn of ex" = $ln(x)$

Answer 8

I live in the US, so I pronounce Ln as "ell enn" or I sometimes say natural log.

If I had the expression ln($x^2$) I would say: "ell enn of ex squared".

Answer 9

My proessor is from Central/Eastern Europe and she pronounces $\ln x$ as "Logaritmus x".

Answer 10

As a non-native English speaker who has to read mathematical expressions quite frequently, I use the following guides:

1. Handbook for Spoken Mathematics, Research and Development Institute, Inc: This is probably the most complete reference. Not of easy consultation, though.
2. H. Valiaho, Pronunciation of mathematical expressions (pdf): A short list divided by topic (e.g. Logic, Sets, Functions etc.). Reports also variants.

For what concerns $\ln$, these guides recommend:

the natural log of x

from [1] and [2];

l n of x

from [1], and this coincides with your example; [2] recommends other pronunciations too, but I suspect they are rarer.

Answer 11

This topic was the cause of many fairly heated arguments when I was a 16/17-year-old student. In the UK at least, "ell-enn" and "lun" are quite common. In university, "log" was all that mattered. It's like how a/b is both "a upon b", "a over b" and "a divided by b": once you get to a certain level, everyone knows what you mean and you don't feel the need to argue about it.

Answer 12

From an American computer science background (we use logs too!), we typically just call it "log" regardless of whether it's a natural log or not. In applications where the log being a ln actually matters we just say "natural log". I've heard "l n" as well (el en), but it seems less common. I've also heard "lin" but it's rare enough that it sounds weird when I hear it.

Answer 13

I once pronounced it "lin" in front a bunch of math geeks and they all laughed at me. (I'm in the US.) I had actually never heard it pronounced before and they all had a bunch of times.

I've also heard "log-en" for the natural log, but usually just "log" if you're not being specific.

Answer 14

I am an Israeli studying at a very international Australian university.

In Israel we say "lan" (pronounced close to the English word "gun"). Here I was exposed to so many variations:

• Saying the two letters l n
• Saying "log"/"logarithm"
• Saying "natural log"
• Saying "log e"

All of the above were native-English speakers from different parts of the world. No one pronounced it like we Israelis do, as "lan".

As for your "linn", I believe it was a New Zealander. Their e's sound like i's sometimes.

Answer 15

I'm Australian and his accent sounds British to me rather then aussie. I can only remember having heard it pronounced as el en or log in Australia, from this reddit post, where I can see two responses talking about pronouncing it lun, both of which are UK (one says he heard that pronunciation doing his A-levels, the other says it explicitly).

Answer 16

Since I deal mostly with logic on a daily basis, ambiguity is a sin. I always say "natural log", or "log base e" to prevent misinterpretation due to the ambiguity of just saying log.

Answer 17

To my experience, at least within the field of mathematics, most people call it "log" simply.

It is safe to say that when talking of mathematics, it is universal accepted that ln is natural. Thus when mathematicians say log, they most likely refer to ln, not $\log_{10}$. Your situation that "log" means exclusively $\log_{10}$ (which you worry) shall be rare. If someone ever uses $\log_{10}$, he or she probably adds, "I mean the common log, with base 10."

Laypeople (I suppose) seldom use log (in each sense), so I am not worried about confusion.