Italian pronunciation of the symbol $dx$

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I am afraid this question is going to be rather specific and perhaps off-topic, but I hope some of the Italian users (at least) can help me out with this curiosity.

I have always been used to the Italian pronunciation "de ics" of the differential $dx$. In principle there would be nothing wrong in saying "di ics", as the letter "d" is pronunced "di", but then why do the Italians say "de ics"?

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It largely depends on where the $dx$ is. As a differential, it is often pronunciated [di: iks] or [de iks]. When it's used in the derivative $\frac d{dx} $ it's almost always [de iks], since the whole thing is pronunciated [de in de iks].

$x$ is never [ikse] unless one wants to mock some regional dialect.