Italian pronunciation of the symbol $dx$

Question

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"?

Never thought about that. Maybe because $dx$ is “differenziale di x” — tommy1996q, Aug 26 '19 at 20:24
@uniquesolution Never heard either, just [de iks] or [dε iks] depending on the regional inflection. I'd say [de ikse] sounds silly, if not cartoonish. — , Aug 26 '19 at 21:03

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 26 '19 at 21:24

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.

Italian pronunciation of the symbol $dx$

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