Abstract
We show that languages express mathematical ideas in diverse ways that provide an opportunity to enrich the mathematical experiences of learners in multilingual contexts, but that can also introduce ambiguities or misunderstanding between teachers and students and impede the process of mathematical learning. While at times, multilingualism and/or teaching mathematics in the medium of indigenous languages has been considered from deficit perspectives, we consider these challenges as more enabling and enriching. We also show that languages such as English and French, with long traditions of developing a mathematics register, nevertheless contain some grammatical features which are not always ideal mathematically. If opportunities arise for linguistic-mathematical innovations in these world languages, language planners might like to consider innovating for features which research has shown facilitate mathematics learning.