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From: James Harris <james.harris.1@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: comp.lang.misc
Subject: Pronunciation of tuple
Date: Thu, 15 Aug 2024 17:26:31 +0100
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The term "tuple" appears a fair bit in programming but its pronunciation 
is a source of some controversy.


How do you pronounce "tuple"?

Like me, are you irritated when people pronounce it 'the wrong way'?

How can fellow programmers be persuaded to pronounce it 'properly'?


Correct (IMO) is tu'ple with the first syllable ending in a long u.

Wrong (IMO) is tup'le with the u being short.

As evidence of where a short and long u are similarly used in English:

super - su'per - long u
supper - supp'er - short u

Also, supple - short u due to the double p.

The other reason is where I believe tuple comes from. Consider groups of 
increasing numbers of items:

0 - void
1 - single
2 - pair
3 - triple
4 - quadruple
5 - quintuple
6 - sextuple
7 - septuple
8 - octuple

etc, where the higher numbers end in "tuple".

leading to

n - n-tuple

I would say that the latter ones of those above, 4 to 8, are pronounced 
with a long u which is, therefore, why there should be a long u in tuple.

Perhaps people who pronounce it tupple grew up reading comics about 
supperman. ;-)


-- 
James Harris