Re: "cumulated" or "accumulated"

[Bob Proulx]

Chris Jones wrote:
> Jens Petersen wrote:
> > I received a downstream bug report [1], suggesting that gettext should
> > use the word "accumulated" instead of "cumulated".

Seems reasonable to me.  I would have written it that way the first
time if I had been the original author of those statements.

> > ... comments will be cumulated, except that if ...

That does sound like a very odd usage to me.

> > In current English the verb "cumulate" seems little used outside
> > Economics, and the word "accumulator" is more common in hardware,
> > software, etc.  Is "cumulated" being used intentionally or would you
> > accept a patch to change it to "accumulated"?
> 
> Hmm.. is ‘downstream’ an native speaker of English, or did he/she look
> it up in a dictionary..?

I am a native Kansas speaker and using "cumulate" there reads as a
very unusual wording to me.

> Although not very common, I believe that ‘cumulated’ rather than
> ‘accumulated’ is correct in this instance. 

In my experience the reverse is true.  (Regardless of the correctness
of either.)  I have never heard "cumulate" used.  But "accumulate" is
very commonly heard.

Like "kempt" and "couth" I only assume exist because "unkempt" and
"uncouth" exist.  But I never hear them used. :-) (Destructible,
indestructible.  Flamable, inflamable.  Driveway, parkway.  I will be
the first to admit that it is a terrible language.)

> In any case, one should also keep in mind that in many dialects of
> spoken English there is no phonetic difference beteween ‘accumulated’
> and ‘cumulated’ because native speakers more often than not would just
> drop (slide over) the unstressed ‘schwa’ at the start of ‘accumulated’.

The very fact that you and I are on completely opposite sides of this
observation tells me that the use is problematic and should be avoided
regardless of whether either is correct or incorrect.  They probably
should be reworded.  Certainly the current "cumulate" phrasing causes
me pause upon reading.

> Just my 2 cents.

Me too.  :-)

Bob