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Accounting and the words to tell it: an historical perspective

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  • Pierre Labardin
  • Marc Nikitin

Abstract

In the French language, the word comptabilite (accounting) first appeared in the middle of the eighteenth century. It was used in the Royal finances and its first meaning was that of accountability. Until the middle of the nineteenth century, or thereabouts, the uses of the word evolved gradually but in a somewhat confused manner. Once its meaning had become stabilised, the growing use of the word by an increasing population and the development of accounting activities created a need for adjectives to be added. Commercial, industrial and agricultural accounting, general and auxiliary accounting appeared, as well as the use of comptabilite to designate the accounting department. In this paper, we examine the evolution of words in the context of the development of accounting, seeking some help from amongst linguists.

Suggested Citation

  • Pierre Labardin & Marc Nikitin, 2009. "Accounting and the words to tell it: an historical perspective," Accounting History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(2), pages 149-166.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:acbsfi:v:19:y:2009:i:2:p:149-166
    DOI: 10.1080/09585200902969260
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Laaksonen, Jenni, 2022. "Translation, hegemony and accounting: A critical research framework with an illustration from the IFRS context," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    2. Marc Nikitin, 2008. "Les auteurs comptables: une élite à géométrie variable," Post-Print hal-00493619, HAL.
    3. Yves Levant & Marc Nikitin, 2011. "Les comptabilités financière et de gestion peuvent elles être totalement intégrées ?," Post-Print hal-00650547, HAL.
    4. Pascale Bueno Merino & Samuel Grandval & Marc Feuilloley, 2014. "L’analyse du business model par les normes IAS-IFRS : le rôle de la ligne spécifique du compte de résultat," Post-Print hal-01899386, HAL.

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