Observations on the changing language of accounting

The meaning of words can change over time. In addition, new words may enter a language, sometimes replacing other words. This article extends prior literature on language change in accounting by drawing to a larger extent on theories from linguistics, and by placing greater emphasis on mechanisms of and motivations for change. Particular emphasis is placed on the need to verbalize new concepts, and sociocultural change. The latter is illustrated with examples from the development of accounting as an occupational interest group, and the adoption of Anglo-American accounting terminology and culture. The article concludes that language change in accounting, including transmission between languages and cultures, can inform accounting historians about the transfer of technical developments, as well as about socio-economic, political or ideological processes, power relationships, and the importance of terminology in jurisdictional disputes

Language structure: psychological and social constraints

Jäger G, van Rooij R. Language structure: psychological and social constraints. Synthese. 2007;159(1):99-130.In this article we discuss the notion of a linguistic universal, and possible sources of such invariant properties of natural languages. In the first part, we explore the conceptual issues that arise. In the second part of the paper, we focus on the explanatory potential of horizontal evolution. We particularly focus on two case studies, concerning Zipf's Law and universal properties of color terms, respectively. We show how computer simulations can be employed to study the large scale, emergent, consequences of psychologically and psychologically motivated assumptions about the working of horizontal language transmission