European languages of account

Abstract

Choice of ‘language of account’ is not a trivial decision for many European companies. This exploratory paper examines this choice, distinguishing between official, statistically dominant and socio-politically dominant languages; dominant and minority languages; and local and foreign languages. The paper concludes with a discussion of the dominant foreign language of account in the early twenty-first century (English) in its British, American and (possibly) ‘international’ varieties; with the ways in which accounting English is disseminated; and resistance to its use in some countries.