Is Hesaabdaaree an Adequate Equivalent for Accounting?

Some of the difficulties and misunderstandings that happen in accounting theory, practice, regulation and education are grounded in language and linguistics. As an illustration of this the Persian equivalent of 'accounting' is linguistically analysed to reveal how a mistranslation may cause difficulties in understanding and improving Iranian Accounting. This paper shows how Hesaabdaaree is not a complete Persian equivalent for 'Accounting'. The examination is followed through two linguistic methods. First, a localistic lexical semantic approach is applied. Hesaabdaaree is a combination of an Arabic noun and a Persian suffix. It is then argued that the impuissance and limitations of hesaabdaaree in transferring all conceptual aspects of accounting has not arisen from hesaab, but daaree. Next, a holistic lexical semantic approach is applied to examine the sense of Hesaabdaaree within its word family to find out if it conveys the precise sense of accounting. Both the localistic and holistic examinations reveal the weaknesses of the Persian word Hesaabdaaree in transferring the exact meaning of 'Accounting'. This paper adds to the existing body of accounting theory and methodology by: a) introducing and examining a linguistic problem (i.e. translation) that causes difficulties and misunderstandings within the realm of accounting; b) practically examining the relevance of a linguistic method in accounting research; and c) analysing the weaknesses of the word Hesaabdaaree in transferring the full sense of 'Accounting'.

Keywords:

accounting , Language , Translation , Persian , Hesaabdaaree