## Sandro Nielsen* & Lise Mourier*

## Internet Accounting Dictionaries:

## Present Solutions and Future Opportunities

## Abstract

An examination of existing accounting dictionaries on the Internet reveals a general need for a new type of dictionary. In contrast to the dictionaries now accessible, the future  accounting  dictionaries  should  be  designed  as  proper  Internet  dictionaries based on a functional approach so they can be used in communication-oriented and knowledge-oriented  situations.  The  lexicographers  need  to  take  a  large  number  of aspects  into  consideration  and  this  should  be  done  by  identifying  the  need  of  an international target group and present the data in such a way that the lexicographical information costs are kept at a low level.

## 1. Introduction

Financial  reporting  is  gaining  increased  attention  and  importance  on the international scene, and the lingua franca is English. It is therefore important that the international actors have access to reference works that can help them produce fi  nancial reporting information directly in English or help them translate the information into English. It is equally important that these texts are written in idiomatically correct English, using terms from the correct fi  eld-specifi  c register, i.e. the language of accounting, and this involves an important distinction between British, American and international (IAS/IFRS) English. The point is that such texts  are  used  to  attract  funds  from  investors  not  only  in  domestic fi  nancial and money markets, but also increasingly in foreign and international market places for investment and fund raising.

* Sandro Nielsen Aarhus School of Business Centre for Lexicography Fuglesangs Allé 4 DK-8210  Aarhus V sn@asb.dk

* Lise Mourier Copenhagen Business School Department of English Dalgas have 15 DK-2000  Frederiksberg mourier.eng@cbs.dk

Hermes, Journal of Linguistics no 34-2005

83

The best way in which to attract the attention of possible investors is  to  present  clearly  written  reports  in  a  language  that  everyone  can understand and use as a basis for making investment decisions. And this is where Internet accounting dictionaries come in with their great potential for presenting the information needed by the users in a variety of situations, because this type of dictionary is not restricted by a limited amount of pages as are the traditional, printed dictionaries. This paper will examine some of the existing accounting dictionaries found on the Internet in terms of their function(s), data and search capabilities and relate these features to the needs of users. We will also analyse the true potential of Internet accounting dictionaries and identify the elements that are required for an optimal Internet accounting dictionary for an international user group.

## 2. The Nature of Internet Accounting Dictionaries

An  Internet  accounting  dictionary  is  a  special  breed  of  the  type  of dictionary that is available on the Internet generally, more specifi  cally of the subtype that deals with the subject fi  eld of accounting and fi  nancial reporting. A dictionary that deals with one subject fi  eld only is called a single-fi  eld dictionary ,  as  it  is  particularly  devoted  to  treating  the factual and linguistic aspects of a selected subject fi  eld (Nielsen 1990: 132-133; and Nielsen 1994: 39-42). One way in which to fi  nd this type of  specialised  dictionary  is  to  visit  the  website  YourDictionary.com, which lists Internet dictionaries according to various criteria, including sub  ject  areas.  Under  the  heading Accounting ,  this  website  lists  22 dictionaries (September 2004), all monolingual covering the language English, and they go under various names such as dictionary, glossary and  list. A  further  Google  search  revealed  that  these  22  dictionaries constitute a fair representation of existing accounting dictionaries when the search language is English, and also revealed the existence of four bi  lingual accounting dictionaries with English as the target language in three.

Not all the dictionaries listed under the heading Accounting are immediately relevant, however. Seven of the dictionaries listed are not accounting dictionaries stricto sensu ,  as  they are tax dictionaries or tax glossaries, one is a fi  nance glossary, and one is an acronym dictionary mainly for the health and insurance sectors. Although tax and fi  nan- cial matters may impact on accounting, these dictionaries will not be considered here as they belong to different subject fi  elds and are therefore only marginally relevant for our analysis and discussion. Of the remaining 13 dictionaries, three cannot be found when clicking on the relevant links, and two further dictionaries cover the subject auditing, which may be regarded as a sub-fi  eld of accounting. This leaves eight dictionaries that are Internet accounting dictionaries proper (see Fig. 2 below). The four bilingual accounting dictionaries found on the Internet consist of an English-Arabic/Arabic-English accounting vocabulary, a Danish-English, an English-Chinese, and a Japanese-English accounting dictionary (see Fig. 1 below). These dictionaries vary considerably in their coverage of accounting terminology, from as little as 13 terms to several thousand terms, but they form a useful basis for taking stock of the present state of affairs and discussing the lexicographical basis for future Internet accounting dictionaries.

The overriding feature of a dictionary when placing it into a typology is its function(s). An Internet dictionary is an electronic reference work that  has  been  designed to fulfi  l  one  or  more  functions,  contains  data supporting the function(s), and contains lexicographic structures that combine and link the data in order to fulfi  l the function(s). It is important to appreciate that the function(s) selected by the compilers of a dictionary provide the basis for all other lexicographic decisions, and that the compilers must determine the fundamental needs of the users on the basis of the dictionary function(s) relative to the intended user group, taking into account their factual and linguistic competences.

The functions of dictionaries can be divided into two general types: communication-oriented and knowledge-oriented functions. Communication-oriented functions  include  reception  of  texts  in  the  user's native language (L1) or in a foreign language (L2), the trans  lation of texts into L1 or L2, the production of texts directly in L1 or L2, and the revision and editing of texts in L1 or L2. In focusing on the trans  fer of a message from a sender to a receiver, these functions are charac  terised by being text-dependent. Knowledge-oriented functions - which focus  on  deriving  and  verifying  primarily  propositional  knowl  edge and the acquisition of information - include the acquisition of factual and/or linguistic knowledge generally about the L1 or L2 cul  ture, or in connection with a specifi  c issue in the L1 or L2 culture, for ins  tance in a learning context such as a university course on accounting. These func  tions, which focus on knowledge, i.e. data that - through a mental process  -  have  become  information  that  has  a  use  or  purpose,  are characterised by being text-independent. In basing the whole de  sign on a functional approach, the compilers of a dictionary have the opportunity of making multifunctional dictionaries, catering for the needs of the users in an optimal way (see e.g. Bergenholtz/Kaufmann 1997: 98-99; and Bergenholtz/Nielsen 2002:5-6).

Figures 1 and 2 below reveal that the lexicographers have not paid much  attention  to  the  function(s)  of  their  dictionaries.  Only  few explicitly specify the types of situation in which they offer help, and none of the dictionaries contains a user's guide, which the lexico  graphers may have used to specify functions. The inclusion of such information would not only have benefi  ted the user, but would also have forced the lexicographers to give additional consideration to the design and compilation of their dictionaries. Everyone's ABC of Accounting Language is one of the few Internet accounting dictionaries specifying the function for which it has been compiled: Dedicated to helping take away some of the pain out of studying. This is a very general statement, as it does not identify the types of situation in which it may be used. In  functional  terms,  Everyone's  ABC  of  Accounting  Language  is poten  tially multifunctional. It can be used as an aid to understand the account  ing texts the students have to read during the course; it can be used as an aid to write exam answer papers, i.e. producing accounting texts  in  L1  (and  perhaps  L2  if  foreign  students  are  involved);  it  can be  used  to  acquire  knowledge  about  accounting  generally  or  about a  specifi  c  accounting  issue.  However,  in  order  to  actually  help  the users in these types of situation, the lexicographers must carefully consider the necessary data types and their presentation. If these aspects of functionality are taken into account at the planning stage and subsequent  ly put into operation, the dictionary will have a relatively broad user appeal, and be able to give assistance in a plurality of use situations.  This  also  provides  a  glimpse  of  the  true  potential  of  Internet account  ing dictionaries.

A  truly  international  Internet  accounting  dictionary  caters  for  the needs of a heterogeneous target group. Some are accounting experts with  considerable  factual  and  linguistic  knowledge  pertaining  to  account  ing and fi  nancial reporting in their own culture, whereas others are semi-experts with limited factual and linguistic knowledge per  tain- ing to their own culture. Some semi-experts may, however, possess considerable  linguistic  knowledge  of  English,  for  instance  pro  fessional trans  lators. Finally, laypeople with a particular interest in fi  nancial report  ing information are also potential users of an accounting dic  tio  nary, and they are unlikely to possess much factual and linguistic knowledge about  accounting  and  its  language  usage  (see  e.g.  Bergenholtz/ Kaufmann 1997: 99). This distinction  between  different  user  groups is  directly  related  to  the  function(s)  of  the  dictionary,  as  they  need different  data  types  for  different  situations.  For  example,  the  semiexpert will probably need both factual and linguistic data in order to understand an English accounting text (or a defi  nition in an English account  ing dictionary), produce or edit an accounting text in English, or tran  slate an accounting text into English. It is particularly important to take the factual and linguistic competencies of the target group into consi  deration when planning, designing and compiling an international account  ing dictionary, as the target group will consist of, for instance, account  ing experts from many countries and cultures, who have to understand or produce accounting texts in English.

An important aspect for any lexicographer to consider is the ease with which the user will be able to acquire the necessary information from the data presented in the dictionary. This is, of course, also an aspect that has high priority with the users. It may be dealt with under the  heading  lexicographical  information  costs.  For  the  purposes  of dictionary making, use, analysis and research, lexicographical information costs may  be  defi  ned  as  the  diffi  culty  or  inconvenience  that the  user  believes  or  feels  is  associated  with  consulting  a  dictionary, an  article  or  any  other  text  part  of  a  dictionary  (see  Nielsen  1999: 111).  Lexicographical  information  costs  may  be  divided  into  two distinct  types:  search-related  and  comprehension-related  information costs. Search -related information costs are  the  costs  (i.e.  diffi  culty or inconvenience) related to the look-up activities the user has to perform when consulting a dictionary in order to get access to the data the user is searching for. The more activities the user has to per  form to get to his target, the more signifi  cant will the costs be, and so will the risk of getting it wrong at one or more steps in the search pro  cess. Comprehension-related information costs are the costs (i.e. dif  fi  culty or inconvenience) related to the user's ability to understand and interpret the data presented in a dictionary. In other words: How easy (or diffi  cult)  is  it  for  the  user  to  understand  the  data  presented?  This  is directly related to the factual and linguistic competence of the user and the way in which the data are presented. The very design and structure of the dictionary may contribute to keeping the lexicographical information costs at a low level, as an inappropriate design and struc  ture may lead to high or increasing information costs. The actual word  ing and presentation of the data in the articles, for instance a high degree of textual condensation of factual data in defi  nitions, may affect the information costs adversely, whereas a clear and consistent search struc  ture may reduce the lexicographical information costs.

## 3. Types of Data Needed by the Users

Before selecting types of data for each article it is imperative to establish the profi  le of the user group(s), which again makes it possible to map the user needs and competencies. The ultimate goal of any dictionary is that it must (of course) present the best possible data within its specifi  c subject area to the user of that dictionary, and that these data have been arranged as adequately as possible.

In a previous article (Nielsen/Mourier in print) we have shown that the purpose of the user profi  le is to identify the major characteristics and lexicographic needs of the users, taking into account the factual and linguistic competencies in relation to L1 and L2 and the different cultures. For a bilingual accounting dictionary users may be split up into three main user groups: (1) a primary user group consisting of persons  with  considerable  linguistic  competence  and  small  to  medium fac  tual  competence, made up of semi-experts such as translators and secre  ta  ries,  (2)  a  secondary  user  group,  made  up  of  experts  within account  ing and fi  nance with considerable factual knowledge and small to medium linguistic competence such as accountants and fi  nancial analysts, and (3) a tertiary user group consisting of persons with small to me  dium linguistic and factual-knowledge competencies such as stu  dent accountants  and  student  translators,  journalists  as  well  as  laypeople interested in fi  nancial reporting information. The primary user group needs more factual information, the secondary group more linguistic infor  mation, and the tertiary group needs both.

Therefore,  we  can  establish  that  a  bilingual  accounting  dictionary with more than a reception function needs data supporting linguistic as well as factual knowledge, both on the L1 and the L2 side.

For the particular purpose of a bilingual accounting dictionary between Danish (or another language) and English (or vice versa), another para  meter has to be considered: which type of English? Traditionally, Danish  companies  have  focused  on  British  English,  but  with  the growing  need  for  approaching  international  capital  markets  and  the adoption of the international accounting standards (IFRS), an increasing number of Danish and other European enterprises now choose to commu  nicate in American English or international English (Mourier 2004: 145).  Accounting  terminology  differs  widely  between  British  and American  English  and  also  international  accounting  English  as  applied by IFRS has its own English, biased heavily towards American English, but with some British terminology and British spelling (apart from terminology, grammar and spelling differs between British and American English). Therefore, for the purpose of the accounting dictio  nary, the lexicographic data supporting English (be it as L1 or L2, depend  ing on whether the dictionary goes from Danish or another language into English or vice-versa) must contain the three varieties of English to support user needs. This is a further challenge, not so much in the compilation of data within the three 'Englishes', but certainly to the arranging of the data in each article, as illustrated below.

An investigation of some of the accounting dictionaries available on the Internet (see section 2 above) found few bilingual dictionaries with English as L1 or L2, and a number of monolingual English dictionaries. Some  of  the  latter  appeared  from  the  source  to  be  British-English dictionaries,  and  some  to  be American-English.  None were found to systematically include and compare the various types of English.

## 3.1.  General characteristics of the bilingual Internet accounting dictionaries

The  four  bilingual  Internet  Accounting  Dictionaries  found  (see  Fig. 1  below)  are  all  compiled  by  and  for  the  use  of  non-native  English users: Arab, Japanese, Chinese and Danes. The fi  rst three only include lem  ma  ta  with  one  equivalent  and  no  defi  nitions  or  other  data  fi  elds (sy  nonyms,  antonyms,  references,  etc.).  At  the  date  of  visiting  the site (18 September 2004), the Japanese dictionary included a limited amount of lemmata. The Danish dictionary comprises 4,200 lemmata with defi  nitions and equivalents in British, American and international English, 15,400 collocations in Danish with translations into English, sy  nonyms and antonyms as well as source references (September-2004 fi  gures; continuously updated and supplemented with new lemmata).

Fig. 1 :  Bilingual  Internet Accounting Dictionaries having English as L1 or L2.

<!-- image -->

For the purpose of the compilation of an Internet accounting dictionary, the three dictionaries focusing on English as L1 or L2 versus Arabic, Chinese or Japanese offer poor inspiration, considering the opportunities offered electronically. Apart from providing an equivalent to the lemma, neither knowledge nor linguistic information is provided. Without the help of defi  nitions, the user learns nothing except a word that may or may not be the proper choice in the user's particular situation.

## 3.2.  General characteristics of the monolingual English Internet accounting dictionaries

Fig. 2 lists the monolingual English Internet accounting dictionaries we visited in September 2004. The list includes our brief comments as to scope, target group and compiler:

yourdictionary.com http://www.yourdictionary.com/diction4.html#accounting gives a selection of special-subject Internet dictionaries, the following focusing on accounting 1 : AICPA Dictionary of Accounting Terms and Abbreviations Updated regularly (last updated September 2004), only defi  nitions, many lemmata are names of institutions, organisations or accounting bodies Compilers: American Institute of Certifi  ed Public Accountants Target group: members of the American Institute of Certifi  ed Public Accountants, accounting students and accounting professionals http://www.aicpa.org/members/glossary/a.htm Everyone's ABC of Accounting Language Defi  nitions only, but written into a contest, based on a text on accounting, and the lemma list is made up of links to the terms in the text where also defi  nitions are found, no function specifi  ed, but must be reception and perhaps knowledge-building, examples, related words, rules and regulations, encyclopaedic What it means? section Compiler: Jayne Smith, Staffordshire University Business School Target group: students at Staffordshire University Business School http://www.staffs.ac.uk/schools/business/bsadmin/staff/s5/mscproj/agloss/htm For  the  purpose  of  a  comparison  with  the  Danish-English  Internet Account  ing Dictionary 2 , which we are continuously updating, as well as inspir  ation for our on-going work with an English-Danish Accounting Dic  tionary, it is relevant to discuss how the various dictionaries meet the user requirements - with a special view to target group, function, scope, lemmata and relevant data fi  elds.

1  Some were not accessible, either because membership was required to get access, or because the link was non-operational, and one focuses on accounting acronyms only and has therefore been left out.

Fig. 2 : Monolingual (English) Internet Accounting Dictionaries.

<!-- image -->

## 3.2.1.  Target group

Above we established the importance of defi  ning the users be  fore selecting any other data for a dictionary. The target groups of the dictionaries listed  in  Fig.  2  have  been  specifi  ed  in  some  cases  to  be  accountants (e.g. the AICPA Dictionary of Accounting Terms and Abbreviations), in other cases to be accounting professionals and accounting students (e.g.  Venture  Line Accounting  Dictionary/Glossary),  one  (New York State  Society  of  CPAs  - Accounting  Termi  nology  Guide)  states  the dictionary to be an educational tool for jour  nalists who report on and interpret  fi  nancial  statements,  and  others  again  do  not  specify  their target  groups  at  all,  but  from  the  site  users  ap  pear  to  be  accounting professionals and students. One addresses clients (Total Tax Solutions), obviously to help clients understand a diffi  cult subject.

The  target  group  of  the  Danish-English  Internet Accounting  Dictionary is more complex (heterogeneous), as it includes both users needing  factual  and  linguistic  information  at  various  competence  levels. The implications are that the dictionary should meet this challenge and have both knowledge-oriented and communication-oriented functions; fortunately  the  Internet  medium  may  help  address  the  challenge  as appears below.

## 3.2.2.  Function(s)

The overall function of any dictionary designed for knowledge-building is fi  rst of all to provide adequate and clear defi  nitions in order to defi  ne the relevant lemma precisely, to distinguish between polysemy, if any, but  also  to  provide  extra  knowledge  to  the  user  about  the  subjectmatter relating to this particular lemma. We shall look further into the importance of defi  nitions under data fi  elds below. All Fig. 2 dictionaries include  lemmata  with  defi  nitions  and  are  therefore  to  a  wider  or  a narrower extent suited as tools for knowledge-building. However, the defi  nitions included vary in quality (see 3.2.5 below).

2   http://www.regnskabsordbogen.dk, Danish-Danish and Danish-English Accounting Dictionaries, lexicographers: Sandro Nielsen, Lise Mourier and Henning Bergenholtz, Centre for Lexicography, Aarhus School of Business, in cooperation with Copenhagen Business School, 2003, continuously updated.

For the communication-oriented functions, the dictionary needs to help users with text reception as well as text production (writing, translating,  editing  and  revising  texts).  Concerning  these  functions,  only the Danish-English Internet Accounting Dictionary among the Fig. 2 dictionaries addresses all aspects (see 4.1 below).

## 3.2.3.  Scope

The scope of the dictionaries varies widely. Some have a limited range of  core  accounting  terminology,  some focus rather on acronyms and abbreviations. Since Internet dictionaries, being electronic, do not have to  observe  space  or  time  limits  (may  be  continuously  updated),  this fi  nding  is  disappointing.  Only  InvestorWords  compiles  a  fairly  wide selec  tion of accounting terms with relevant, but not consistent crossreferences 3 .

## 3.2.4.  Lemmata

To compare the compilation, the selection of lemmata and the information included to help the user, we have looked at the following three accounting terms according to type of English:

| British English         | American English   | International English   |
|-------------------------|--------------------|-------------------------|
| profit and loss account | income statement   | income statement        |
| book value              | carrying value     | carrying amount         |
| fixed asset             | non-current asset  | non-current asset       |

and at two accounting terms that share characteristic features, but differ as to use and collocability:

| depreciation                       | amortization (US)/amortisation (GB/IFRS)   |
|------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|
| (used about tangible fixed assets) | (used about intangible fixed assets)       |

As can be seen, depreciation is the appropriate term used when referring to tangible fi  xed assets, whereas amortisation (British and international English) or amortization (American English) is used about intangibles. It is important that the user is aware of this difference and chooses the term that is appropriate for the context.

## 3.2.5. Data fi  elds

## Selection of lemmata

The accounting terms seem to be selected at random in some cases: Glencoe and Everyone's ABC e.g. include depreciation , but not amorti  sation ,  even  though  both  terms  are  used  about  the  write-down  of fi  xed assets: depreciation for tangible assets only, and amortisation for intangibles. InvestorWords and Venture Line were found to be the most comprehensive monolingual dictionaries in number of lemmata, with InvestorWords having the highest amount of accounting terms, and the most in-depth defi  nitions with many cross-references. Our search for the above terms seems to indicate that most of the dictionaries have not  relied  on  a  corpus  for  lemma  selection,  not  even  relevant  texts such as the accounting policy chapter or the fi  nancial statements in a conventional annual report.

## Defi  nitions

To  provide  clear  defi  nitions,  however,  is  a  further  challenge  for  the lexicographer. Long defi  nitions are no safeguard in this respect. In fact, defi  nitions may be both too brief and too long-winded and complicated. The lexicographer will have to carefully weigh the user needs and the functions of the dictionary and then formulate defi  nitions as concisely and clearly as possible. This is especially challenging in the case of a target group consisting of different user types (see the discussion above). The following comments discuss the defi  nitions to depreciation , amorti  sa  tion , fi xed asset , profi  t and loss account or book value (in British, American or international varieties) in dictionaries selected from the list in Fig. 2 above.

## AICPA Dictionary of Accounting Terms and Abbreviations

This dictionary primarily contains names of institutions, organisations or accounting bodies; a search for the accounting terms above gave no results.

## Staffordshire University Business School: Everyone's ABC of Accounting Language

Everyone's ABC offers a special way of helping the user: Each lemma has a defi  nition that generally appears as a text-book-like paragraph, which may make it diffi  cult for the user to quickly withdraw the informa  tion  needed,  as  a  lot  of  reading  is  necessary,  even  considering that  the  target  group  consists  primarily  of  students  (the  compiler  is Staffordshire University Business School). Because of the design and structure, the dictionary seems to fall between two stools: is it a dictionary or a textbook? Comprehension-related information costs (see Section 2 above) are associated with its use, since the articles have long text passages the user will have to read through to fi  nd the information needed, just as the user will have to jump by clicks from passage to passage. As an example, the article Depreciation has:

'Is  the  measure  of  wearing  out  of  a  fi  xed  asset.  All  fi  xed  assets are  expected  to  wear  out,  become  less  effi  cient  and  to  get  'tired'. Depreciation is calculated as the estimate of this measure of wearing out  and  is  a  charge  in  the  Profi  t  and  Loss  Account  [clickable]. Accumulated Depreciation is the total depreciation charges to date deducted from the cost of the fi  xed assets to show Net Book Value in the Balance Sheet learn more about depreciation [clickable] Watch a car becoming more worn out over time [clickable].'

As  appears  from  the  style  and  contents,  the  dictionary  addresses students, probably studying accounting at an introductory level. Even so, it might have been useful that the term Balance Sheet (like Profi  t and Loss Account ) had been clickable also, just as the lack of reference to amortisation used about intangible assets is unfortunate, the student is left to believe that depreciation is used about all fi  xed assets, and the term amortisation is not included in the dictionary.

Venture Line's defi  nitions  are  comprehensive  for  'DEPRECIATION' and 'AMORTIZATION' (both in upper-case letters), the latter defi  nition showing the polysemy of the term amortization:

```
AMORTIZATION (1) the general reduction of a debt by means of periodic payments… .., And (2) the process of spreading the cost of an intangible asset over the expected useful life of the asset…….
```

The information under (2) that amortization is applied to an intangible asset is extremely helpful. Similar information under depreciation (applied of tangible assets) as well as cross-references from depreciation to amortization and vice versa might have increased information quality and provided consistent user help.

Venture Line's defi  nitions  of  'NON-CURRENT ASSET', 'FIXED ASSET' and 'FIXED ASSETS' rather confuse than help the user:

## NON-CURRENT ASSET

includes PPE (property, plant and equipment) as opposed to current assets  which  includes  cash,  cash  equivalents  (e.g.  securities,  shortterm notes, etc.), inventory and accounts receivable.

## FIXED ASSET

is a long-term tangible asset that is not expected to be converted into cash in the current or upcoming fi  scal year, e.g., buildings, real estate, production equipment,  and furniture. Sometimes called PLANT.

## FIXED ASSETS

are  those  assets  of  a  permanent  nature  required  for  the  normal conduct  of  a  business,  and  which  will  not  normally  be  converted into cash during the ensuring fi  scal period. For example, furniture, fi  xtures, land, and buildings are all fi  xed assets. However, accounts receivable and inventory are not. Sometimes called PLANT.

Having studied these defi  nitions, the user will learn the following:

Non-current assets include property, plant and equipment. Of these, plant is also known as a fi  xed asset or fi  xed assets. Non-current asset is defi  ned negatively in that it is not a current asset (which is defi  ned here, as well as under the lemma current asset , instead of using this article's space to provide a proper defi  nition of non-current asset ). Fixed asset is defi  ned as a tangible asset; however, a fi  xed asset may be an intangible or tangible asset, or a long-term investment. Plant is not a synonym to all types of fi  xed asset, only to one of the types of tangible assets. The defi  nitions are correct in stating the long-term aspect of a fi  xed asset, but must be said to be insuffi  cient with regard to other characteristics. The user may also wonder why fi  xed asset is included both in the singular and the plural forms.

Venture Line defi  nes CARRYING VALUE: ' also known as 'book value', it is a company's total assets minus intangible assets and liabilities, such as debt' . The user is not helped with any clear understanding of the meaning of book value/carrying value in respect of fi  xed assets (compare with the defi  nition in Example 2 below). A search for BOOK VALUE fi  nds a long and complicated defi  nition, elaborating on the de  fi  nition of carrying value that also fails to mention the effect of any deprecia  tion/amortisation, write-downs or revaluation.

New  York  State  Society  of  CPAs:  Accounting  Terminology  Guide (Nysscpa)

This dictionary defi  nes the lemma Amortization as:

'Gradual and periodic reduction of any amount, such as the periodic writedown of a BOND premium, the costs of an intangible ASSET or periodic payment of MORTGAGES or other DEBT '.

The particular use of amortisation in connection with intangible assets is included as are uses of the term in other contexts. The term depreciation is not included in the dictionary, and therefore, of course, a useful cross-reference to this term is not found.

According to the dictionary, 'capitalized terms that appear within defi    nitions of other terms are also defi  ned in this guide'. A search for ASSET gets no hit. However, a further study reveals that, erroneously, 'Fixed Asset' is defi  ned as the last part of the defi  nition under 'Fiscal Year' - probably a technical error.

Nysscpa defi  nes Income Statement as

```
'Summary of the effect of REVENUES and expenses over a period of time'.
```

The defi  nition  does  not  inform  the  user  that  the  income  statement  is part of the fi  nancial statements in a company's annual or interim report

- here the word summary seems confusing. The defi  nition includes a cross-reference to revenues, but not to expenses, which is inconsistent. Here,  a  cross-reference  to Annual Report (which  is  included)  would have been relevant. However, the defi  nition to Annual Report refers to the income statement by the synonym 'statement of earnings' (and therefore no cross-reference is provided); the user is not able to see the interrelationship, if he or she is not already aware of it:

## Annual Report

Report to the stockholders of a company which includes the company's annual, audited BALANCE  SHEET and  related statements of earnings, stockholders' or owners' equity and cash fl  ows, as well as other fi  nancial and business information.

Both Book Value and Carrying Value are found in this dictionary, however with a very brief, uniform defi  nition for both lemmata, no dif  ferentiation as to type of English, and no cross-references between the two of them.

## Glencoe Accounting Dictionary

Defi  nitions are brief, often too brief to give the user real help, several relevant basic accounting terms are not included (e.g. fi  xed asset/noncurrent  asset  and  amortisation  not  included),  and  there  are  no  crossreferences. The defi  nition to e.g. depreciation is:

'Allocating the cost of a plant asset over an asset's useful life.'

Glencoe includes book value with a brief, however incomplete defi  nition that works in the right direction: ' The value of an asset at a specifi  c point in time. For a plant, it equals the initial cost of the plant asset minus the accumulated depreciation '. As in Glencoe's defi  nition of de  precia  tion above, the use of plant asset contributes to making the defi  nition too narrow. As in Venture Line above, tangible fi  xed or non-current assets are limited to include plant, and property and equipment are not mentioned.  Obviously,  the  interpretation  of  tangible  fi  xed  assets  as plant rubs off on other lemmata.

## InvestorWords: HTML List of Accounting Terms

This  dictionary  offers  appropriate  defi  nitions  that  include  clickable cross-references. Two different defi  nitions under depreciation as well as amortization take care of polysemy. InvestorWords' list includes income statement , profi  t and loss account , book value , fi xed asset as well as noncurrent asset , but not profi  t and loss account and carry  ing amount/value . The defi  nition of noncurrent asset includes the fol  lowing  confusing  information  ' Examples  [of  noncurrent  assets]  include fi  xed assets, leasehold improvements, and intangible assets '.  Con  fusing,  as  intangible  assets  constitute  only  one  type  of  fi  xed  assets  (the other main types being tangible assets and investments).

## Ohio State University Accounting Terms

Amortization is defi  ned as 'the allocation of the acquisition cost of an intangible asset over its expected useful life' . However, Depreciation is defi  ned as 'the systematic expensing of original cost of fi  xed assets'. As there are no cross-references, the user searching for depreciation will not learn that amortization is used about intangible fi  xed assets.

For Fixed asset: defi  nition ends by saying 'also known as property, plant and equipment. Examples include land, machinery, and furniture' - intangibles are not mentioned, included or referred to, nor are income statement , profi  t  and  loss  account , book value and carrying amount/ value .

## Total Tax Solutions: Tax and Accounting Dictionary

The  defi  nitions  include  relevant  information  about  the  lemma.  The defi  nition of depreciation mentions the use of the term in connection with tangible assets, and the user is referred to amortisation - however, looking here, the user will not fi  nd that the defi  nition of amortisation says it is used about intangible assets. Book value is included with a brief defi  nition containing some of the relevant aspects. For Fixed assets , the user is referred to Capital Asset (singular),  where  the  defi  nition  has 'Assets of either a tangible or intangible nature …', failing to include the third type: investments. For the defi  nition of Income Statement , see below under 'Synonyms'.

## Synonyms in English varieties

None of the dictionaries include comments as to type of English in sy  nonyms. Nysscpa includes cross-references between book value and carrying value , stating 'also known as', but without referring to which term is British, American or international English usage. The same applies to InvestorWords, Ohio State University Accounting Terms and Total Tax Solutions that refer to synonyms by 'also called' or 'also known as'.

Under the lemma Income Statement , Total Tax Solutions says: 'The In  come Statement is also known as Profi  t & Loss Account, Statement of Earnings, Statement of Income or Statement of Operations' - users may take their pick as no distinction between the terms is provided, neither according to most frequent use nor to variety of English. Any user would have benefi  ted from knowing that all the terms are Amer  ican synonyms ( income statement being the most frequently used term), where income  statement and statement  of  income are  used  in  both American and international English, whereas profi  t and loss account is the British English term. A dictionary compiled by a California-based fi  rm should of course focus on  American English varieties of the lemmata,  however this is not true of other terms (see book value and  fi xed assets under 'Defi  nitions' above

## Antonyms

None were found to contain antonyms. Like synonyms, antonyms are needed to broaden the linguistic knowledge of the user. Antonyms help the  user  make  an  appropriate  choice  of  equivalent  (Selberg:  2004: 31), and expands the information provided by the defi  nition, enabling the user to understand the relationship between one term and another (Nielsen 1994: 279-281; and also Bergenholtz/Tarp 1995: 126-130). In this way, antonyms are useful for both text receptive and text productive purposes.

## Grammar and spelling

None of the dictionaries include data on grammar or spelling. Total Tax Solutions quotes lemmata in plural where a singular form exists - leading the user to suppose that this lemma is a plurale tantum : Fixed Assets (even with a cross-reference to Capital Assets) vis-à-vis Capital Asset (in the singular). This lemmatisation principle appears to be incon  sistent and confusing if the user searches for the term with a view to text pro  duction, translation or language audit.

As indicated above, spelling differs from British to American English, e.g. in amortisation (GB) and amortization (US). Here, the dictio  naries seem to focus on users within their own type of English with no reference to other options, not even the IFRS-option (GB spelling), which might be relevant, as the International Financial Reporting Standards will apply to all listed companies in the EU from 1 January 2005.

The use of upper-case versus lower-case letters is often misleading, espe  cially when upper-case letters are used in the whole lemma as in Venture Line (e.g. PROFIT AND LOSS STATEMENT) which makes it  impossible for the user to deduct which letters must be upper-case and which lower-case when quoting the term in another context when pro  ducing, translating or auditing texts. As appears from the Total Tax Solutions example above, Fixed Assets are shown with a capital F as well as A. This may also be time-consuming for the user if direct lemma search is performed electronically, and has an adverse effect on the search-related information costs.

## Collocations and phrases

None of the dictionaries contain collocations and phrases other than the context in which the defi  nition appears. The functions of the dictionaries (see  3.2.2  above)  are  knowledge-building  and  text  reception  (as  the only function among the communication-oriented functions), both within a more or less limited framework. With no or very limited data on grammar, spelling, various types of English (British, American or international), no collocations or phrases illustrating the use of nouns with special verbs and prepositions or other fi  xed contexts within ac  count  ing language, the dictionaries are of little and very limited use in con  nection with text production, translation, and language auditing.

## 4. What is the True Potential of an Internet Accounting Dictionary?

In the light of the above investigation of existing Internet accounting dictionaries and with a view to our ongoing compilation of the EnglishDanish Internet accounting dictionary, we shall now discuss the true potential of Internet accounting dictionaries and identify the elements that are required for an optimal Internet accounting dictionary for an international  user  group,  giving  examples  from  our  Danish-English Account  ing Dictionary that was opened to Internet access in 2003.

## 4.1.  Relating functions and data types

We have previously (Nielsen/Mourier in print) defi  ned a dictionary, includ  ing an Internet dictionary, as a lexicographic reference work that has been designed to fulfi  l one or more functions and stressed that it must contain lexicographic data supporting the function(s) as well as lexi  cographic structures that combine and link the data in order to fulfi  l the function(s). The functions of our Internet accounting dictionaries are both knowledge-oriented (factual information) and communicationoriented (information needed for text production, revision, editing and trans  lation).

When creating a multifunctional Internet accounting dictionary with a heterogeneous user group (see Sections 2 and 3 above), we must therefore include both factual and linguistic information. For an Internet-based electronic dictionary, space has no limits, but we also need to ensure that the user may search and easily access the data need  ed, so we have to plan the mapping of each article with this end in view.

As our dictionaries are fi  rst and foremost utility products they must be effi  cient both for knowledge-building and text production. Therefore, for knowledge-building, information data fi  elds are given in-depth treatment and lemmata supplemented with synonyms and antonyms where relevant. Factual data fi  elds may be included to supplement with specifi  c information about changes in accounting standards or legislation etc.

For linguistic purposes, grammar and spelling data as well as collocations and phrases should guide the user to fi  nd correct terminology and text solutions, and the British, American and international varieties of English that exist in a particularly high number in accounting texts must be included for the relevant lemmata, enabling the user to make the appro  priate choice of English. Because of being electronic dictionaries, the Internet accounting dictionaries are provided with a medium that makes it possible to include and arrange this considerable number of multi  purpose data in a logical way for the users - enabling each user to de  duct precisely the data he or she specifi  cally needs in the easiest and quick  est possible way.

The following examples from the Danish-English Internet accounting dictionary illustrate how we attempted to achieve this goal. We have chosen to include the same fi  ve terms as examined above in the discussion of other Internet accounting dictionaries:

1. profi  t and loss account/income statement - Danish lemma: resultatopgørelse
2. book value/carrying amount - Danish lemma: regnskabsmæssig værdi

3. fi  xed asset/non-current asset - Danish lemma: anlægsaktiv
4. depreciation - Danish lemma: afskrivning
5. amortisation (GB/IAS spelling)/amortization (US spelling) - Danish lemma: afskrivning.

Example1 : The article resultatopgørelse ('profi  t and loss account') in the Danish-English Internet Accounting Dictionary.

<!-- image -->

As Example 1 illustrates, the user looking for information about re  sultat  opgørelse is  informed that the English equivalent in US as well as inter  national English as applied by IFRS is income statement , and that the English equivalent in British English is profi  t and loss account . In this way, the user may decide which term is appropriate for his/her parti  cular use, depending on the variety of English needed.

The data  fi  eld  'synonyms'  informs  the  user  of  the  synonym P&L account ,  an  abbreviated  version of the equivalent profi  t and loss account .

The defi  nition to the Danish term enables the user to decide whether this is indeed the lemma needed. The defi  nition is extremely important, since it delimits the lemma in particular contexts, enabling one equivalent only to be offered as the correct choice, besides including semi-technical  terms  and  general  terms  as  seen  in  their  technical  'accounting'

mean  ing. Second, defi  nitions also provide users with problem-solving and  additional  information. This  is  particularly  helpful  to  translators who are not accounting experts (in Example 1, the user will e.g. learn about the content in the income statement). Specialists in accounting, on the other hand, need updated information about changed rules and new terminology 4 . In some cases, up-dating information is provided by the collocations, phrases or in a factual data fi  eld. For an illustration of this, see Examples 3, 4 and 5 below.

For polysemous lemmata, the defi  nitions are extremely important, as  they  will  provide  the  specifi  c  meaning  of  the  lemma  in  question, in this way combining it with the correct equivalent. Technically, this is done by listing the polysemous lemma as one headword that leads to two defi  nitions, each with the proper equivalent.  In total, the defi  ni  tions support a plurality of functions useful to a mixed user group. Homo  nyms are provided with a comment as to word class, for the Danish  word aftale e.g.,  there  are  two  separate  articles,  one  designating aftale as 'verb', the other as 'noun', after which follow the appropriate equivalents: agree and agreement .

The fi  eld 'collocations' contains sentences relevant to both knowledge- and comprehension-related functions. They provide the syntagma  tic information that is necessary for combining words and producing idiomatic  texts  in  a  foreign  language  above  the  term  level,  because the  collocational  patterns  of  L1  and  L2  differ.  Besides,  they  offer information about grammatical differences in L1 and L2. This is important  since  none  of  the  intended  users  can  be  expected  to  know  the relevant  grammatical aspects in situations involving translation, production, revision or editing of accounting texts. In many cases, a Danish singular noun or noun phrase corresponds to an English plural noun or noun phrase. The collocation shown in Example 4 below illustrates this.

The lemma ombygningsudgift ('rebuilding cost') provides an ex  ample where the phrase leasehold improvement costs gives the appro  priate trans  lation of the Danish phrase ombygningsudgifter vedrørende lejede lokaler [i.e. rebuilding costs in respect of leaseholds]. This phrase is particularly informative to the user, because the English phrase does not include the equivalent to the Danish lemma: rebuilding cost .

4   In  2001, new accounting legislation, and in this connection also new terminology, was introduced in Denmark; in Dec. 2003, IFRS introduced some new terminology in connection with the revision of existing IASs; similarly in March 2004 with the adoption of new IFRSs.

If the user needs information about additional Danish-related data, such data can be found in the Danish Internet Accounting Dictionary (accessed by clicking on the icon for this dictionary in the left column of the site). Here, the user will fi  nd information about grammar, and besides the defi  nition in Danish, Danish collocations and Danish phrases, and references to other lemmata relevant to this particular lemma.

Example 2 : The article regnskabsmæssig værdi ('book value/carrying amount/carrying value') in the Danish-English Internet  Accounting Dictionary.

<!-- image -->

Examples 1, 3, 4 and 5 show that the Danish-English Internet Accounting Dictionary provides data of interest to the user needing knowledge about L1 and L2, moving from L1 to L2. Example 3 below shows how the factual data fi  eld 'note' provides additional, up-dated information to the user in the Danish Internet Accounting Dictionary, in which the user may search for information special to Danish usage.

Example 3 : The article regnskabsmæssig værdi in the Danish Internet Accounting Dictionary.

<!-- image -->

Besides showing the English varieties, Example 4 illustrates the knowledgebuilding  function  of  the  defi  nition  and  the  collocation  shows  the grammatical difference between L1 and L2.

Example 4 : The article anlægsaktiv ('fi  xed asset'; 'non-current asset') in the Danish-English Internet Accounting Dictionary.

<!-- image -->

Example 5 shows how the Danish-English Internet Accounting Dictionary warns the user about the special American spelling and the use of two different equivalents in English in the factual data fi  elds.

Example 5 : The article afskrivning ('amortisation'; 'depreciation') in the Danish-English Internet Accounting Dictionary.

<!-- image -->

As shown, the data fi  elds provide the user with additional features of the lemmata. In the Danish-English Dictionary the user group consists of Danes, and therefore this information is provided in Danish. For the English-Danish Internet Dictionary in process, the operating lan  guage will of course be English. According to what is relevant for or appropriate to the individual lemma, the data fi  elds include:

Fig. 3 : Data fi  elds included in the Danish-English Internet Accounting Dictionary.

<!-- image -->

## 4.2.  Comparing Internet accounting dictionaries

In the following, the dictionaries listed in Figures 1 and 2 are referred to as 'O-IADs' (other Internet accounting dictionaries), whereas the DanishEnglish Internet Accounting Dictionary is referred to as 'DK/E-IAD'.

## Defi  nitions

Defi  nitions must help the user and should never create confusion. They should be precise in content, written in a clear language and be as brief as possible. As appears from 3.2.5 above, few of the O-IADs meet this requirement.

## Grammar, spelling, collocations and phrases

We have already established in 3.2.5, that none of the O-IADs provide infor  mation on grammar and spelling varieties, and for spelling, some of them even confuse the user by applying upper-case letters in the lemmata. None of them contains collocations or phrases that either illustrate the use of the lemmata in a context or provide additional knowledgeoriented information.

## Data fi  elds

A  comparison  between  the  data  fi  elds  listed  in  Figure  3  shows  the following:

- -For factual information (A), the O-IADs give only what is limited to the defi  nition, and for recommended usage of the term, no infor  mation is offered. As illustrated in the examples above, the DK/E-IAD offers both types of data.
- -None of the O-IADs listed above includes notes as to English varieties, their spelling and usage (B and C); some of them offer synonyms  in  other  English  varieties,  but  without  indicating  language origin, offering no help to the user who needs e.g. the American term rather than the British one. The DK/E-IAD offers English varieties where appropriate and includes comment fi  elds to the equivalent(s) concern  ing spelling and usage.
- -As for cross-references (D and E), some of the O-IADs have crossreferences, but only to other lemmata of interest, whereas the DK/EIAD leads the user to the lemma searched for, even though the search word was misspelled.

- -Regarding F: synonyms and G: antonyms, some O-IADs include a num  ber of synonyms; the DK/E-IAD includes both synonyms and antonyms (see 3.2.5 above for importance of these).
- -As to H: sources, only the DK/E-IAD refers to relevant sources, some of them being clickable so that the user will get direct access to the website in question.
- -As appears from the examples above, the DK/E-IAD seeks to meet the different user needs by providing an array of functions relevant to a dictionary specialising in accounting. At the same time this dictionary was compiled from the start as an electronic dictionary on the Internet and designed accordingly (see 4.3 below). The advantages are enormous: unlimited space, continuous updating possible (important to a dictionary that specialises in a rapidly develop  ing subject fi  eld such as accounting), and saving of search-related information costs. The disadvantages, if any, are diffi  cult to see.
- -A comparison of most of the Internet dictionaries listed in Figures 1 and 2 above with the Danish-English Internet Accounting Dictionary shows  the  importance  of  compiling  an  electronic  dictionary  as  a genuine electronic dictionary, i.e.  a  dictionary  that  has  been  compiled right from the start as an electronic dictionary, benefi  ting from the  technological  possibilities.  Providing  a  remake  of  an  existing print  ed dictionary is inappropriate, as will appear from the next section,  which discusses the special nature of electronic Internet dictionaries.

## 4.3.  Improving search options

It is important to have a clearly defi  ned search structure in an Internet dictionary because the user will not be able to turn over one page after another as in printed dictionaries. However, some Internet dictionaries appear to have been based on an existing printed dictionary or an ordinary computer fi  le, such as a Word fi  le, and not designed and developed direct  ly for the electronic medium. Accordingly, they do not take ad  vantage of the options available by the new technology on which electronic and Internet dictionaries are based. It is imperative that the lexico  graphers  give  careful  consideration  to  the  search  options  that  make  it possible for the user to benefi  t optimally from the data contained in the dictionary relative to its functions and the user's needs.

All the Internet accounting dictionaries examined except one, have fairly simple search structures, as the lemmata are all presented in one overall  alphabetical  list  or  in  several  alphabetical  lists  with  one  for each letter of the alphabet. This means that the dictionaries offer one of two ways for the user to search for a term. If the user wants to fi  nd the term profi  t and loss account , the user will either have to access an all-inclusive alphabetical list containing all the articles, beginning with the letter A, and he will then have to scroll down the list until the term is found. This involves a considerable amount of time being spent on scrolling up and down the word list; it corresponds to starting with the fi  rst page of the word list in a printed dictionary and turning each single page until the page containing the term profi  t and loss account is found. This may be an appropriate search process if the dictionary contains only few lemmata, such as the Japanese-English dictionary, where all 13 lemmata are presented on the screen at the same time; and similarly Everyone's ABC of Accounting Language with its entire 48 lemmata presented on the screen.

The search structure with several alphabetical lists requires the user to perform a number of search actions. The user will fi  rst have to fi  nd the list of the alphabet giving access to the list containing the term profi  t and loss account ,  and then perform a positive act to get access to this specifi  c list. This list contains all the lemmata beginning with the letter P arranged in alphabetical order, and the user will then have to scroll down the entire list until he fi  nds the term he is looking for. This corres  ponds to a search in a printed dictionary where the user has direct access to the pages containing the lemmata beginning with the letter P and then has to turn each single page until the page containing the term pro  fi  t and loss account is found. This search process may be appropriate in dictionaries that contain a total of several hundred lemmata, in particular if no list contains more lemmata than can collectively be shown on the screen.

The Danish-English accounting dictionary has a different search structure, primarily because it was designed and developed as an Internet dictionary  proper.  It  does  not  contain  an  alphabetical  list,  or  several alpha  betical lists, but allows the user to search directly for a particular term. If the user wants to look up the term profi  t and loss account , the user will have to type the term in a query text box and send the query by clicking on a search button. The result of the search will either be the article containing the lemma, or a message informing the user that the search term was not found. Had this been a printed dictionary, the user would be able to fi  nd the page with the term profi  t and loss account when he fi  rst opens the dictionary. This search process is appropriate in Inter  net dictionaries that contain several thousand lemmata, as it would re  quire the user to spend an inordinate amount of time scrolling up and down alphabetical lists of lemmata.

However, none of the dictionaries have the optimal search structure for an Internet accounting dictionary. The Danish-English accounting dic  tionary comes closest to offering the user optimal access to its data, but its access structure could be improved seen from the user's point of view. The disadvantage - one it shares with the other dictionaries examined - is that it only allows the user to search for lemmatised terms, which in effect means that the user can only search for the 'headline' of an article, and not for words contained elsewhere in the article such as in the defi  nition. Future Internet accounting dictionaries should contain  a  search  structure  that  allows  for  a  more  extensive  search along the lines described below. If the user wants to search for a particular term, the user types this into the query text box and sends the query by clicking a search button. It is important to appreciate that the term may be a single-word linguistic unit, e.g. asset ,  or  a  string  of  words,  e.g. pro  fi  t and loss account . The actual search should be arranged in such a way that it will start in the articles so that the term searched for is found in the lemma fi  eld, the infl  ection fi  eld, the collocation and phrase fi  eld,  and  in  the  examples, if any. When the search process has been completed, the user will be told that the search has given one of the following possible results:

1. The search term was fund x number of times in
2. (a) the lemma,
3. (b) x number of collocation and phrase fi  elds,
4. (c) x number of examples.
2. The search term was not found.

To optimise the search the user should be able to indicate whether the search string typed in the query text box is the lemma searched for, is the beginning of a lemma, is the end of a lemma, or whether the search string is contained in a lemma. The user can then select the relevant option before clicking the search button. The main disadvantage of these specifi  c options, except the fi  rst, is that the result of the search is likely to be a presentation of several lemmata or articles, often so many that they cannot all be shown on the screen at the same time. How  ever, if the user is aware of this, he should be able to manage his search optimally in any given situation, and if the user's guide contains the necessary information, the user will be able to make an informed choice.

In connection with Internet dictionaries containing thousands of lemma  ta and no alphabetically arranged list of headwords, the dic  tio  nary should be able to deal with misspellings when the user is searching for a lemma. This does not mean that the user can spell a word in the query text box in any way he likes, but seen from the user's point of view, it  will  reduce the search-related information costs if he feels that the dictionary is helping him rather than rejecting him. Using a log fi  le, the lexicographers may identify a relatively limited number of words that are important within the fi  eld of accounting but frequently misspelled by the users, for instance fi nanciel instead of fi nancial . It is important that  the  user  will  be  able  to  fi  nd  the  lemma  searched  for,  and  the lexicographers should keep in mind that an Internet dictionary offers technical options that compensate for the 'missing' word list known from printed dictionaries.

There are four solutions available to the lexicographers to deal with this type of situation. The dictionary may simply inform the user that the search resulted in no fi  nds; this will force the user to make another search,  is  not  particularly  informative  and  adds  to  the  search-related information  costs.  Secondly,  the  user  may  be  directed  auto  matically to the correctly spelled lemma without any comments. This is a pure ser  vice to the user, but he may never realise his spelling mis  take and continue making it when searching in the dictionary and when pro  ducing fi  nancial reporting texts. Thirdly, the user may fi  nd the misspelled lemma (e.g. fi nanciel ) and be explicitly told that it is wrong  ly spelled and then directed to the correctly spelled lemma (e.g. fi nan  cial ) by way of a cross-reference. This explicitly informs the user of his mistake and the correct spelling, but forces him to perform a new search activity by  clicking  on  the  cross-reference  address.  Moreover,  this  solution requires  that  the  lexicographers  lemmatise  the  misspelled  version  of the word, including the relevant information in the article, and providing the cross-reference. Finally, if the user misspells the search word (e.g.  fi nanciel )  he  may  be  directed  automatically  to  the  correctly spelled lemma and here fi  nd a comment that this word is commonly misspelled fi nanciel and that the dictionary does not recommend that spelling. This solution explicitly informs the user of his mistake and at the same time gives him the correct solution; and it keeps the searchrelat  ed information costs down as the user is not required to perform a new search activity. Furthermore, the lexicographers are not required to make an entire article dealing with the incorrectly spelled word, and this saves them work.

So far, the discussion of search options has focused on the terms as lem  mata, but the optimal Internet accounting dictionary will also contain a considerable number of collocations and phrases. Seen from the user's point of view, direct access to these fi  elds is benefi  cial, because it will give the user the opportunity to skip one or more steps in the search process compared to the traditional search options in both printed and electronic dictionaries. If the user can only search for lemmata, the user will have to fi  nd a collocation or phrase through a search operation consisting of at least two steps: the search for the lemma - and hence the article and the search for the collocation or phrase inside the article. The most ad  vantageous search option will allow the user to search directly for a collo  cation or phrase, such as recognise expenses or recognise expenses as incurred , instead of fi  rst having to go through a lemma/article. This also eliminates another problem the user is faced with in the traditional search structure, namely: Under which lemma should I search for the collo  cation/phrase? Should the user search under the lemma recognise (or recognize ), expense or incur ? The easy access to collocations and phrases is particularly relevant for the functions production, revision, edit  ing and translation.

Another option that may benefi  t the user's search is to allow the user to decide how much or how little he wants displayed on the screen. The query text box will typically be placed in screen mid-position, and the user may opt for certain fi  elds, such as examples, not to be displayed on the screen after a search has been performed. The search itself will not be affected by the user's choice, as it is a pure output function, which merely refl  ects the user's preferences. In the design phase, the lexico  graphers will have to decide whether the system should 're  mem  ber' the user's preferences in subsequent searches, and if so, how this is to be implemented technically.

## 5. Concluding Remarks

The examination of existing accounting dictionaries on the Internet has revealed a general need for a new type of dictionary. The dictionaries are mainly electronic versions of printed dictionaries or have been design  ed and prepared using principles that are only appropriate for printed dictionaries,  alternatively  traditional  electronic  fi  les.  Fur  ther  more, the target group of the individual dictionary is limited geo  graphically to such an extent that it is not really suited for an inter  national audience. The compilers need to take account of the advances made in lexi  cography for this to succeed, and there is clearly a need to take a functional approach to the design and compilation of Internet ac  count  ing dic  tionaries. This does not only benefi  t the users but also the lexicographers, in that it forces them to work on a strictly methodical basis.

A state-of-the art accounting dictionary on the Internet is one that guides the user and provides answers to his questions in a given use situation. The best way in which to do this is to make a multifunctional dic  tionary that can be used in communication-oriented situations as well as knowledge-oriented situations. It is therefore necessary for the lexico  graphers to identify the different types of user and their factual and lin  guistic competences and relate this to the data to be included in the dictionary. This is particularly relevant for a dictionary that is intended for a heterogeneous, international target group, as their competencies vary considerably. It is important to appreciate that the lexicographical infor  mation costs should be kept at a minimum, implying that the user should be able to understand the defi  nitions and the relationships between  the  terms  presented,  and  that  the  user  should  be  able  to  gain access to the data without wasting too much time and effort.

## 6. References

Bergenholtz, Henning and Kaufmann, Uwe 1997: Terminography and Lexicography. A Critical Survey of Dictionaries from a Single Specialist Field. In Hermes 18-1997 , 91-125.

- Bergenholtz, Henning and Nielsen, Sandro 2002: Terms in the Language of CultureDependent LSP Dictionaries. In Lexicographica. International Annual for Lexicography 18/2002 , 5-18.
- Bergenholtz, Henning and Tarp Sven 1995 (eds.): Manual of Specialised Lexicography. The  preparation  of  specialised  dictionaries .  Amsterdam/Philadelphia:  John  Benjamins Publishing.
- Mourier, Lise 2004: Communicating fi  nancial reporting across continents. In Hermes 32-2004 : 145-165.
- Nielsen, Sandro 1990: Contrastive Description of Dictionaries Covering LSP Communication. In Fachsprache/International Journal of LSP 3-4/1990 , 129-136.
- Nielsen, Sandro 1994: The Bilingual LSP Dictionary. Principles and Practice for Legal Language . Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag (Forum für Fachsprachen-Forschung 24).
- Nielsen, Sandro 1999. Mediostructures in Bilingual LSP Dictionaries. In Lexicographica. International Annual for Lexicography 15/1999 , 90-113.
- Nielsen, Sandro 2002a. Textual Condensation in the Articles of de Gruyter Wörterbuch Deutsch als Fremdsprache. In H. E. Wiegand (Hrsg.): Perspektiven der pädagogischen Lexikographie des Deutschen II. Untersuchungen anhand des »DE GRUYTER WÖRTER  BUCHS  DEUTSCH  ALS  FREMDSPRACHE« .  Tübingen:  Max  Niemyer Verlag,  597608.
- Nielsen, Sandro 2002b. Lexicographical Basis for an Electronic Bilin  gual Accounting Dictionary: Theoretical Considerations . URL:

http://www.sprog.asb.dk/sn/lexicographicalbasis.htm

- Nielsen, Sandro and Mourier, Lise (in print): Design of a Function-Based Internet Accounting Dictionary. Proceedings from Twelfth International Symposium on Lexicography, Copenhagen 29 April-1 May 2004 .
- Selberg, Ole Michael 2004. Lex Norsk/Polsk Ordbok Tex, Redaksjonshåndbok . URL : home.c2i.net/omselberg/pub/NPO-instruks.pdf