Description: The Language of Early Childhood is the fourth volume in the collected works of Professor M.A.K. Halliday. Eighteen papers looking at the development of early childhood language are presented over three sections: infancy and protolanguage; transition from childhood tongue to mother tongue; early language and learning. The sociolinguistic account of the early development of the mother tongue presented in Professor Halliday's works is based on his intensive study of the language of one particular child, Nigel, for the period from nine to eighteen months. The complete 'Nigel Transcripts' will also be included on CD with this volume.
Brief description: Professor Jonathan J. Webster is Head of the Department of Chinese, Translation and Linguistics at the City University of Hong Kong. He is also the Managing Editor of the International Linguistics Association's journal WORD, and the editor of the forthcoming Journal of World Languages (2014).
Review Quotes: 'These four volumes (4,5,6 and 7) venture into remarkably diverse fields. How one man could master the minutiae of all these areas of linguistic research is a matter for wonder and admiration. As a linguistic polymath, Halliday far outstrips all contemporaries...One need look for no further explanation of Halliday's current stature as doyen of British linguistics.
The publication of Halliday's complete papers is an important contribution to scholarly documentation.' --Sanford Lakoff "Times Literary Supplement "