Webster presents an edited collection of works by British linguist, M. A. K. Halliday, written between the 1970s and 1990s, and based on Halliday's intensive study as a participant-observer of his own son, Nigel, and his developing language skills.

For nearly half a century, Professor M. A. K. Halliday has been enriching the discipline of linguistics with his keen insights into the social semiotic phenomenon we call language. This ten-volume series presents the seminal works of Professor Halliday. This fourth volume contains sixteen papers that look at the development of early childhood language. They are presented in three parts: infancy and protolanguage; the transition from child tongue to mother tongue; and early language and learning. The sociolinguistic account of the early development of the mother tongue presented by Professor Halliday is based on his intensive study of the language of one particular child, Nigel, for the period from nine- to eighteen months.

'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.'