ABSTRACT
This was a conference on the transition period from prelinguistic to linguistic communication. As somewhat of an outsider looking in, I have several impressions. First, and perhaps foremost, I detect a serious source of miscommunication. I take the transition period from prelinguistic to linguistic communication to be that period during which a child begins to combine words and her vocabulary explodes. But, I suspect that others do not and instead take it to be that period when the infant goes from preverbal to verbal communication. What a difference! In the latter case, the child uses but one word at a time and the words she uses are few. In the former case the child talks in, what we all agree, resembles sentences and draws on an extensive vocabulary. I much prefer to restrict the phrase "linguistic communication" to the latter meaning. In being conservative, I take my cue from my colleague David Premack who points out that it is relatively easy to teach a chimpanzee a limited vocabulary; however, it is exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to teach the same chimpanzee a grammar for generating sentences. Word use need not index linguistic prowess. Whatever the choice, it is absolutely crucial that investigators make clear which one is their's. Further, one's perspective on this conference will surely depend on which interpretation is assumed. For, from my perspective, little was said about the transition period.
