ABSTRACT
Child language studies have come of age over the past thirty years or so, a development in which Susan Ervin-Tripp has played a major role. Some of the readers of this volume will know that I was associated with her in an early study, one which influenced some of the work that I have done since that time. Readers whose main interest is in child language may think that I disappeared into the academic woodwork, since I have done little work in this field since our work together in the early 1960s. Most of my research before and after that study has been with American Indian languages. I have developed a particular interest in trying to understand the social and cultural context of language transmission in small scale societies, an interest that was sparked and shaped in important ways by my early association with Susan.
