Alan Cruse, who has died aged 86, was a member of the department of linguistics at the University of Manchester for 30 years and a leading figure in linguistics in the field of lexical semantics. His research in this area was marked by deep and original thinking.
His 1986 book, Lexical Semantics, provided for the first time a rigorous foundation for the analysis of lexical relations – like that between opposites and where a word is part of a whole or part of a system. It was extremely influential, not just in theoretical research on semantics but also in computational linguistics. He also made a mark on generations of linguistics students through his introductory textbook on semantics, Meaning in Language (1999). There were other volumes: joint editorship of the two-volume Handbook of Semantics (2002) and A Glossary of Semantics and Pragmatics (2006). His later work converged with the new theoretical movement of Cognitive Linguistics, on which he co-authored with William Croft another widely used textbook, published in 2004.
Alan was born in Newcastle, of Plymouth Brethren parents, David Cruse and Jean Watson Bell, went to the local grammar school and studied biology and botany at Imperial College London. A brief spell of teaching at Wellington grammar school led to him meeting Paule Jouvin, the school’s French “assistante” (and a Catholic, much to the outrage of his parents). After they married in 1961, he changed direction and taught English in Cyprus and in Iraq where, in both cases, he had to be hurriedly evacuated under military escort because of imminent wars.
His travels in the Middle East ended with Arabic, Greek and Turkish added to his already fluent French, German and Spanish (as well as his languages he was a fine musician, playing the piano, violin and guitar). Returning to the UK, he became a student, then in 1971 a lecturer, in the department of linguistics at the University of Manchester, where for many years I was his colleague.
He was devoted to his students, whom he helped without exception in ways both academic and personal. In particular, with his broad knowledge of overseas societies he was able to help foreign students who were somewhat lost in a foreign land.
Alan’s health was never the strongest and was not helped by suffering from concussion after being involved in a traffic accident. He gradually became very deaf and suffered with breathlessness after walking short distances. But, even in difficult years after his 2001 retirement, he was still revising his books and enjoying learning languages, becoming totally proficient in Welsh and polishing his Arabic.
He is survived by Paule, and their son, Pierre, and daughter, Lisette.
