Lyons, John, 1932-2020

Sir John Lyons was among the first twentieth-century theoretical linguists to focus on semantics, and he rapidly gained a reputation as a major semanticist. He taught successively at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), at Cambridge with the first named Lectureship in Linguistics, then took up the Chair of General Linguistics at Edinburgh before moving to Sussex University. In 1984 he became Master of Trinity Hall, Cambridge. In his research, he emphasised the subjectivity of language against theoretical orthodoxy, was an inspiring teacher and a significant supporter of junior researchers. His book Semantics remains a major reference work.

Posted to Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the British Academy, XIX