astronomy

William Croft (linguist)

William Croft (linguist) is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand William Croft (linguist) rather than just read about it. In short: William Croft (born November 13, 1956) is an American professor of linguistics at the University of New Mexico, United States. From 1994 to 2005 he was successively research fellow, lecturer, reader and professor in Linguistics at the University of Manchester, UK.

Key takeaways

William Croft (linguist) belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect William Croft (linguist) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of William Croft (linguist) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

William Croft (born November 13, 1956) is an American professor of linguistics at the University of New Mexico, United States. From 1994 to 2005 he was successively research fellow, lecturer, reader and professor in Linguistics at the University of Manchester, UK. He is the inventor of and advocate for radical construction grammar, which among other things uses box-diagrams to compare and contrast the grammatical features of different natural languages. William Croft is a member of Save the Redwoods League's Board of Councillors.

Partial bibliography —— (1991). Syntactic Categories and Grammatical Relations: The Cognitive Organization of Information. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-12090-4. —— (2001). Explaining language change: an evolutionary approach. Harlow: Longman. ISBN 978-0-582-35677-1. —— (2001). Radical Construction Grammar: Syntactic theory in typological perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-829954-7. —— (2003). Typology and Universals. Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-00499-2. —— (1990). Typology and Universals. Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics (1st ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-36583-3. ——; Cruse, D. A. (2004). Cognitive Linguistics. Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics. ISBN 978-0-521-66770-8. —— (2012). Verbs: aspect and causal structure. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-924858-2.

References

External links Faculty page at the University of New Mexico

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with William Croft (linguist)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what William Croft (linguist) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to William Croft (linguist) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about William Croft (linguist) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of William Croft (linguist)

In research: William Croft (linguist) appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses William Croft (linguist) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: William Croft (linguist) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1956 births, 20th-century American academics, 20th-century American linguists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for William Croft (linguist) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study William Croft (linguist) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what William Croft (linguist) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain William Croft (linguist) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is William Croft (linguist) in simple terms?

Why does William Croft (linguist) matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study William Croft (linguist)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on William Croft (linguist).