A Semantic Pragmatic Study of English Jokes
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31973/aj.v1i116.472Keywords:
Jokes, EnglishAbstract
This work is a semantic pragmatic study of English jokes, which entails a multi-disciplinary (both linguistic and paralinguistic) analysis of selected English jokes. Jokes represent a very developed and witty mode of language that requires a good deal of ‘domestic knowledge’ as well as ‘encyclopaedic knowledge’, to use cognitive semantic terms. The study is an attempt to highlight the linguistic competence and the cognitive competence that underlie a good English joke. More often than not, there is more to jokes than mere humour and laughter.
This paper tries to bring together language, cognition, and humour relying heavily on studies on the kinds of humorous phenomena which philosophers and linguists have already discussed. It is mainly concerned with unfolding the meaning construction and meaning conception aspects (both the principles and techniques) involved in English jokes, which could, at least partially, account for creativity, sense of humour, and wit within a cognitive semantic and pragmatic framework.
It is hypothesized here that jokes represented by the data collected in this study are reflective of many of the mental abilities (linguistic and otherwise) unique to the human mind with respect to meaning construction and meaning conception. This is tantamount to saying that a good deal of semantic and pragmatic concepts contribute to the construction of an English joke. It is also hypothesized that jokes are, for the most part, based on breaking and/or manipulating the linguistic rules and/or the cognitive semantic-pragmatic principles in a broad sense.
Authors tend to either eschew theoretical aims altogether, e.g. Alexander (1997), or present a grand theory, usually stating it in a few sentences of ordinary language, e.g. Latta (1999). In contrast, we shall proceed by examining small classes of jokes and attempting to find generalisations using technical terms that pertain to the fields that are brought together. The conclusions are summarised as preliminary empirical results, not as general predictive statements. To be more exact, we shall provide a description of particular subclasses of humorous phenomena; illustrate how various classes of jokes can be analysed relatively formally, focusing particularly on the linguistic mechanisms involved; and offer some tentative suggestions about the main information factors in simple jokes.
Downloads
References
• Attardo, S. (2001). Humorous texts: A semantic and pragmatic analysis. Humor Research 6, Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
• Attardo, S., & Raskin, V. (1991) ‘Script theory revis(it)ed: Joke similarity and joke representation model’, Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 4(3), pp. 293 -347.
• Berger, A. A. (1993/1998). An anatomy of humor, Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
• Cerf, B. (1964). Bennett Cerf ’s vest pocket book of jokes. London: Hammond, Hammond and Company.
• Cornwell, D., & Hobbs, S. (1991). ‘Defining the pun’, in Bennett, G. (ed.). Spoken in Jest. Vol. 21 of Folklore Society Mistletoe Series, Sheffield, UK: Sheffield Academic Press.
• Dienhart, J. M. (1999) ‘A linguistic look at riddles’, Journal of Pragmatics, 31(1), pp. 95-125.
• Evans, V. (2007). A Glossary of cognitive linguistics. Edinburgh. Edinburgh University Press.
• Evans, V., & Green, M. (2006). Cognitive linguistics. An introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
• Ferrando, I. N. I. (1998). A cognitive semantics analysis of the lexical units AT, ON, and IN in English. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Universitat Jaume I: Department de Filologia Anglesa I Romanica.
• Giora, R. (1988) ‘Victor Raskin: Semantic mechanisms of humor’, Philosophia, 18(4/7), pp. 409-15.
• Giora, R. (1991) ‘On the cognitive aspects of the joke’, Journal of Pragmatics, 16(5), pp. 465 -85.
• Goldstein, J. H., & McGhee, P. E. (eds). (1972). The psychology of humor. New York: Academic Press.
• Grice, H. P. (1975). Logic and conversation. In P. Cole & J. L. Morgan (Eds.), Syntax and semantics, 3: Speech acts (pp. 41-58). New York, NY: Academic Press.
• Latta, R. L. (1999). The basic humor process: A cognitive-shift theory and the case against incongruity. Humor Research 5, Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
• Levinson, S. C. (1983). Pragmatics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Metcalf, F. (1994). The penguin dictionary of jokes, London: Penguin Books.
• Nash, W. (1985). The language of humour. English Language 16, Harlow: Longman.
• Norrick, N. (2001). ‘On the conversational performance of narrative jokes: Toward an account of timing’, Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 14(3), pp. 255-74.
• Palmer, F. (1976). Semantics: A new outline. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Radden, G., & Dirven, R. (2007). Cognitive English grammar. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
• Raskin, V. (1985). Semantic mechanisms of humor, Dordrecht: Reidel.
• Raskin, V. (1998). ‘From the editor’, Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 11 (1), pp. 1-4.
• Ritchie, G. (2004). The linguistic analysis of jokes. London and New York: Routledge.
• Ruch, W. (ed.). (1996). ‘Special issue: Measurement approaches to sense of humor’, Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 9 (3/4).
• Ruch, W., Attardo, S., & Raskin, V. (1993) ‘Toward an empirical verification of the general theory of verbal humor’, Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 6(2), pp. 123-36.
• Russell, B. (1905). ‘On denoting’, Mind, 14, pp. 479-93.
• Saeed, J. I. (2003). Semantics (2nd ed.). Oxford: Blackwell.
• Schopenhauer, A. (1883). The world as will and idea. London: Trübner.
• van der Sandt, R. (1988) Context and presupposition, London: Croom Helm.
• Veatch, T. (1998). ‘A theory of humour’, Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 11(2), pp. 161-215.
• Walter, E. (Ed.). (2008). Cambridge advanced learner’s dictionasry (3rd ed.). Cambridgr: Cambridge University Press.
• Yule, G. (1996). Pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright and Licensing:
For all articles published in Al-Adab journal, copyright is retained by the authors. Articles are licensed under an open access Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license, meaning that anyone may download and read the paper for free. In addition, the article may be reused and quoted provided that the original published version is cited. These conditions allow for maximum use and exposure of the work.
Reproducing Published Material from other Publishers: It is absolutely essential that authors obtain permission to reproduce any published material (figures, schemes, tables or any extract of a text) which does not fall into the public domain, or for which they do not hold the copyright. Permission should be requested by the authors from the copyrightholder (usually the Publisher, please refer to the imprint of the individual publications to identify the copyrightholder).
Permission is required for: Your own works published by other Publishers and for which you did not retain copyright.
Substantial extracts from anyones' works or a series of works.
Use of Tables, Graphs, Charts, Schemes and Artworks if they are unaltered or slightly modified.
Photographs for which you do not hold copyright.
Permission is not required for: Reconstruction of your own table with data already published elsewhere. Please notice that in this case you must cite the source of the data in the form of either "Data from..." or "Adapted from...".
Reasonably short quotes are considered fair use and therefore do not require permission.
Graphs, Charts, Schemes and Artworks that are completely redrawn by the authors and significantly changed beyond recognition do not require permission.
Obtaining Permission
In order to avoid unnecessary delays in the publication process, you should start obtaining permissions as early as possible. If in any doubt about the copyright, apply for permission. Al-Adab Journal cannot publish material from other publications without permission.
The copyright holder may give you instructions on the form of acknowledgement to be followed; otherwise follow the style: "Reproduced with permission from [author], [book/journal title]; published by [publisher], [year].' at the end of the caption of the Table, Figure or Scheme.
How to Cite
