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1、 学校代矶 ： 10165 分类号 : 密级： _ 学 号 ： 201110684 連窜坪花大學 硕 士 学 位 论 文 关联理论视角下的美国情景喜剧中言语 幽默研究 A Study on Verbal Humor in American Sitcom from the Perspective of Relevance Theory 作者姓名： 刘娜 学科、专业： 英语语言文学 研究方向： 英语语言学 导师姓名： _ 姜晖 2014 年 3 月 学位论文独创性声明 本人承诺：所 M 交的学位论文是本人在导师指导下所取得的研究成果。论文中除特 别加以标注和致谢的地方外，不包含他人和其他机构已经撰
2、写或发太过的研究成果，丛 他冋志的研宄成果对本人的启示和所提供的帮助，均己在论文中做了明确的声明并表示 谢意。 学位论文作者签名： 叫占今 学位论文版权的使用授权书 本学位谂文作者完全了解辽宁师范大学有关保留、使用学位论文的规定，及学校有 权保留并向 H 家有关部门或机构送交复印件或磁盘 .允许论文被杳阅和借阅 .本文授权 辽宁师范大学，可以将学位论文的全部或部分内容编入有关数据库并进行检索，可以采 用影卬、缩卬或扫描等复制 T-段保存、汇编学位论文，并且本人屯 T 文的内荇和纸质 论文的内容相一致。 保密的学位论文在解密后使用本授权书。 学位论文作者签名 : 指导教师签名 : 签名丨丨期：
3、A Study on Verbal Humor in American Sitcom from the Perspective of Relevance Theory Liu Na A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS School of Foreign Languages LIAONING NORMAL UNIVERSITY 2014 摘 要 言语幽默是一门极具魅力的语言艺术，也是一种很好的交际方式。随着人们对幽默 认识的不断深入，我们发现单
4、纯分析语言本身并不能很好地阐释幽默。本文从关联理论 角度研究美国情景喜剧生活大爆炸中言语幽默理解的认知过程，试图探析言语幽默 理解过程中的认知机制并试图探寻实现言语幽默的常用策略与技巧，以便人们更好地理 解言语幽默。 言语幽默的实现应该被理解为一种心理认知过程，而不应只局限于传统的语码转换 模式。Sperber 和 Wilson 提出的关联理论将人类交际从认知的层面加以阐示。它主张根 据关联性来掲示听话人对发话 人交际意图的推理过程。情景喜剧可以为言语幽默的分析 提供丰富的语料。美国情景喜剧生活大爆炸因其语言特点鲜明，幽默风趣，一经播 出深受观众喜爱。本文主要采取定性的研究方法，从生活大爆炸一
5、至五季中随机选 取 30 集进行个案研究，以其中的言语幽默片段作为分析语料，在关联理论框架下通过 分析各个幽默片段如何被理解总结出言语幽默理解的认知机制。 同时，本文将收集到的语料从语音、语义、语用、修辞四个方面进行统计与归纳分 类，发现了制造言语幽默的一些常用技巧。如利用同音异形词、同音同形异义词、一词 多义、语义模糊、 语义双关、背景隐藏、故意曲解、未领会言者意图、隐喻、夸张、反 语等技巧。其中，语用技巧和修辞技巧出现的频率比较高，是实现言语幽默的两种重要 手段。 本文将关联理论应用到言语幽默的分析研究中，具有重要的理论价值及实际意义。 它不仅为今后对言语幽默的深入研究提供了更宽阔的视野；
6、还有助于人们更好地理解和 欣赏言语幽默，激励学生通过情景喜剧来提高英语水平。 关键词 ：言语幽默；关联理论；生活大爆炸 A Study on Verbal Humor in American Sitcom from the Perspective of Relevance Theory Abstract Verbal humor is an art of language with unique appeal and charm, and it is also a good way of communication. With many scholars continuous study, p
7、eople find that humor can not be adequately explained just by analyzing language itself. Thus, this thesis studies the cognitive process of verbal humor comprehension in the American sitcom The Big Bang Theory from the perspective of Relevance Theory. It aims to explore the cognitive mechanism of hu
8、mor comprehension and tries to discover the techniques that often used to contribute to realizing humorous effects so that we can interpret verbal humors better. The realization of verbal humor should be considered as a cognitive process instead of just being limited to the classic code model. Sperb
9、er and Wilson proposed the Relevance Theory which illustrates human communication from the perspective of cognition. It claims that we can explain how the audiences finally get the communicators real intention on the basis of relevance. Sitcoms can provide plenty of materials for humor study. The Bi
10、g Bang Theory has become one of the most popular American sitcoms for its distinct language feature and abundant amusing humors. This thesis mainly adopts the qualitative research method. The data sources are from a case study, in which 30 episodes of the sitcom The Big Bang Theory are randomly sele
11、cted from the first season to the fifth season. Various verbal humors are analyzed in the framework of the Relevance Theory. Based on the analysis, the author concludes the general cognitive mechanism of verbal humor comprehension. Meanwhile, the author makes a simple linguistic statistics of the ve
12、rbal humors mainly from the perspectives of phonology, semantics, pragmatics and rhetorics to further classify the techniques that contribute to verbal humors and find out which are often employed. As a result, the techniques of homophone, homonym, polysemy, ambiguity, semantic pun, suspense of back
13、ground, deliberate twisting the context, failure to match the assumptions, metaphor, hyperbole and irony are used. Among them, the frequencies of pragmatic and rhetorical techniques are higher than others, and they play an important role in producing humorous effects. The present research is an appl
14、ication of Relevance Theory to humor study. It has both theoretical and practical significance. The study not only provides a broader point of view for the further study on verbal humor in the future, but also can help people understand and appreciate humors better and motivate students to learn Eng
15、lish through sitcoms. Key words: Verbal Humor; Relevance Theory; The Big Bang Theory 目录 w . I Abstract . II 1 Introduction . 1 1.1 Need for the Study . 1 1.2 Significance of the Study . 1 1.3 Research Questions and Methodology . 2 1.4 Organization of the Study. 3 2 Literature Review . 5 2.1 An Overv
16、iew of Humor . 5 2.1.1 Definition of Humor . 5 2.1.2 Classification of Humor . 6 2.2 Conventional Study of Humor . 7 2.2.1 Superiority Theory . 7 2.2.2 Release Theory . 7 2.2.3 Incongruity Theory and IR Model . 8 2.3 Modern Linguistic Study of Humor . 9 2.3.1 Semantic Study of Humor . 9 2.3.2 Pragma
17、tic Study of Humor . 10 3 Framework of Relevance Theory . 12 3.1 Introduction to Relevance Theory . 12 3.2 Basic Concepts of Relevance Theory . 13 3.2.1 Code and Inferential Models of Communication . 13 3.2.2 Ostensive-Inferential Communication Model . 13 3.2.3 Contextual Effects and Processing Effo
18、rts . 15 3.2.4 Dynamic Context . 16 3.3 Definition of Relevance. 16 3.4 Principles of Relevance . 17 4 Application ofRelevance Theory to the Study of Verbal Humor in the Big Bang Theory . 20 4.1 Understanding Verbal Humor with Relevance Theory . 20 4.2 General Procedure of Verbal Humor Comprehension
19、 . 22 4.3 RT-based Inquiry of Techniques in Verbal Humor Production . 25 4.3.1 Phonological Techniquesof Verbal Humor Production . 26 4.3.2 Semantic Techniques of Verbal Humor Production . 27 4.3.3 Pragmatic Techniques of Verbal Humor Production . 30 4.3.4 Rhetorical Techniques of Verbal Humor Produ
20、ction . 33 5 Conclusion . 37 5.1 Major Findings . 37 5.2 Implications and Suggestions of the Study . 38 5.3 Limitations of the Study . 39 References . 40 Acknowledgements . 42 1 Introduction The present study is an exploratory one which analyzes verbal humor from the perspective of the Relevance The
21、ory. The interpretation of verbal humor not only involves the exchange of linguistic modes, but also concerning human cognition. Therefore, the thesis takes Sperber and Wilsons Relevance Theory as its theoretical framework for the present study. It aims to investigate how people realize humorous eff
22、ects and explore the strategies or techniques that contribute to the production of verbal humors by analyzing the verbal humors in the American Situational Comedy, The Big Bang Theory. 1.1 Need for the Study Humor, as an interesting and complicated subject, has already been extensively studied in ma
23、ny fields, like psychology, aesthetics, sociology, philosophy, linguistics, etc. Thus, we can see the significance of humor in our life and culture. Though we know different disciplines study humor with a different set of preconceptions and purposes, people still look forwards to finding a powerful
24、enough theory to unveil the mysterious mechanism of humor comprehension and production. The process of humor production and interpretation are concerning communication and cognition. Since the Relevance Theory is proposed based on the knowledge of psychology, when compared with other linguistic theo
25、ries, it has been considered to be more suitable and powerful in interpreting humors. Thus, we should try to apply this influential theory to the interpretation of humorous effect from a new perspective. Though there are several humor studies with the theoretical framework, they are not complete eno
26、ugh, for most of them are journal articles. This thesis will make a detailed linguistic analysis of verbal humor and explore the general procedure of humor comprehension and the techniques of humor production. Furthermore, I choose the classical modern American sitcom, the Big Bang Theory as data so
27、urce, for the visible comedy can fully present a special context and its funny language is much more approximate to our daily communication. On the other hand, there are abundant verbal humors which can also be classified into different groups for our study. 1.2 Significance of the Study As is clear
28、 to us, humor is a pervasive phenomenon and indispensable in human life throughout every nation, every race and culture. It can be found in literature, movies and TV programs, etc. Nash (1985) says, “Humor is a specifying characteristic of humanity.” The power of this characteristic should not be un
29、derestimated, for it can make our life more meaningful, colorful and wonderful. For many of us, humor is far more than a flashy decoration of life; in fact, it can be taken as an equipment of living. In modern society, humor is not just a way of relaxing but also helps improve the interpersonal rela
30、tionship. A sense of humor can be a guider for positive communication, including the resolution of embarrassment and conflicts. This research, based on the humorous chips in The Big Bang Theory, is to explore the mysterious internal mechanisms of verbal humors within the framework of Relevance Theor
31、y. Therefore, the research has both theoretical and practical significance. The theoretical significance lies in the fact that the study is a concrete application of the Relevance Theory and explores a new area for the development of the theory. The thesis will investigate the procedure of humor com
32、prehension and the techniques of humor production by generalizing the interpretation of humorous utterances in the sitcom with the knowledge of basic assumptions of relevance theory and the principle of relevance. Besides, the data sources in previous studies are mostly from Friends, which has alrea
33、dy been several decades5 old. Nowadays, it is of great significance to make a study of present language materials, which are more approximate to our life. The study also has a practical significance on better appreciation of the English comedies and skilled use of verbal humors. By analyzing various
34、 humorous examples, the study can help people interpret verbal humors in a better way. And it will also motivate students to learn native English and culture through sitcoms if they can appreciate the verbal humors appropriately. Therefore, the research can help people appreciate and use verbal humo
35、rs better. And the author hopes that it can make some contribution to the future study of verbal humor. 1.3 Research Questions and Methodology This present thesis is to conduct a linguistic study on verbal humors in the light of Relevance Theory and find out the mechanism of humor comprehension and
36、production by analyzing the examples in The Big Bang Theory. To realize the objective, the author has to carefully design the research questions of the present study, which will shed light on the general structure of the whole research. To be more clearly, the present thesis attempts to answer the f
37、ollowing two questions: (1) How is verbal humor realized by the audiences from the perspective of Relevance Theory? (2) What are the linguistic techniques that can contribute to humorous utterances? Next, the author will introduce the research method, according to which we will design this study and the data collection. The presen