A Brief Logical Analysis of Humor LanguageWord格式文档下载.docx

A Brief Logical Analysis of Humor LanguageWord格式文档下载.docx

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humor;

production;

interaction

1.Introduction

Humor,asapartofourlife,isacomplexdynamicsystem.Inaboardersense,humorisreflectedinallaspectsofoursociallife.Inanarrowersense,humoroftenrevealsthegeneralweaknessesoftheordinarypersonbut,withhumor,whatwouldoffendorcausepityinreallifecanberidiculouswithoutharm,sincetheaudiencelaughsnotatarealpersonbutacharacterwhotypifiesuglinessorbaseness.Moreover,humorhasitssoothingpower.Itinstantlytakesusawayevenifformomentsfromourtroublesandmakesthemeasiertobearanditgivesuspowerandanewperspective.Thiswaywegainachancetorelaxournerves,toreadjustourattitudestowardsourlifeandeventoourselves.

Humorhasbeenstudiedbypsychologists,physiologists,philosophersandlinguistsalike.Myinterestwillfocusonthefunnyeffectcausedbythedifferentperspectivesassumedbythetwospeakersinaconversation:

somethingthatwemaycall"

interactionalhumor."

Theword"

interactional"

standsfortherelationshipbetweenexecutantsandrespondentandbetweenthesuppositionsandentailmentsthatarethepragmaticorlogicalbasisoftheirrelationship.SinceIwillconductanalysisfromtheperspectiveoflogictoexplorehowhumorouseffectiscreated,Ibelievethatknowledgeoflogicwillillustratewhatislogicallywronginhumorouspiecesaswellasdeviantmodesofthinkingasreflectedinthem.Withtheseanalyses,wemayknowmoreabouthumor'

smechanisminsteadofmerelygettingfunfromit.

Asforthetheoreticalbasisofthepaper,mylogicalanalysiswillinvolvetwocorrelatedsub-perspectives:

violationsofthefundamentallogicallaws,anddifferentiationsfromhabitualmodesofthinking.Theformerstandsatthe"

surface"

levelinanalyzingillogicallanguage,whilethelatteratthe"

deep"

levelinanalyzingthemodeofthinkingthatgiverisetoillogicalutterances.Aristotleastherealfounderofthestudyoflogicdescribesthreelawsasthebasisofallvalidlogic:

theLawofIdentity（AisA）,theLawofNon-contradiction（AcannotbebothAandnotA）,andtheLawofExcludedMiddle（AmustbeeitherAornotA）.Thesearefundamentallawsguidinghumanthinking.Ourthoughtshouldbeconsistent,definiteandclearincommunication.Somehumorproductions,however,seemridiculousexactlybecausetheyviolateoneormoreoftheselawsdeliberatelyorunconsciously.

2.CloseRelationshipbetweenLogic,LanguageandHumor

SincetheclassicalperiodinGreece,philosophershaveconcernedthemselveswiththenatureofhumorandthecausesoflaughter.Yet,afterthousandsofyearsspenttryingtounderstandhumor,thereisstillagreatdealofcontroversiesaboutitsmechanism.

Thecloserelationbetweenlanguageandlogicformstherootoftheinteractionbetweenhumorandlogic.ThequestionoftherelationshipbetweenlanguageandthoughthashauntedthephilosopherseversincethetimeofancientGreeceandhasbeenachallengetolinguists,psychologistsandanthropologistsalike.TheviewthatlanguageisthematerialappearanceofthoughtandthoughtsareexpressedinamentallanguagedatesbacktothetimeofPlato.Itiscommonlyacknowledgedthataspeaker'

srealintentioncanbeknownthroughhisownlanguage.Theremustbesomelogicalprinciplestoguidetheexpressionineachdiscourse.Logicalinconsistencyisakeyelementofhumorleadingtoalaugh.

Inanalyzinghumor,logicalmechanismisalsooneelementofthesixknowledgeresources（KR）whichisthecentralideaoftheGeneralTheoryofVerbalHumor（GTVH）presentedbyAttardo（2001）.Acomplexpresupposition,afalsesyllogism,themismanagementofbecauseandtherefore,andcirclinglogicsareallthelogicaltriggerstohumor.

3．LogicalAnalysisofHumor

Logicaldeviationsometimesoccursateachleveloflogicalthinking,whichincludesfaultyreasoning,viciouscircles,falseanalogyandfalsesyllogism.Thissectionwillnarrowthescopedownbyrestrictinganalysistotheincongruity-basedhumorwherelikelihood,logicalmalpracticeconcerningtheviolationoflogicallaws,falseanalogytogetherwithunexpectedresultfromlogicalinferencefunctioninthehumorouseffect.

3.1ViolationoftheLawofIdentity

AccordingtotheLawofIdentity,anythingisalwaysconsistentwithitself.Itsaysthatthethingswerefertoinourcommunicationshouldbethesameones.Theformulaofthislawis:

AisA.Areferstoanyconceptionorproposition.Thatistosay,inthesamecontext,thesamemeaningshouldbeexpressedthroughthesamesemanticexpression.Humormayarisewhenthelawofidentityisnotfollowed.Commonmistakesofthisviolationincludeconceptconfusion,conceptsubstitution,topicsubstitutionortopicdivergence.

3.1.1ConceptConfusion

Everyconcepthasitownintentionandextension.Conceptconfusionoccurswhentheintensionandtheextensionoftheconceptchange.Therealconnotationdiffersalthoughapparentlythesameliteralexpressionisused.Theincongruityleadstohumor.

Example1:

Theteacherasksthestudents:

"

What'

sthehalfofeight?

"

Onestudentanswersquickly:

Itshouldbetwozeros."

Thenanotherstudentsaid:

That'

stheanswerforbeingdividedupsideanddownside.Thereshouldbetwothreesifitwasdividedfromrighttoleft."

Thesetwostudentshaveconfusedthereferenceoftheword"

eight"

.The"

intheteacher'

squestionreferstothefigure.Butthestudent'

sperspectiveisthattheylooktheeightasthefigureitself.Theymakeconfusionbetweenthefigureitselfandthefigurereferredto.Itisareferentialambiguityscriptjoke.

3.1.2ConceptSubstitution

Conceptsubstitutionmeansthatthespeakersubstitutestherealmeaningofoneconceptforaspecificsituation,andusesitindicatinganothermeaningwhichisquitedifferentwiththepreviousone.Thecontrastofthesetwoconnotationsofthesameexpressioncreatesanincongruityandmakeslaughter.

Example2:

Employer:

Forthisjobwewantaresponsibleman.

Applicant:

Thenyouwantme.EverywhereI'

veworkedwhensomethingwentwrongtheysaidIwasresponsible.

Responsibleman"

meansthepersonshouldbestrictwithhisjob,andensurethathisworkiswellqualified.Buttheapplicant'

sunderstandingisnotinconformitywiththis.Whathesaystellsthatheshouldbeartheresponsibilityforhismistakes,andthatindicatesthatheiscareless,withoutasenseofresponsibility.Infact,thesame"

responsible"

carriestheoppositemeaning.Theambiguityofthewordgivesthechoiceofsubstitutionandcreatesthefunnyeffect.Inthisshortdiscourse,theword"

shouldcarryonedefinitemeaning.Infact,thedeviceofusingawordthatcanexpressambiguitymeaningsisaneasilyunderstoodone.

3.1.3Topicsubstitution

Topicsubstitutionmeansusingonejudgmenttosubstituteanother,orusingoneprerequisitetosubstitutethewholeprerequisite.

Example3:

Bride:

John,wouldyoulendmefiftydollarsifIaskedyou?

John:

Why,yes,Isupposeso."

Allright,then,lendmefifty,butjustgiveme25ofit."

0k,Butwhy?

Thenyou'

lloweme25andI'

lloweyou25andwe'

llbeallsquare."

Bridesubstitutesthemoneythatwillbelenttohimasthemoneyheownshimself.Onthatfalsebasishemakesinfactanunfairplan.ItisRightpremisesvs.Reasonfromfalsepremisesscriptoppositionandtheresolutionmakesalaugh.

3.1.4TopicDivergence

Topicsdivergencereferstoachangeinthedirectionoftheconversationinsteadoffollowingthecourseofcommunication:

Example4:

Marywassodisgustedatherhusband'

scigarettesmokingthatshecomplainedtohimoneday.

Ihopethatallthecigarettefactorieswillcatchfiresomeday."

Don'

tworry,dear.Allthecigaretteswillbeonfiresoonerorlater."

Hesaidwithasmile.

Thefirst"

fire"

meansthefactorieswillbedestroyedbybig"

whilethesecond"

meansthecigaretteswillbelitandthensmoked.Theirsemanticmeaningsdifferalotinthiscontext.Therealmeaningofasentenceislargelydeterminedbythecontextinwhichitoccurs.Aslanguagecanservemanypurposes,onlywiththeoverallconsiderationofthespecificbackgroundcanweobtainthecorrectintentionoftheexpression.Humorexploitstheambiguityandleadsthereaderuptothegardenpath.

3.2ViolationoftheLawofNon-contradiction

Accordingtothenon-contradictionlaw,AcannotbebothAandnotA.Itmeansthatifanythingissaidtohaveacertainattribute,itcannotbesaidnottohavethatattribute.Inotherwords,anexpressioncannothaveandhavenoneofacertainmeaningatthesametime.Manyhumorousstoriescomefromfloutingthislaw.

Example5:

MymotherandIwerestandingatthecheckoutinthesupermarketasthecashierscanned

thethingswebought.Whenthepriceofabottleoforangejuicewasscannedas$4,mymother

said,"

It'

sonly$3.95."

Thecashierstoppedwhatshewasdoinganddisappeareddownoneoftheaislestocheck

theprice.Shesoonreturnedandsaidthatthepricewas$3.95.Whenshehandedmymother

thechange,thefivecentcoinrolledontothefloor.Muchtomyamusement,asthecashierbent

overtosearchforit,mymothersaid"

Oh,don'

tbother,it'

sonlyfivecents."

T