語用視覺下對《生活大爆炸》的言語幽默分析英語學(xué)專業(yè)

1、 v題 目 語用視覺下對生活大爆炸的言語幽默分析 姓 AcknowledgementsThis thesis would not have been completed without numerous peoples invaluable help and support, to whom; I would like to take this opportunity to show my heart-felt gratitude. First and foremost, I am especially grateful to my supervisor, Liu Weiwei. She ha

2、s offered me constructive and insightful instructions to help me complete this thesis. From the initial draft to the final paper, Mrs. Liu has provided inspiring encouragement and patient guidance for me.Besides, I extend my thanks to Professor Li Qiang and every teacher who has helped me with usefu

3、l suggestions and comments. My immense thanks also go to my friends who supported me.Finally, I would like to express my warmest gratitude to my family for their unconditional love and support.AbstractHumor plays an important role in English culture. Situation Comedy (shortened as sitcom) is one of

4、the most popular programs in which verbal humor plays an important role. As one of the most popular American sitcoms, The Big Bang Theory has a distinct language feature for the verbal humor research. This paper aims at finding out the present situation of English and Chinese verbal humor under the

5、Pragmatic Vision, clarifying the similarities and differences between English and Chinese humor; this paper also intends to employ one Pragmatic Theory, namely the Cooperative Principle (Shortened as CP) to analyze the cultural factors through the sitcom to find out how the intercultural communicati

6、on is applied to speech of humor.This paper analyzes the English language materials in The Big Bang Theory by collecting and transcribing the online video materials into text, and using the Cooperative Principle to analyze the examples, interprets the phenomenon of verbal humor. It is believed that

7、the analysis of the sitcom The Big Bang Theory will help the English learners to understand and appreciate the humor in the American TV drama better and foster a stronger interest in language learning to promote better learning. Human communication behaviors can be well understan1d. Chinese peoples

8、appreciating the humor of foreign culture and their sense of humor can be impressed by such a study. Also, the understanding of the inner generation mechanism of verbal humor can be deepened, while a meaningful reference for English teaching and intercultural communication is offered.Key words: coop

9、erative principle; sitcom; verbal humor; The Big Bang Theory摘 要幽默，作為一種語言現(xiàn)象在英語文化中有著舉足輕重的作用。情景喜劇是最受電視觀眾喜愛的藝術(shù)節(jié)目之一，而其中的言語幽默是其藝術(shù)創(chuàng)作的重要組成部分?，F(xiàn)階段正在熱播的美國情景喜劇生活大爆炸一經(jīng)播出便受到廣大觀眾的喜愛。其語言特點鮮明、風(fēng)趣幽默，具有典型的情景喜劇的特點，很有研究的代表性。本文在于發(fā)現(xiàn)英漢言語幽默的現(xiàn)狀；弄清楚英漢幽默的相似之處以及區(qū)別；本文從語用學(xué)角度出發(fā)，運用合作則分析美國當(dāng)今流行情景喜劇生活大爆炸中大量言語幽默，通過情景喜劇來分析文化因素，以了解跨文化交際如何

10、應(yīng)用于言語幽默。本文通過網(wǎng)絡(luò)視頻資料搜集并轉(zhuǎn)錄為文本的方式，選取生活大爆炸中的英語語言材料，運用合作原則進行實例分析，詮釋了言語幽默這一現(xiàn)象。相信通過本文對情景喜劇生活大爆炸的分析，能幫助英語學(xué)習(xí)者更好地理解和體會美劇中的幽默， 培養(yǎng)出更濃厚的語言學(xué)習(xí)興趣以促進更好地學(xué)習(xí)?？傊Ｍ@項研究對于深入了解人類的交際行為、提高國人的欣賞水平以及培養(yǎng)國人的幽默意識有一定的幫助。本文有利于我們加深對言語幽默的產(chǎn)生的內(nèi)在機制的認(rèn)識，同時對英語教學(xué)和跨文化交際提供了有意義的借鑒。關(guān)鍵詞：合作原則；情景喜??；言語幽默；生活大爆炸Contents TOC o 1-3 h z u HYPERLINK l _To

11、c485558251 云南民族大學(xué)畢業(yè)論文(設(shè)計)原創(chuàng)性聲明 PAGEREF _Toc485558251 h i HYPERLINK l _Toc485558252 Acknowledgements PAGEREF _Toc485558252 h ii HYPERLINK l _Toc485558253 Abstract PAGEREF _Toc485558253 h iii HYPERLINK l _Toc485558254 摘 要 PAGEREF _Toc485558254 h iv HYPERLINK l _Toc485558255 1. Introduction PAGEREF _To

12、c485558255 h 1 HYPERLINK l _Toc485558256 1.1A Brief Introduction of the paper PAGEREF _Toc485558256 h 1 HYPERLINK l _Toc485558257 1.2 The Purpose of the paper PAGEREF _Toc485558257 h 1 HYPERLINK l _Toc485558258 2. Literature Review PAGEREF _Toc485558258 h 3 HYPERLINK l _Toc485558259 2.1 Overseas Stu

13、dy PAGEREF _Toc485558259 h 3 HYPERLINK l _Toc485558260 2.2 Domestic Study PAGEREF _Toc485558260 h 4 HYPERLINK l _Toc485558261 3. Theoretical Framework PAGEREF _Toc485558261 h 6 HYPERLINK l _Toc485558262 3.1Humor PAGEREF _Toc485558262 h 6 HYPERLINK l _Toc485558263 3.1.1 Definition of humor PAGEREF _T

14、oc485558263 h 6 HYPERLINK l _Toc485558264 3.1.2 Classification of humor PAGEREF _Toc485558264 h 7 HYPERLINK l _Toc485558265 3.2Situation comedy PAGEREF _Toc485558265 h 9 HYPERLINK l _Toc485558266 3.2.1 Definition of Situation comedy PAGEREF _Toc485558266 h 9 HYPERLINK l _Toc485558267 3.2.2 Introduct

15、ion of The Big Bang Theory PAGEREF _Toc485558267 h 10 HYPERLINK l _Toc485558268 3.3Cooperative Principle PAGEREF _Toc485558268 h 12 HYPERLINK l _Toc485558269 3.3.1 The Maxim of Quantity PAGEREF _Toc485558269 h 13 HYPERLINK l _Toc485558270 3.3.2 The Maxim of Quality PAGEREF _Toc485558270 h 13 HYPERLI

16、NK l _Toc485558271 3.3.3 The Maxim of Relevance PAGEREF _Toc485558271 h 13 HYPERLINK l _Toc485558272 3.3.4 The Maxim of Manner PAGEREF _Toc485558272 h 14 HYPERLINK l _Toc485558273 4. Discourse Analysis Under the Guidance of Cooperative Principle PAGEREF _Toc485558273 h 15 HYPERLINK l _Toc485558274 4

17、.1Violating the Maxim of Quantity PAGEREF _Toc485558274 h 15 HYPERLINK l _Toc485558275 4.2Violating the Maxim of Quality PAGEREF _Toc485558275 h 16 HYPERLINK l _Toc485558276 4.3Violating the Maxim of Relevance PAGEREF _Toc485558276 h 17 HYPERLINK l _Toc485558277 4.4Violating the Maxim of Manner PAGE

18、REF _Toc485558277 h 19 HYPERLINK l _Toc485558278 5. Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc485558278 h 21 HYPERLINK l _Toc485558279 5.1Summary of this thesis PAGEREF _Toc485558279 h 21 HYPERLINK l _Toc485558280 5.2Limitation of the present study PAGEREF _Toc485558280 h 21 HYPERLINK l _Toc485558281 References PAGERE

19、F _Toc485558281 h 22PAGE 23IntroductionThis thesis aims at analyzing the verbal humor in The Big Bang Theory by usingthe Cooperative Principle from the perspective of pragmatics.A Brief Introduction of the paperBased on the comparative analysis, this thesis aims at analyzing the verbal humor in The

20、Big Bang Theory by using the Cooperation Principle from the perspective of pragmatics. It provides some effective suggestions for people to understand and appreciate English verbal humor. The paper provides some useful suggestions for people to understand and findings of this appreciate verbal humor

21、.From the perspective of pragmatics, this research intends to employ one principle, namely the Cooperative Principle (Shortened as CP) to analyze the inner generation mechanism of verbal in the sitcom The Big Bang Theory. Furthermore, this principle is also compared on its different interpretations

22、of the generation mechanism of verbal humor in this paper. Moreover, both theories lead their limitations on explaining certain kind of verbal humor. The corresponding theoretical hypothesis is further verified and developed by applying the pragmatic approach to the explanation of the generation mec

23、hanisms of verbal humor in the specific context-sitcom. The summary of this thesis provide some useful suggestions for people to understand and appreciate verbal humor. 1.2 The Purpose of the paperHumor is of great significance and plays an important role in human communication. Humor not only allow

24、s people to relax and happy, but also to eliminate the embarrassment, improve interpersonal relationships and increase entertainment. Basically, humor contains the rich wisdom and emotion of mankind, and is worth studying and exploring. Situational comedy (sitcom), as a very popular type of televisi

25、on programs, is very interesting to the Chinese audience. The laughter-provoking conversation is the secret of its success. In order to appreciate the American sitcom better, we must focus on appreciating its verbal humor. However, our Chinese audience often cannot grasp the point of sitcom. This pa

26、per analyzes humor from the perspective of speech behavior, hoping to increase the learners interest in language learning and verbal humor. With a theoretical analysis of the subtitles from The Big Bang Theory, the trigger of humor in modern American sitcoms can be partially revealed.Literature Revi

27、ewLiterature review, which briefly expounds the theoretical research results of verbal humor both at home and abroad.2.1 Overseas Study Raskins Semantic Script Theory of Humor (SSTH) is the first linguistic study of humor. It is used to mimic the process of interpreting joke text through linguistic

28、dictionaries and encyclopedia knowledge. A term is a script that goes far beyond its definition. In addition, scripts contain the word “knots” and the meaning between these knots. More sentences are constructed as sentences, and some inappropriate scripts are filtered, leaving more efficient.In prac

29、tical research, Grices cooperative principles are often used to express humor. In addition, theorists pay more attention to the interaction of humor with gender, working conditions, and so on. Crawford (2003) is the first linguist to study humorous speech behavior in terms of gender. She defines gen

30、der and humor as boundaries: Gender is a priori system of rights, status and resources, and humor is a special mode of speech and skill. Jennifer (2001) studies the role of humor in the conversation between men and women: women tend to defend and protect themselves through humor, while men tend to s

31、how their friendship through humor.In the field of cross-cultural research, nationality-related humor is popular with most humor researchers, because humor reflects the countrys personality, ideological preferences, and emotional expression. Ziv (1988) writes in his National Humor (1988) that this b

32、ook is the ancestor of the comparative humor of each nationality. In fact, in his “sense of humor and personality”, he elaborated on different countries of different humor, as well as their national character reflection and feedback.In cognitive linguistics, the most typical research is inconsistent

33、 theory. With the development of cognitive linguistics, tools in cognitive linguistics such as script, framework, background theory and pattern theory are used in humor research. Minsky (1980) uses framework transformations to explain the semantic leap in humorous speech act.In computational linguis

34、tics, it is only in the nascent stage. However, it has become one of the most complex and popular subjects. It presents joke generators, simple crossword puzzles and pun sound generators. The biggest challenge in computational linguistics is that the effective use of jokes is based on very complex t

35、hings: world facts, reasoning methods, and mercury backgrounds.2.2 Domestic StudyIn recent years, many scholars have studied the verbal humor in English and Chinese from the pragmatic perspective. Shao Mengyuan (2012) summed up the cross-cultural perspective of Chinese and English humor. From the pe

36、rspective of intercultural communication, Lu Bing (2008) made efforts to investigate the similarities and distinctions between English and Chinese verbal humors from the perspective of cross-cultural communication and the causes rooted in different cultures. Yan Fang (2010) is the author of the stud

37、y of the humor in Chinese and English from the perspective of intercultural perspectives. And then explores the cultural and social causes of humor differences in English and Chinese verbal humor. Qian Jing (2014) contrasts the five major differences between English and Chinese verbal humor by way o

38、f examples. In addition, Huang Lei and Yang Yan (2012) jointly analyzed the cultural similarities and differences between English and Chinese humorous utterances. Guo Junfang (2010) contrasted the humor and humor dilemma between English and Chinese, and thus expounded the influence on language learn

39、ing. In addition, Mu Huili (2001) made a cross-cultural comparison of verbal humor between English and Chinese. Lin Zhulu (2001) analyzes the English-Chinese contrast and pragmatic failure in intercultural communication. Sun Mu (2012) makes a contrastive analysis of English and Chinese humor under t

40、he influence of cultural context. Wang Zhiping (2008) compares the humorous words in English and Chinese; Guo Huixiang (2013) on American sitcom violated the principle of cooperation and courtesy principles of speech humor research; and so on. The scholars focus on analysis of the related theories a

41、nd the relationship between verbal humor and culture. After the presentation of the definitions, functions and theories on verbal humor, there follows discussions about features of cultures and cross-cultural communication. Based on the above analysis, conclusion about deep relationship between humo

42、r and culture is reached, which provides theoretical basis for the following researches.Theoretical FrameworkIt is a part to introduce the research background and theoretical basis of this paper.Humor This section describes the different definitions of humor and the various categories of humor. The

43、definition of humor is provided by different channels.3.1.1 Definition of humorThe term “humor” is often used in our lives, and we can find humor in our conversations, books, magazines and movies, almost anywhere in our lives. What is humor? The problem seems to be easy to answer because we can give

44、 a lot of examples of humor. However, this is not a simple task when we try to define the word “humor”.The origin of the term “humor” is not far away. It is a Latin word, meaning fluid or moisture, which derived during 17th Century from psycho-physiology, exploring four basic bodily humors or fluids

45、 that functioned in affecting ones temperament. The meaning of the term “humor” has changed dramatically over time and has narrowed in some ways, with various interpretations there, but there is no uniform definition that all researchers can accept.Some authoritative dictionaries tend to offer an al

46、l-inclusive definition, but so far, there exists no universally accepted definition in dictionaries either. Each definition follows different theories.“Humor is the quality in something that makes it funny or amusing; the ability to laugh at things that are amusing.” Oxford Advanced Learners English

47、-Chinese Dictionary (6th edition)“Humor is the quality in something that makes it funny amusement or the ability to understand and enjoy funny situations or to laugh at things.” Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English,“Humor is the quality which appeals to a sense of the ludicrous or absurdly inc

48、ongruous; the mental faculty of discovering, expressing or appreciating the ludicrous or absurdly incongruous; something that is designed to be comical or amusing.” Merriam Websters 11th Collegiate Dictionary“Humor is something interesting or playful and having deep meaning or thought-provoking.” Mo

49、dern Chinese DictionaryIf we take a closer look at the above definitions, it is fairly obvious to conclude that to be laughable, funny, or amusing seems to be the essence of humor. In our work, the linguistic humor is considered as a social phenomenon as well as a cultural one in the spirit of Kerbr

50、at-Orecchinnis pragmatic definition of humor as “a text whose perlocutionary effect is laughter”. Just as Attardo insists that humor can be inferred from its effect, anything that is interpreted as funny is humor. (Attardo, 1994)In a word, humor should meet two basic conditions: funny or laughing; h

51、ave a profound meaning or people think.Classification of humorAccording to the language involved, Bergson (1917) humor is divided into “situational humor” and “verbal humor”. Also known as nonverbal humor is not created by language, but rather pointing to some humorous context, from visual or physic

52、al stimuli. Linguistic humor, also known as verbal humor, refers to the humor generated by the language system, to a large extent by means of context. Verbal humor is common in our daily conversation. Although contextual humor contextual humor surrounds the situational context in which it forms, lan

53、guage humor involves language, spoken or writing, including humor expressed in the language of writing with language and humor. However, it must be clear that situational humor and verbal humor are not necessarily mutually exclusive, and humorous language does not allow language and verbal humor wit

54、hout context. The key is contextual humor language is complementary, not the main role. In contrast, language humor is occasionally created or expressed by language. Because of the lack of contextual humor, the participation of language is not considered in this paper. Verbal humor is the subject of

55、 this paper, which refers to the theory of the humorous utterances of the characters in the sitcom The Big Bang Theory, specifically, humorous utterances in sitcoms. In this sense, verbal humor is the main theme of the study.Humor can distinguish between intentional and unintentional based on whethe

56、r the speaker deliberately creates humor. Unintentional humor is mostly naive and does not involve many languages. Therefore, unintentional humor is not within the scope of this paper. In fact, almost all of the humor in the sitcom belongs to the category of intentional humor, that is, the humor is

57、produced by the speaker unconsciously. Since almost every humorous dialogue in this paper can be treated as a language program through verbal humor, the sitcom does not need to focus on unintentional humor; it is understandable that verbal humor is the main concern of this article. In relatively lim

58、ited space, limited time and fixed characters, sitcom language is the main factor triggering humor. Speech exchange is the focus of sitcom humor. Once the audience seizes the spirit of oral humor, they will laugh. General review of the study on verbal humorIn the field of linguistics, researchers ha

59、ve studied humor from the perspective of cooperation, ambiguity and speech. Humor, as an important part of language and common phenomena, including language and nonverbal human behavior; humor is the ability to think about something. Many people have a sense of humor. It is about the influence of hu

60、mor perception on human emotional life and its interaction with psychological construction. Relevance theory holds that verbal communication involves not only coding and decoding, but also involves more critical inferences, where contextual assumptions play a major role.Explaining the process of dia