The Cognitive Study Of English Verbal Humor From The Perspective Of Conceptual Blending Theory

Humor is a pervasive human phenomenon, which plays important roles in many spheres and aspects of life, especially in human interactions. It is embodied in different forms and performs different functions. The study of humor can date back to the time of the great philosophers, such as Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, etc.The researches in humor are enormous and from different angles such as philosophy, sociology, psychology, linguistics, art, etc. For linguistics, although the abundant studies of humor are provided, most of them are from the aspect of phonetics, morphology, pragmatics and rhetoric; few have probed into the dynamic process of interpreting humor from cognitive point of view.With the development of the cognitive linguistics, the conceptual blending theory, which sprung up in the 1990s, was paid much emphasis on for its great explanatory force. The present research mainly deals with the verbal humor by means of the main theory of cognitive pragmatics—conceptual blending theory, attempting to explore the dynamic process of humor production and appreciation. And through the research, the author finds out that the conceptual blending theory, despite its great explanatory power, has its defects in humor interpreting, and the relevant theory can be used as a supplementary. The two theory must combine together to provide a new perspective to the interpretation of humor.