A Study Of Verbal Humor From The Perspective Of Relevance Theory

Humor produces an important effect on all cultures and languages. Research on humor has been traced from the era of Plato and Aristotle, which are from physiological, psychological, anthropological and sociological aspects. In comparison, fewer in history had studied on the humor from the linguistic aspect until late 1970s. Within the field of linguistics, some research has already been made in terms of semantic, syntactic and rhetorical aspects, but fewer in pragmatics. In the field of pragmatics, some researchers apply some theories to interpret humor, such as deixis, speech act and cooperative principle. In the eighties of last century, cognitive pragmatics appeared when the study of humor from the cognitive perspective became more and more important in the field of the present cognitive linguistics.As a special kind of verbal communication, verbal humor can avoid embarrassment, and improve the relationship of the different people. The study of verbal humor is of great practical value. Relevance Theory (RT) provides a brand new angle to interpret verbal humor, that is, from the cognitive point of view. It is not a theory specially designed for the analysis of verbal humor, but its theoretical hypotheses are suitable to deal with how humorous utterances are produced and interpreted.This thesis attempts to explain the procedure of verbal humor production and understanding from the cognitive perspective with the support of Relevance Theory. By using the two principles—maximal relevance (cognitive principle) and optimal relevance (communicative principle), it tries to reveal the essence of verbal humor: the transition from the maximal relevance to the optimal relevance. It sorts out the verbal humors used in the sitcom Friends (Season One) according to different techniques with the purpose to prove the fact that RT has a powerful explanation function in producing and understanding the verbal humor. This thesis also puts forward some communicative and pragmatic suggestions, and applies the study of verbal humor into practical use, including the language teaching and intercultural communication.The thesis is composed of seven parts.The first part is the introduction. The background and purpose of the study are introduced.The second part makes a general introduction about the definition and classification of the humor, and it also devotes to the general review of the humor theories, including the traditional theories and the modern linguistic theories. The traditional theories include the Superiority Theory, Release Theory and Incongruity Theory; the modern linguistic theories include the semantic and pragmatic theories.The third part elaborates Relevance Theory from the aspects of definition of relevance, two principles of relevance and cognitive context. It is one of the most important theories in explaining the verbal humor from the cognitive angle.The fourth part tries to interpret verbal humor production and comprehension from the perspective of Relevance Theory, in order to prove that Relevance Theory has a powerful explanation function in the whole procedure of verbal humor.The fifth part serves as the empirical study part. The thesis sorts out the verbal humors used in the sitcom Friends (Season One) according to different techniques, with the purpose of further proving the fact that Relevance Theory plays an important role in the process of verbal humor production and comprehension.The sixth part puts forward some communicative and pragmatic suggestions, and applies this study of verbal humor into practical use, including the language teaching and the intercultural communication.The seventh part is the conclusion which summarizes the whole thesis. It points out the practical significance and the theoretical value of interpreting verbal humor from the aspect of Relevance Theory and it also lists the limitations of the present research.