Conceptual Blending Study On Verbal Humor

As the burgeoning theory in cognitive linguistics, Conceptual Blending Theory has been focused by researchers in recent years. In view of its distinctive interpretation power, the theory is applied into explaining the cognitive mechanism of language phenomena. However, the study on verbal humor in sitcoms is irrelatively fresh. Thus, the paper is to expound the conceptual blending process of verbal humor and reveal the cognitive mechanism of verbal humor.These data used in the study are collected through observing the character dialogues in the first five seasons of How I Met Your Mother. All humorous utterances are selected on the basis of canned laughter in the sitcom. The entire paper adopts the method of qualitative analysis to illustrate verbal humor cases. The thesis is composed of five chapters. Chapter one mainly introduces the research background, objective and significance. Chapter two is literature review. The author makes a survey for the previous studies on verbal humor in order to pave the way for the following study in this part. Chapter three is the theoretical frame. The basic concepts, the conceptual blending network model and the four subtypes are introduced. Chapter four is the crucial part in the paper where the collected cases are analyzed under four subtypes of conceptual blending network. Chapter five is the conclusion part. In this chapter the author summarizes major findings and limitations of the research and proposes constructive suggestions for the further study. The main findings in the study include four aspects: Firstly, it is testified that Conceptual Blending Theory can explain verbal humor in sitcoms; Secondly, the conceptual blending process of verbal humor is comprehensively explored, for the collected humorous cases are classified in detail; Thirdly, it is found that different types of conceptual blending network are operated in the similar way; Fourthly, it is revealed that the conceptual blending process of verbal humor is dynamic.In sum, the study can help audiences understand and appreciate American sitcoms. Meanwhile, it provides a basis for subtitle translation of sitcoms. Besides, the paper proves that the generation of humorous effect is the result of blending process. Therefore, the cognitive study of verbal humor goes much deeper.