A Study On Meaning Construction Of Chinese Translation Of Verbal Humor In The Big Bang Theory From The Perspective Of Frame-shifting Theory

The meaning of language is not static.The construction of meaning is mainly the construction of frame.In the process of communication,the language user generally constructs a frame that can represent the current information in accordance with the received content.And the activated frame is made up of many slots,which promotes the listener to form an expectation that will influence their comprehension of the current information.However,sometimes the initial frame is not consistent with the context.Only by activating the frame that is in line with the context can the the language receiver understand the speaker's meaning.Therefore the transmission of meaning is achieved in the process of frame-shifting.Verbal humor accomplishes meaning construction mainly through frame-shifting to convey both semantic and pragmatic information.Broadcasting by CBS,The Big Bang Theory is well received by people all around the world.Verbal humor is one of the most important feature of this sitcom.Many scholars have studied verbal humors of the sitcom from different perspectives,such as skopos theory,concept blending theory and relevance theory.While this thesis is going to analyze meaning construction of Chinese translation of verbal humor in the sitcom from the frame-shifting theory.Based on the frame-shifting theory,the thesis elected the Chinese translation of verbal humor in The Big Bang Theory as a research object to explore how can frame-shifting theory be functional to the analysis of the meaning construction of Chinese translation of verbal humor from five cognitive perspectives,namely typical situations,default values,reinterpretation,goal presupposition,and nonconventional meanings.In the process of analysis,the thesis elaborates the process of the meaning construction of the verbal humor on the basis of frame-shifting theory,and summarizes how the meaning construction of Chinese translation is achieved through the frame-shifting theory.Case analysis and study indicate that frame-shifting theory is of great significance to the construction of Chinese translation of verbal humor.The realization of frame-shifting can construct the humorous meaning of utterances more accurately.If it fails to construct humorous effects,then the frame-shifting is inappropriate.This thesis proposes principles in order to provide some enlightenment for Chinese translation of verbal humor.