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学校编码：10384 分类号 密级
学号：12320081152820 UDC

硕 士 学 位 论 文

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认知视角下言语幽默理解的动态关联-整合解析
Dynamic Relevance-Blending Analysis of Verbal Humor

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Understanding:
A Cognitively Orientated Approach
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论
张 霖
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指导教师姓名：林 立 副教授

专 业 名 称：外国语言学及应用语言学
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论文提交时间：2011 年 5 月
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论文答辩日期：2011 年 月
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学位授予日期：2011 年 月
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答辩委员会主席：
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评 阅 人：

2011 年 5 月
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 Abstract

Humor is common and pervasive both in terms of length of human history and of
width of everyday life. With language as its most important carrier, humor, especially
verbal humor, has recently roused great interest out of linguists, leading to the
emergence of abundant significant linguistic theories on humor since the 1980s, and
on the other hand, theoretical fruits of various branches of linguistics have been

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exploited and incorporated in the interpretation of humor. Benefiting from these
studies, this paper is an attempt to investigate verbal humor comprehension with

要
resort to several distinguished linguistic theories.
For humor understanding, it is believed that one of the most central issues is how

摘
human cognition works or operates to get the humorousness out of a text. This thesis,

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aimed to be cognitively oriented, probes into the general cognitive or mental
procedures during one’s reception and interpretation of humorous texts. Previous
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views upon humor are critically inherited from both traditional humor theories and
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modern ones, such as Incongruity Theory, Frame-shifting Theory, etc.; while on the
other side, inspiring theories from cognitive linguistics are borrowed and explored for
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their explanatory power for the cognitive processes of humor understanding, namely
Relevance Theory and Conceptual Blending Theory. Incongruity, to certain extent,
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essentially differs humor from other types of discourses, Relevance Theory provides
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the overall principle—relevance—for communication, and Conceptual Blending

Theory demonstrates the basic way of mental operation for meaning
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construction—conceptual blending. Yet while profoundly enlightening, each single

theory is limited in their own capability to illustrate humor understanding thoroughly
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and penetratingly. Considering their common grounds, an integrated

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relevance-blending approach is proposed, and a Dynamic Relevance-blending Model

is worked out around incongruity-resolution for illustrating humor understanding,
which, by case studies, is proved to be feasible and valid.
The analysis shows that during the first stage of humor understanding, one

I
selects, in accordance with inputted stimulators and the principle of maximal
relevance, a proper context and establishes a first interpretation (the target assumption)
through conceptual blending; at the second stage when the punch line enters,
conceptual blending and the principle of relevance give rise to an exclusive
interpretation (the key assumption) which clashes with the first but conforms to the
whole text. The clash is then resolved by the acceptance of the key assumption and
the realization of the speaker’s intention to fool the hearer with the two incongruous
interpretations, from which humorous effects will be gained. Yet there are also

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occasions where humorousness fails to be successfully interpreted due to factors such

要
as culture, education, profession and so on.

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Key words: verbal humor; cognition; incongruity-resolution; relevance; conceptual
blending

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 摘 要

幽默作为一种普遍现象，不仅历史悠久，也是日常生活不可或缺的组成部分。
20 世纪末以来，随着语言学的发展，以语言为主要载体的幽默引起了语言学家
的极大兴趣，推动了对幽默进行语言学研究的潮流，许多优异的言语幽默理论应
运而生；同时，语言学及其各分支的研究成果也被广泛应用于幽默研究，而本文
正是 在借鉴幽默专门理论的基础上以一般语言学的理论分析研究幽默理解认知

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过程的尝试。
言语幽默是幽默的最常见形式，对于其理解而言，重心问题是人类通过其固

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有的认知手段和认知能力从幽默中推导出幽默效果的操作机制。本文以幽默的认
知阐释为导向，致力于探讨人们理解言语幽默时的心理认知过程：一方面，本文

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批评借鉴了传统幽默理论及典型幽默研究的优秀成果，如幽默乖讹论的乖讹-消

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解观，框架转换理论的语义跃迁等；另一方面，本文分析探讨了认知语言学的两
大重要理论——关联理论和概念整合理论——对言语幽默理解的认知解释力。乖
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讹是区分幽默与非幽默的基础特征，关系到幽默的本质；关联是幽默交际及认知
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的基本原则，主导认知推理过程；而概念整合是人们动态地构建语义、理解信息、
推导新概念的基本途径。传统的乖讹论以及现代的关联、概念整合理论都分别对
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幽默的认知过程具有独到的阐释力，然而对于幽默这种复杂现象而言它们又都有
其局限性，仅从单一的理论着手难以对幽默的理解过程做出全面而透彻的解析。
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因而，本文从各理论的共性及互补性出发，尝试用综合的方法对幽默理解进行关
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联-整合的动态分析，并提出了以乖讹-消解为中心的动态关联-整合模型来立体呈
现言语幽默理解的认知过程，最后以实例解读来证明该类分析及模型的灵活性和
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有效性。
分析认为，言语幽默的理解过程大致可分为三个阶段。在第一阶段，听者根
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据输入信息在关联原则引导下选择一定的认知语境，通过潜意识的概念整合得出
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一个可能性解释（即目标假设）；在第二阶段，听者发现幽默的妙语部分隐含的
是与目标假设相冲突但与全文一致的另一种排他性解释（即关键假设）；最后，
为解决冲突并找寻最佳关联，听者诉诸于进一步的认知努力去解读言者的幽默意
图并接受关键假设，从而得出幽默效果。此外，听者能否顺利得出一则幽默的幽

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默效果，除了其认知努力，还取决于其认知语境：文化、教育、职业等因素的差
异会造成认知语境的不同，进而影响对幽默的理解。

关键词：言语幽默 认知 乖讹-消解 关联 概念整合

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IV
 Table of Contents

English Abstract.......................................................................................I

Chinese Abstract .................................................................................. III

Introduction............................................................................................. 1

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Chapter One Literature Review ............................................................ 6

1.1 Humor as an object of academic study.............................................................6

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1.1.1 Definition of humor .......................................................................................6
1.1.2 Classification of humor..................................................................................9

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1.1.3 Criteria of humor..........................................................................................10

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1.2 Three prominent traditional theories on humor ........................................... 11
1.2.1 Superiority Theory .......................................................................................11
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1.2.2 Release Theory.............................................................................................12
1.2.3 Incongruity Theory ......................................................................................13
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1.3 Cognition-related linguistic researches into humor ......................................15

1.3.1 Script-based theories....................................................................................15
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1.3.2 Frame-shifting theory...................................................................................19

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1.3.3 Cognitive-theoretic approaches ...................................................................20

Chapter Two Theoretical Foundations of Verbal Humor

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Interpretation ........................................................................................ 22
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2.1 Relevance Theory and verbal humor understanding....................................22

2.1.1 Introduction to Relevance Theory ...............................................................22
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2.1.2 Relevance Theory in humor understanding .................................................29

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2.2 Conceptual Blending Theory and humor understanding.............................33

2.2.1 Introduction to Conceptual Blending Theory ..............................................33
2.2.2 Conceptual blending theory in verbal humor interpretation ........................39
2.3 Limitations of RT and CBT in explaining humor .........................................42

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Chapter Three Dynamic Relevance-blending Approach toward

Verbal Humor Understanding ............................................................. 44

3.1 The practicability of an integration of RT and CBT.....................................44

3.1.1 The same cognitive orientation ....................................................................44
3.1.2 Common grounds and mutual complementing ............................................45
3.2 Relevance-blending analysis of verbal humor understanding .....................47
3.2.1 Garden-path way of humor understanding ..................................................47

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3.2.2 Relevance and blending—principle and basic tool......................................51
3.2.3 Incongruity precondition: gap between maximal and optimal relevance ....52

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3.2.4 Incongruity essence: clash between target and key assumptions.................54
3.2.5 Incongruity resolution: blending upon relevance ........................................57

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3.3 Dynamic Relevance-blending Model and case study ....................................59
3.3.1 Dynamic Relevance-blending Model of humor understanding ...................59

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3.3.2 Case study ....................................................................................................63
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Chapter Four Beyond Pure Cognition: Factors Fail Humor
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Understanding....................................................................................... 68

4.1 Theoretical bases for a failure .........................................................................68

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4.2 Factors causing unsuccessful humor understanding.....................................69

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Conclusion ............................................................................................. 74
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References.............................................................................................. 77
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Acknowledgements ............................................................................... 82
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 目 录

英文摘要 ...................................................................................................I

中文摘要 ............................................................................................... III

序言 .......................................................................................................... 1

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第一章 文献综述 .................................................................................... 6

1.1 幽默的界定 .........................................................................................................6

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1.1.1 幽默的定义....................................................................................................6
1.1.2 幽默的分类....................................................................................................9

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1.1.3 幽默的标准..................................................................................................10

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1.2 三大传统幽默理论........................................................................................... 11
1.2.1 优越论.........................................................................................................11
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1.2.2 释放论.........................................................................................................12
1.2.3 乖讹论.........................................................................................................13
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1.3 幽默的近期研究...............................................................................................15
1.3.1 幽默的脚本理论研究.................................................................................15
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1.3.2 幽默的框架转换理论研究.........................................................................19
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1.3.3 幽默的认知语言学理论研究.....................................................................20

第二章 言语幽默认知研究的理论基础............................................... 22
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2.1 关联理论与言语幽默.......................................................................................22
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2.1.1 关联理论概述.............................................................................................22
2.1.2 关联理论与幽默理解.................................................................................29
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2.2 概念整合理论与言语幽默...............................................................................33
2.2.1 概念整合理论概述.....................................................................................33
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2.2.2 概念整合与幽默理解.................................................................................39
2.3 关联理论和概念整合理论阐释幽默的局限性...............................................42

第三章 言语幽默理解的动态关联-整合解析 ..................................... 44

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 3.1 关联理论与概念整合理论结合的可行性分析...............................................44
3.1.1 共同的认知取向.........................................................................................44
3.1.2 共有理据及互补性.....................................................................................45
3.2 言语幽默理解的关联-整合解析 .....................................................................47
3.2.1 “花园路径”式幽默理解 ..............................................................................47
3.2.2 关联与整合—基本原则与方式.................................................................51
3.2.3 乖讹前提：最大关联与最佳关联之差别.................................................52
3.2.4 乖讹本质：目标假设与关键假设之冲突.................................................54

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3.2.5 乖讹消解：关联基础上的概念整合.........................................................57
3.3 动态关联-整合模型及实例分析 .....................................................................59

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3.3.1 言语幽默理解的动态关联-整合模型 .......................................................59
3.3.2 幽默实例分析.............................................................................................63

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第四章 纯认知之外—幽默理解失败的原因分析............................... 68

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4.1 幽默理解失败的理据.......................................................................................68
4.2 幽默理解失败的原因.......................................................................................69
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结语 ........................................................................................................ 74
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参考文献 ................................................................................................ 77
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致谢 ........................................................................................................ 82
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VIII
 Introduction

Introduction

Humor is so familiar to us that we encounter it now and then in everyday life,

with little difficulty understanding it; humor is also unfamiliar to us that we may get it
but probably without any idea of how we render the humorousness and why we
cannot help laughing, most of the time at least, if not always. Yet this is exactly what
leads to the constant devotion of scholars to humor research, and it is the hope of

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uncovering the mysteries that makes their efforts, undergoing efforts and future efforts
well worth it.

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1. Research background

Humor, as a word, has its origin to be dated back and is said to be derived from

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ancient Latin word “humour” which means certain liquid in human body, while its
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Chinese equivalence “幽默” didn’t exist until the 1920s when Mr. Lin Yutang coined
it as the translation of the English word “humor”. However, this is far from indicating
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that Chinese people had no humor (the reference of the morpheme) before nor that the
British people did not know how to be humorous before the word came. Rather,
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humor is believed to have a history as long as that of human languages or even of

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human beings, the very origins of which are probably beyond the detailed historical
records. In other words, where there are human and culture, there is humor.
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As a phenomenon concerning wit, emotion, feeling, communication and so on,

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humor has been a preferable and promising object in various fields of academic
research. Humor has been traditionally studied from such perspectives as physiology,
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psychology, rhetoric, literature etc. leading to the emergence of three well-known

traditional humor theories, namely Superiority Theory, Release Theory and
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Incongruity Theory, with Incongruity Theory playing a leading role in modern

psychological study of humor and being “the most influential theory among
researches on humor and laughter” (Raskin, 1985: 32-33). Since language serves as
the main carrier of humor, linguistic investigations into humor also took off early. Yet

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 Introduction

“despite the long history of research on language and humor, it is not until the late
1970s that linguists acquired a role among the central players of humor research,
which were traditionally psychologists, sociologists, and philosophers” (Attardo, 1997:
395), and before that, “it would have been fair to say that linguistics had mainly
stayed away from humor, with the notable exception of puns” (Attardo, 2003: 1287).
“What changed things around was the appearance of Raskin’s semantic-script
theory of humor” (Ibid: 1287) in 1985 which is the first humor theory based on
linguistics. Thanks to the rapid development of semantics, pragmatics, cognitive

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science etc. around the late 1970s and early 1980s, humor study has attracted

要
extensive attention from various areas and gained a strong momentum for
development ever since. International meetings began to convene regularly along with

摘
the publishing of many influential monographs upon humor. Furthermore, the
academic humor-specific journal Humor: International Journal of Humor Research

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broke ground in 1988 (Bright, 1992: 181), the International Society for Humor
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Studies (ISHS), with members from all over the world, was founded in 1989, and the
22nd Conference of ISHS was just held in June 2010 in City University of Hong
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Kong. There are even calls among scholars for the establishment of the so-called
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“humorology” as an independent discipline. While offering a stage for penetrating

insights upon humor getting expressed, communicated and debated, all these factors
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contribute greatly to the thriving and flourishing of humor study, especially that in the
sphere of linguistics.
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Some scholars investigated the producing side of humorous languages. Hancher

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(1980) illustrated joke creating with the aid of Speech Act Theory. Attardo (1990,
1993) analyzed humors resulting from violating Grice’s communication Maxims.
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Oaks (1994) searched the syntactic and wording means for creating semantic
ambiguity in jokes. Ritchie (1999, 2001, 2004) worked over humor production from
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the viewpoint of computational linguistics.

Many other researches and proposals concerned humor understanding, among
which there are Semantic-Script Theory of Humor (SSTH) in Raskin (1985), General
Theory of Verbal Humor (GTVH) revised from SSTH by Attardo and Raskin (1991),
2
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