Semantic Mechanisms of Humor

Caitlin TweedyFebruary 2, 2007

Different people will not necessarily find the same things funnymany things which will strike one group as funny may bore another group; some jokes are private or individual...[but] the ability to appreciate humor is universal and shared by all people--Victor Raskin

Raskin: Laughter is a way of human communication which is essentially and exclusively human.vs.Rapp: Do animals have a sense of humor?

What do we laugh at?According to HazlittAbsurdityDeformityDress of foreigners, and they at oursOne dressed in the height of fashionOne quite out of itMischiefWhat we do not believeTo show satisfaction with ourselvesTo show contempt for those around usTo conceal envy, ignorance

FoolsThose who pretend to be wiseExtreme simplicityAwkwardnessHypocrisyAffectation

What characterizes the humor act?Human participantsSpeaker and one or more hearersWriter and one or more readersPerson on television and one or more viewersA stimulusLife experience of an individual4. Psychological type of individual5. Certain physical environment/Situation- provides context6. Society- cultural context

Laughter is seen as( + )Pleasure giving/pleasurablePurposeless movement expressing joyFreedomRelease of aggressionHealthfulA reflexi.e. ticklingcan trigger other reflexes WATCH OUTTelling of society( - )Sinisteri.e. The Bibleno jokes hereConcealing state of mindi.e. shame, shyness, angerCowardlyA detriment to mankinds progressBorn out of hostilityRidiculing

Is humor good or bad?Other undefined phenomena in this way:LoveHappinessMarriageFaithSuccessThe electoral collegeDonald Trumps comb-over

A good verbal joke isNot too longNot too shortNot too trivialNot too hard to understandHas an element of surprise Not given away too earlyHas adequate amount of detailKnown to be a jokeAccompanied by gestures, facial expressionsJUST RIGHT!

Advice from Fry:For the presenter to laugh occasionally and to be mildly amused by his [or her] own joke increases the power of its humor.

Advice from Fry (cont.):For the presenter to laugh immoderately and to be obviously carried away by his own joke spoils the joke for the recipient

Seeks to model the semantic competence of the native speakerScript-based contextual semanticsCannot account for ALL meanings of every sentence in every possible settingNo sentence occurs in isolation (context!)One needs semantics (knowledge of language) and pragmatics (knowledge of world) to correctly calculate the meaning of a word in a context

Elements of Contextual Semantics(1) Lexicon: to model the native speakers knowledge of the meaning of wordsExtra lexical infoEx: Mary saw a black cat and immediately turned home.(2) Combinatorial Rules: to model the native speakers ability to combine the meanings of the words which make up the sentence into meaning of the whole Usefulness of a dictionary?Ex: The bill was large.

The bill was large, but we paid it anyway.Ex: She could not bear children. Script-based lexicon Script: a large chunk of semantic info surrounding the word or evoked by it- Represents native speakers knowledge of a part of the world- Common sense- Basic situations

DOCTORSubject [ Human ] [ + Adult ]Activity: > Study Medicine = Receive patients:- patient comes or doctor visits- doctor listens to complaints- doctor examines patient = Cure Disease- doctor diagnoses disease- doctor prescribes treatment = (Take patients money)Place: > Medical School = Hospital or doctors officeTime: > Many years = Every day = ImmediatelyCondition: Physical contact

Where > stands for past and = stands for present

Importance of Scripts inUnderstanding Semantics of HumorIt is obvious that our entire civilization is a large number of scripts, that the more scripts one has internalized the deeper ones comprehension, which could be amply illustrated by jokes, literary allusions, and other texts inaccessible to the non-initiated.--Victor Raskin

Script overlapex: Is the doctor at home? the patient asked in his bronchial whisper. No, the doctors young and pretty wife whispered in reply. Come right in.DOCTOR and LOVERScript oppositeness- Script 1 vs. Script 2ex: Who was that gentleman I saw you with last night? That was no gentleman. That was a senator.Senators are gentlemen vs. Senators are not gentlemenex: The first thing which strikes a stranger in New York City is a big car.Collision vs. Impression

Three Types of Script OppositionACTUAL SITUATION vs. NON-EXISTENT SITUATIONHe used such nautical terms. Yes, sailors always talk dirty.Hes a man of letters. He works at the Post Office.

NORMAL, EXPECTED STATE OF AFFAIRS vs. ABNORMAL, UNEXPECTEDShould a person stir his coffee with his right hand or his left hand? Neither. He should use a spoonWhen is a joke not a joke? Usually.

PLAUSIBLE SITUATION vs. IMPOSSIBLE, OR LESS PLAUSIBLE SITUATIONHis teeth have so many cavities, he talks with an echo.Common aspirin cures my headaches if I follow the directions on the bottle Keep Away from Children.

Classification of HumorRidiculeDeliberate ridiculeHumor at speakers own expenseRiddleConundrumPunSuppression/RepressionWisecrackEpigram