Page 126 - The Language of Humour

INDEX OF TERMS 113
example, ‘behind the clock’, A term used in speech act theory
‘before Friday’. referring to the meaning of a
pronoun 23 structure, in isolation from any
A class of words that can replace context. (Contrast with ‘force’.)
nouns, e.g. ‘They [some students] simile 34
were waiting.’ The explicit comparison of one
pun 7, 5 thing with another. ‘I wandered
A joke which relies on double lonely as a cloud.’ (see metaphor).
meanings. spoonerism 10
The transposing of initial sounds
redundancy 96 of words.
A feature of spontaneous speech, stress 9
where items are repeated even A term referring to the degrees of
though this is normally emphasis given to syllables, which
unnecessary. For example, ‘The can affect meaning, e.g. the
book, that book I was reading…’ different stress given to the verb
reference 23 ‘present’ and the noun ‘present’.
The act of referring to something. subject 20
Anaphoric reference points An element of a clause. For
backwards, e.g. the pronoun ‘she’ example, ‘She sent me a letter.’
in the sentence ‘I suffix 14
saw the girl: she was wearing…’; A’bound morpheme’ like ‘-ous’
cataphoric reference points attached to the end of a word like
forward, e.g. the word ‘here’ in ‘marvellous’ (see prefix).
the following sentence. ‘Here is surreal 35
the nine o’clock news.’ Strange or bizarre.
register 29, 42 sympathetic circularity 96
A term used to refer to the range In spontaneous speech, appeals to
of styles or tones that can be the listener like ‘You know what I
adopted according to the situation, mean?’
e.g. an ‘informal register’ used synonym 29
when chatting to friends. Words which have equivalent
meanings. For example, ‘cheap’
satire 74, 80 and ‘inexpensive’.
The use of ridicule, irony, sarcasm syntax 7, 22
etc. to expose folly or vice, or to The grammatical structure, or
lampoon an individual. order, of words.
self-reflexive 47
Alluding humorously to one’s own tautology 31
style. See also intertextuality. A statement true by virtue of its
semantics 29 meaning alone.
The study of meaning. tellee 55
sense 38 The person or people reading or
listening to a joke.