Page 21 - The Language of Humour

8 ‘I SAY, I SAY, I SAY’
flouted.) The examples of humour in this unit use the possibilities for
ambiguity in the words or structure of language.
This type of humour is often a one-off joke or a ‘gag’ occurring in
extended texts. In such small examples of humour the term incongruity
refers to the possibility for two meanings being understood from the
utterance. This is often called a pun. The humour will often have the
following elements:

• There is a conflict between what is expected and what actually
occurs in the joke.
• The conf lict is caused by an ambiguity at some level of language.
• The punchline is surprising, as it is not the expected interpretation,
but it resolves the conf lict: ‘Have you got a light, Mac?’ ‘No, but
I’ve got a dark brown overcoat.’

The reason for not finding such a joke funny might be that you don’t
perceive the ambiguity. Or it might be because the double meaning is
laboured or corny: you acknowledge that it’s a joke, but not a funny one.

Structural ambiguity

This unit looks at examples of structural ambiguity. This can occur in
the English language at various levels:

• phonology—the sounds that make up the language
• graphology—the way the language is represented in written form
• morphology—the way words themselves are structured
• lexis—the individual words of the language
• syntax—the way the words are structured into phrases, clauses and
sentences.

In the joke quoted above, there is an ambiguity at the level of lexis and
phonology, as there are two possible meanings for each of the words
‘light’ and ‘Mac/mac’. There is also an ambiguity in syntax: the listener
interprets the structure as finishing on the noun ‘light’, with the name
of the person added on. The punchline shows that ‘light mac’ should be
regarded as an adjective+noun unit.
However, it is difficult to find examples of humour which do not also
involve conventions about language as a social act. The second speaker
is being deliberately awkward here: no one approaches a stranger with
an enquiry about the contents of their wardrobe. The term discourse