The Language of Humor

Explores how humor can be explained across the various sub-disciplines of linguistics, in order to aid communication.

This book explores how humor can be explained, in order to aid communication. Accessible to a wide readership of not only students and teachers of language and linguistics, but also those in related disciplines to which the understanding and use of humor is relevant, such as literature, psychology, anthropology, and the performing arts.Much of today's communication is carried out through various kinds of humor, and we therefore need to be able to understand its many aspects. Here, two of the world's leading pioneers in humor studies, Alleen and Don Nilsen, explore how humor can be explained across the numerous sub-disciplines of linguistics. Drawing on examples from language play and jokes in a range of real-life contexts, such as art, business, marketing, comedy, creative writing, science, journalism and politics, the authors use their own theory of 'Features, functions and subjects of Humor' to analyze humor across all disciplines. Each highly accessible chapter uses a rich array of examples to stimulate discussion and interaction even in large classes. Supplemental PowerPoints to accompany each of the 25 chapters are available online, taking many of the insights from the chapters for further interactional discussions with students.