Abstract

Humor , an element of human life, exists in every part of the world, being one of the common core of human activities across boundaries of nations and in some aspects even across languages. It acts as the lubricant in the interpersonal contacts and plays a crucial role in communication. Given the significance of it , the study of humor has experienced a long history and covered a wide range of subjects, such as psychology, philosophy, sociology, etc. As linguistics has seen prosperous development in recent years, humor has also been analyzed through various areas of linguistics, dominantly semantics. Pragmatics, the recent concern of linguists, is becoming more and more popular in the study of humor. Perhaps one of the most noticeable form containing humor is sitcom, a short TV program . The American sitcom Friends is one of the most classic ones, which has been on screen for more than a decade while still remains to be welcomed by its wide audience all over the world. Humor in this sitcom is almost seen everywhere, thus a study of different kinds of humorous situations associated with some theories of pragmatics is worthwhile in many ways.

The author in this thesis employs three branches of pragmatics in the analysis of humor created by the conversations among those actors and actresses. They are Grice’s cooperative principle, Leech’s politeness principle and relevance theory proposed by Sperber and Wilson. The method mainly used is to combine specific cases with relevant theories and principles. Through exploring the mechanisms governing the production of humor within the scope of pragmatics, learners of linguistics will have a better understanding of these theories. Moreover, it will enable English learners in non-English-speaking countries to appreciate humor in English and know how it works in the larger context.

 Key words: humor, Friends, pragmatics, cooperative principle, politeness principle, relevance theory 

Content

摘要：

Abstract:

Chapter One  Introduction-1

1.1 Introduction of Humor-1

1.2 General Review of the Studies of Humor-1

1.3 A Brief Introduction of Friends-2

Chapter Two  Humor and Cooperative Principle-4

2.1 Flouting the Maxim of Quantity-5

2.2 Flouting the Maxim of Quality-7

2.3 Flouting the Maxim of Relation-9

2.4 Flouting the Maxim of Manner-9

Chapter Three  Politeness Principle-12

3.1 Flouting of Tact Maxim-13

3.2 Flouting of Generosity Maxim-13

3.3 Flouting of Approbation Maxim-14

3.4 Flouting of Modesty Maxim-14

3.5 Flouting of Agreement Maxim-15

3.6 Flouting of Sympathy Maxim-16

Chapter Four  Relevance Theory and Humor-17

Chapter Five  Conclusion-19

5.1 The Objectives of the Thesis-19

5.2 Summary of the Study-19

5.3 The Organization of the Thesis-20

5.4 The Shortcomings of the Study-20

Bibliography-21

Acknowledgments-21