1、反语的幽默属性和语用功能Abstract Verbal irony, as a widely used figure of speech, has recEived considerable attention from cognitive psychologists and linguists. The traditional study of verbal irony from rhetorical and aesthetical approaches has been shifted to current cognitive and pragmatic investigation. In
2、 this paper, focus will be laid upon the humor feature of verbal irony from the perspective of pragmatics. First, through the comparison of different kinds of definitions of irony, a general idea about what is irony is established. Then, this paper examines the Cooperative Principle (CP for short) o
3、f American linguist Grice which put forwards that irony acts as a violation of CP. Last but not the least, with the help of the comparison of the pragmatic functions of English irony and Chinese irony, the humor feature of verbal irony can be well displayed. In English, irony could be used to state
4、ones negative attitude to something. It could be used as a means to satirize, an approach to politeness, an approach to humor. Chinese irony can be classified into five types from the perspective of pragmatic functions as follows: irony for commendation and derogation, irony for satire, irony for fu
5、n, irony for affection and irony for emphasis. The pragmatic functions of irony in both languages are similar. Key Words verbal irony; pragmatic function; humor; English and Chinese ironies【摘 要】 反语作为一种普遍使用的修辞格，引起了认知心 理学 家和语言学家的关注。反语 研究 的角度从传统的修辞学和美学转向了认知心理学和语用学的探究。本文首先从定义和分类上，对反语进行认知层面上的归纳 总结 。其次，基于
6、语用学角度 分析 了反语与合作原则和礼貌原则的联系。反语违反合作原则主要体现在对质量准则的违反上。反语作为一种间接言语，成为礼貌的一种手段。反语原则独立于礼貌原则之外，是对礼貌原则的一大补充。此外，反语是言语幽默的一种表现形式。英汉反语的语用功能大致相似，但也存在不少差异。文中对此异同进行归纳总结，从而得知，反语的幽默属性是其基本属性，在其语用功能中也得到了很好的体现。【关键词】反语；语用功能；幽默；英汉反语1. IntroductionIrony is a common linguistic phenomenon in verbal communication. Recent years h
7、ave seen a mushroom growth of distinctly angled theorizations in this orientation, which nevertheless exhibit strong complementarity. Traditionally, irony is treated as a figure of speech whose intended meaning is the opposite of that expressed by the words uttered. The study of irony in this way be
8、longs to that of rhetoric. American linguist Grice takes irony as one of those figures of speech that flouts the Cooperative Principle (CP for short), especially the Maxim of Quality. Irony interpreted under this pragmatic model conveys the contradiction of what is literally said. Linguists Sperber
9、and Wilson treat irony as an echoic mention while linguist Cuddon states that “At its simplest, verbal irony involves saying what one doesnt mean.” 1 In this paper, focus will be laid upon the humor feature of verbal irony from the perspective of pragmatics. First, through the comparison of differen
10、t kinds of definitions of irony, a general idea about what is irony is established. Secondly, this paper examines Gricean Cooperative Principle which put forwards that irony acts as a violation of CP. Thirdly, with the help of Leechs idea of irony, the pragmatic function of irony could be better dis
11、played. Finally, the last point is about the pragmatic functions of both English irony and Chinese irony. In a word, irony is one way to produce humor in verbal communication.2. What is ironyIt is difficult to define the word of “irony” which could be understood in various ways. The expansion of its
12、 research area may be the direct cause of the diversity of the definition of irony. The following are some definitions of irony from dictionaries.Dictionary definitions of irony1) Expression of ones meaning by saying the direct opposite of ones thoughts in order to be emphatic, amusing, sarcastic, e
13、tc. 2 Oxford Advanced Learners English-Chinese Dictionary2) Use of words which are clearly opposite to ones meaning, usually EIther in order to be amusing or to show annoyance ( by saying What charming behaviour when someone has been rude.) 3 Longman Dictionary of English Language otherwise, it woul
14、d not be possible for them to carry on the talk. This general principle is called the Cooperative Principle, abbreviated as CP. It goes as follows:Make your conversational contribution such as required at the stage at which it occurs by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which
15、 you are engaged. The principle breaks down into particular maxims that summarize particular assumptions about conversation. Different pragamaticists propose different numbers of these maxims but as originally proposed by Grice, the Principle contained four sets of maxims:The maxims of quantitya). M
16、ake your contribution as informative as is required (for the current purposes of the exchange)b). Do not make your contribution more informative than is required.The maxims of qualityTry to make your contribution one that is true:a). Do not say what you believe to be false.b). Do not say that for wh
17、ich you lack adequate evidence.The maxim of relationBe relevant.The maxims of mannerBe perspicuous:a). Avoid obscurity of expression.b). Avoid ambiguity.c). Be brief (avoid unnecessary prolixity).d). Be orderly.” 11as violation of CPGrice classifies irony as an example of implicature and shows how o
18、ne can account for irony as a case of flouting the Cooperative Principle by violating the maxim of quality.Examples:(1) This diligent student seldom reads more than an hour per month. 12 The intended meaning of the speaker is this is a lazy student. However, he uses an opposite of “lazy”diligent. Di
19、ligent is here used to produce sarcasm.(2) A: Sorry, Mary. I cannot give you a lift after work. I have to meet a friend at the airport.B: Thank you very much. Its very kind of you. 13In this conversation, B does not really praise A. He uses “Its very kind of you.” to show his dissatisfaction in fact
20、.(3) A: John says he tops us all at football.B: I like his cheek. 14 When B said, “ I like his cheek.”, he infringed the quality maxim to tell a lie. It is easily inferred from the context that B uses the opposite word “like” to mean his truly dislike.(4) Rose and David met an elegant woman on the s
21、treet. They appreciated her fine action until she suddenly spitted phlegm to the floor. Under this situation comes the discourse as follows:Rose: She is really lovely, isnt she?David: She sure is. 15Rose tended to use “lovely” to laugh at the elegant womans poor action here.These instances are viola
22、tions of the maxim of truth by saying something he/ she does not really believe. In these irony acts, indirectness seems like a shield which masks a genuine intent considered risky by the speakers. The ironical utterances not only convey messages but also conceal what the speakers really bear in min
23、d. The speakers violate the Cooperative Principle consciously to express their real meaning in indirect way. Irony helps to make the utterance much more humor.4. Irony and the Politeness PrincipleThe Politeness PrincipleLeech thinks that Grices Cooperative Principle in itself cannot explain why peop
24、le employ indirectness while conveying what they mean. In addition, different societies may operate maxims in different ways. There must be some apparent exceptions in actual communication that Cooperative Principle cannot explain. Therefore Leech proposes to supplement Grices Cooperative Principle
25、with the Politeness Principle (PP for short). The strategies are summarized below:Tact:a). Minimize cost to other.b). Maximize benefit to other.Generosity:a). Minimize benefit to self. b). Maximize cost to self.Approbation:a). Minimize dispraise of other.b). Maximize praise of other.Modesty:a). Mini
26、mize praise of self.b). Maximize dispraise of self.Agreement:a). Minimize disagreement between self and other.b). Maximize agreement between self and other.Sympathy:a). Minimize antipathy between self and other.b). Maximize sympathy between self and other.16Altogether, the maxims are said to “save”
27、the Cooperative Principle, they explain what happens in the case when it is breached.Example:Forrest: I only caught five.Boat Salesman: A couple more and you can have yourself a cocktail.17This is a dialogue in the movie Forrest Gump. Although Bubba tells Forrest everything about shrimping, but Forr
28、est still finds that shrimping is tough. One day, he only catches five after a-whole-day hard working. The boat salesman just makes a joke to Forrest in order to cheer him up. Meanwhile, he also tells Forrest a fact that Forrest catches too little. It is an instance of politeness according to the Po
29、liteness Principle.Irony PrincipleAccording to Leech, irony is a second-order principle that builds on or exploits the Politeness Principle. The Irony Principle (IP for short) may be stated in a general form as follows:“If you must cause offence, at least do so in a way which doesnt overtly conflict
30、 with the Politeness Principle, but allows the hearer to arrive at the offensive point of your remark indirectly, by way of implicature.” 18 Irony can happen if the speaker overvalues the Politeness Principle by blatantly breaking a maxim of the Cooperative Principle in order to uphold the Politenes
31、s Principle. For example:A: Geoff has just borrowed your car.B: Well, I like THAT! 19According to the Irony Principle, we can interpret this ironical utterance this way: what B says is polite to Geoff and is clearly not true. Therefore what B really means is impolite to Geoff and true. Leech believe
32、s that the IP can make a speaker impolite while seeming to be polite. In being polite, a speaker is often faced with a clash between the CP and the PP. The speaker has to choose how far to “trade-off” the CP against the PP. In being ironic, a speaker exploits the PP in order to uphold, at a remote l
33、evel, the CP.The Irony Principle serves the purpose of avoiding direct criticism through being antisocial, being insincerely polite. This principle explains why some of the Gricean maxims are breached. 20 5. Irony and verbal humorVerbal HumorFrom the surface meaning of the phrase “verbal humor”, we
34、can easily get its meaning: verbal humor is the humor that is organized through verbal form. Verbal humor is the humor that is created or expressed through language with the assistance of situational context occasionally.Verbal humor can be produced by kinds of figure of speech, say, personification
35、, exaggeration, irony and so on. irony as an approach to verbal humorVerbal irony refers to spoken words only. It occurs when a character says one thing, but suggests or intends the opposite. It is an approach to humor. As an expression of wisdom, irony is frequently used by the great minds, say, wr
36、iters or philosophers.Example: Bernard Shaws AnxietyThe exceedingly fascinating and charming American woman dancer Duncan once got off a crack to Bernard Shaw: “Sir, given I am in combination with you, and that we have a child who has both my looks and your wisdom and ability. It should be crackerja
37、ck .” The commonplace-looking , Irish writer Bernard Shaw cracked back: “ In case the child only has my looks but your wisdom and ability, that would be crack-brained.”21 In this story, Bernard Shaws Anxiety, what Bernard Shaw said is according to the sentence of the woman dancer Duncan. So they sha
38、red the understanding in common and the humor was in effect.Example: Hat and HeadHans Christian Andersen, a Danish nursery tale writer, was born in a humble family. He often wore a torn hat even in the winter. A playboy looked down upon him and said unconscionably: “What the shabby thing on your hea
39、d? Is that stilled called a hat?” Not to be outdone, Andersen countered that chap in reply: “What the shabby thing beneath your hat? Is that still called a head?”22Here Andersen changed the order of the two words, “hat” and “head”, which helped him to crack back. Humor resulted .转贴于论文联盟 Example: A G
40、reat ManEinstEIn once wrote a letter to Charlie Chaplin. He said: “Your film The Modern Time, everybody in the world can understand. You will certainly become a great man. Einstein.”In his answer to the letter Charlie Chaplin wrote: “ I admire you even more. Your Theory of Relativity nobody in the w
41、orld understands, but you have already become a great man. Chaplin.”23In this story, Charlie Chaplin was clever to lend irony to amuse and escape from being outdone. From the above examples, the conclusion can be easily reached as irony is frequently used to produce humor. In other words, the humor
42、feature of irony could be easily found in humor stories. 6. Pragmatic functions of ironyIn the former parts of this paper, we have already discussed about the relation between irony and CP, the association between irony and IP, and the connection between irony and verbal humor. Though irony seems to
43、 take flouting CP as its own duty, it acts as an assistant of IP actively. As a type of verbal humor, irony devotes itself to produce humor in peoples communications. However , what are the pragmatic functions of irony? In this section, the key to this question will be presented mainly from two majo
44、r aspects: pragmatic functions of English irony and pragmatic functions of Chinese irony.Pragmatic functions of English ironyPragmatic functions of English irony can be stated in various ways, similar to the classification of it. In the following passage, the effort will be concentrated on the major
45、 functions of irony. Firstly, while using irony people tend to use affirmative to express critique or discontent. Secondly, irony is always used as a means to satirize. Thirdly, irony is used as an approach to be polite. Last but not the least, irony is used as an approach to be humorous.Used as an
46、affirmative to express critique or discontentIn English, irony is often used to state ones negative attitude to something. For example:(1) I just adore mosquitoes. 24(2) You are a big help! 25 (3) You are telling stories! 26 In example (1), “adore” actually tells us the displeasure of the speaker. I
47、t can be learned from the meaning between the lines that the speaker hates mosquitoes in fact. The sentence of example (2) is not really used to praise the “help” but to indicate, “You only do nothing to help.” The speaker of example (3) applies irony to make a mockery.In everyday life, people tend
48、to use irony in their speech though sometimes they may not be conscious of it. The following is another instance:(4) This morning, I was late for work; at noon, I had my bike stolen; on the way home this afternoon, I slipped down in the street. So today, I am certainly enjoying myself. 27 Obviously,
49、 the narrator did not enjoy himself indeed this day. With the strong discontent of the terrible experience, he expressed his displeasure by using the opposite word “enjoy”.as a means to satirizeIrony is used to veil feelings in a subtle way. Words of praise are often found where condemnation is meant. Below are some examples:(1) Like all the other officers at Group Headquarters except Major Danby, Colonel Cathcart was infused with the democratic spirit: he believed that all men outside Group equal, and he therefore spurned
