语用学英语论文

The Cooperative Principle of Pragmatics:

An Analysis of the Verbal Humour in the Sitcom Home with Kids

Since the language was born, the research of it has never interrupted. Humor is the spice of our lives, leave it the life will be boring. Pragmatics is a main branch of Linguistics, with the development of pragmatic theory, linguists and hobbyists from many angles analysis on verbal humor and achieved fruitful results.While cooperative principle, as one of the most important pragmatic principle, makes a systemic study about language use and lays a solid foundation for later development of pragmatics. The violation of cooperative principle can often generate conversational implicature or achieve certain communicative effects. On the basis of previous humour and pragmatic theory research, I will analysis from the point of the cooperative principle of those verbal humour dialogue in the sitcom "Home with Kids", which reflects the daily life of a rebuilt family and attracts many Chinese audiences by its creating writing, good acting as well as its wonderful transcripts.

1. Four Maxims of the Cooperative Principle

In 1975, the language philosopher H. P. Grice published a seminal article entitled “The Cooperative Principle” which created quite a stir in the linguistic world and generated a large number of linguistic publications that are built on Grice's postulates.

According to Grice, in conversational exchange, people usually try to reach a common goal by mutual efforts or at least make the conversation develop in the direction of their expectation. To achieve this, people need to cooperate with each other. Grice' theory of the cooperative principle explains how it is possible for the speaker to convey more than what is literally said and foe the hearer to understand.

The four maxims of CP are Quantity Maxim, Quality Maxim, Manner Maxim and Relation Maxim. The maxim of quantity has two sub-maxims that require the cooperative speaker to say as much as but no more than is required for his particular purposes in the talk exchange. The maxim of quality also has two sub-maxims, which demands that the speaker say only what he believes to be true and for which he has

sufficient evidence. The maxim of relation urges the speaker to make his contribution relevant to the communication context. The maxim of manner requires the speaker to be methodical and to avoid ambiguity, prolixity, and obscurity. In short, as Grice put it for the cooperative principle, "make your conversational contribution such as is required,at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged". The cooperative principle is the foundation of pragmatic interpretation of humor, of which the flouting of maxims plays a very important role.

2. Floutings of CP Maxims and Humor Production

In actual conversation, a participant may deliberately flout CP maxims for some reason or special need. As an important category of non-observance of the conversational maxims, a flout is distinguished by deliberately triggering the hearer's search for an implicature. The speaker employs this way seemingly against the cooperative principle to reinforce the communicative effect. In this way the speaker can make his conversation humorous and thus produce the effect of humor. In fact, flouting of the CP is often seen in Chinese sitcoms. Of course, sitcom writers also deliberately flout the principle in order to achieve humorous effects.

2.1 Flouting the Quantity Maxim

When a speaker offers more or less information than is required by the situation with the intention of generating an implicature, he flouts the maxim of quantity. Look at the following example:

(1) (In Episode 093, Liu Xing goes to Internet café and Liu Mei keeps asking what he did there.)

Xing: You'd better not interfere with my business from now on!

(以后我的事情你少管.)

Mei: What did you say? I don't interfere with your business? Why didn't you say it when I breast-fed you? Why didn't you say it when you were sick? Why didn't you say it when you fell to the ground?Why didn't you say it when you couldn't

walk? You don't want me to interfere with you now, because you are grown up and can do whatever you want?

(你说什么呢?再说一遍!我少管?你小时候喝奶的时候怎么不说?小时候生病的时候怎么不说呀? 摔跟头时候怎么不说呀?学会走路时候怎么不说?这时候让我少管。你翅膀硬了,自个会飞了?)

In this episode, the mother is very angry about what Liu Xing did and said; she is so angry that she can’t help talking excessively about the matter, which sounds humorous. This obviously violates the second sub-maxim of quantity: Do not make your contribution more informative than is required.

(2) Let's take another episode as an example:

Dad didn't get home on time, Liu Mei ask Xiao Yu to call his cell phone, after made the phone call

Mei: Who answered the phone? (谁接的电话?)

Yu: A woman. (一个女的。)

Mei: What? What did she say? (嗯? 说什么?)

Yu: She said," sorry, you dial telephone temporarily unable to get through." (“对不起，您拨打的电话暂时无法接通……”。)

In this dialogue, Xiao Yu intentionally did not say that it is the voice prompts but a woman to pick up the phone, she did not give enough information at the beginning, therefore, she violated the lacking of information criteria in order to create a tense atmosphere.

2.2 Flouting the Quality Maxim

The maxim of quality requires that one's verbal contribution to a conversation should be truthful.The theory also claims that you violate the quality maxim when you deliberately lie or communicate in a way that does not reflect an honest intention.The following are two examples drawn respectively from Home with Kids

and Growing Pains which can explain how flouting the maxim of quality produces humor:

(1) (In Episode 101 of Home with Kids,the reorganized family just live together. Xia Yu and his mother Liu Mei have such a dialogue.)

Yu: Mum,my hand was bitten by the insect.

(妈，我的手被虫子给咬啦.)

Mei: Oh,what's the matter? Was it bitten by mosquito? Come on,let me scratch for you.

(呦，怎么回事儿啊，蚊子给咬的吧！妈给挠挠啊.可怜了.)

Yu: Why does the mosquito only bite me instead of Liu Xing? This isn' t my home?

(为什么蚊子只咬我不咬刘星?是不是这不是我的家啊？)

Mei: Nonsense!Of course this is your home.Here are your dad and mum.Do you know why the mosquitoes only bite you instead of Liu Xing?

(别胡说，这就是你的家啊。你看爸爸妈妈不都在呢？你知道为什么蚊子只咬你不咬刘星吗？)

Yu: Why?

Mei: Because your blood is sweet while Liu Xing' s is stinking.

（因为你的血是甜的，刘星的血是臭的.）

When a speaker says something that is false or for which he lacks adequate evidence, he flouts the maxim of quality. In this conversation, it is obvious that the mother tells a lie to Xiao Yu. As a mother and an adult, she knows the reason well. In order to hoax Xiao Yu and make him feel good, she deliberately says something which is obviously false. In this way, Liu Mei doesn't observe the first sub-maxim of quality: Do not say what you believe to be false. But it is just her deliberate flouting of the maxim that makes her son(Xiao Yu)feel better and at the same time generates a humorous effect.

2.3 Flouting the Manner Maxim

"Avoiding obscurity" means what you say must be easily or clearly understood. "Avoiding ambiguity" means there should be no existence of more than one meaning in what you say. "Being brief" and "being orderly" mean what you say should be concise and well arranged. The maxim of manner is flouted by speaking redundantly, disorderly or unclearly. On this occasion the speaker seems very uncooperative, but actually he intends to produce an implicature to be deduced by the hearer. In verbal communication, people often misunderstand the ambiguous expressions, thus resulting in a humorous effect. The following dialogue between Liu Mei and her son Liu Xing is a case in point.

Mei: Why doesn't the gorilla evolve? (猩猩为什麽不进化啊？)

Xing: Give me a reason for its evolution. (给我一个进化的理由。)

Mei :Why doesn't it talk? (它为什麽不说话啊？)

Xing: What do you want me to say? (您让我说什麽呀？)

Mei: It lies in its defect in listening. (在于听力的缺陷。)

Xing: My ears are quite good. (我耳朵挺好哒！)

Mei: Go away. Don't bother me! (去!别在这儿捣乱。)

Xing: Aren't you talking about me?（您不是说我呢吗？）

Mei: I am talking about the gorilla.（我这儿说大猩猩呢。）

The pronunciation of gorilla(xingxing)in Chinese language is the same with Liu Xing's nickname. Liu Mei is talking something about the gorilla, but Liu Xing misunderstands the meaning of xingxing. Obviously, this misunderstanding comes from the two possibilities to interpret the sound xingxing("猩猩"and"星星"). The ambiguous use of the word(sound), which violates the maxim of manner, is the reason of humor production here.

2.4 Flouting the Relation Maxim

The maxim of relation tells us to make our contributions relevant. The demand for relevance simply means that the speaker should only convey information that is relevant to the topic being communicated. If one party wants to avoid the topic under discussion and starts another seemingly relevant topic, he will flout the maxim of relevance. And this seemingly relevant answer often makes another party feel funny. The maxim of relation is flouted when a response is completely irrelevant to the subject or the goal of the conversation.Look at the following example:

(1) (After Xia Donghai comes back from the parents' meeting held in Liu Xing' s school, he has a dialogue with Liu Mei.)

Mei: Are you OK? There must be huge gap in your mind now. Do you have the thought to find a way to escape? (没受刺激吧，就你这种给小雪那种好学生

开过家长会的你肯定心理有巨大的落差, 想找个地缝转进去…)

Dong Hai: The meeting is quite well. (开的还算比较圆满。)

Mei: What did the teacher tell you about Liu Xing? (老师都给刘星告什么状了？)

(The grandma coughs, indicating Xia Donghai not to tell the truth)

Dong Hai: Err, I take some medicine for grandma. (啊，我给姥姥去拿点药去。)

Mei: Quickly, what did the teacher tell you? (你快说啊，老师都说刘星什么了？)

Dong Hai: Well,he said…nothing. (他说啊，没什么。)

In this episode, after the parents'meeting, from our basic understanding about Liu Xing and Xia Donghai's facial expressions, we know that Liu Xing must have done something wrong in school. If Xia Donghai told the truth to Liu Mei, she must punish her son. So Xia Donghai intends not to tell his wife the truth and avoids answering her inquiry. His answer is apparently irrelevant to his wife's question. In this light atmosphere, he has created humor by flouting the relevance maxim.

(2) Let's look at another dialogue.

Xin : Did you know, today the teacher found a genius, that's me.

(大家知道吗啊，今天老师发现一天才，这天才就是我。)

Mei: Ha-ha, this peach is really sweet.

(呵呵，这桃真甜。)

Xin: there are several kinds of genius, not just the one who makes the high score, dad, is that right?

(这天才分好多种，不光是得高分的，对吧老爸?)

Dong Hai: This peach let me remembered of the ginseng fruit in the Journey to the West.

(这桃子让人想起西游记里那人参果。)

Xin: Ah, you'd listen to me. Teacher lost her car key today and I found it.

(哎呀，你们倒是听我说啊。今天老师车钥匙丢了，是我给找着的。)

Dong Hai: It seems that Sha Seng also love to eat.

(好像沙僧也爱吃。)

Xin: Guess where did I find it? In the car's lock. She forgot to pull it down.

(你们猜我从哪找出来的，从车锁上找着的。忘了拔下来啦。)

Dong Hai: Actually, Tang Monk is also love to eat, he is clever and don't want to say.

(其实啊，唐僧也特爱吃，他就是贼，不爱说出来。)

Xin: While others did not think of it, which suggested that I was a genius, really, just

a little training, I will become a detective scientist, just like Sherlock Holmes.

(可是别人都没想到，就我想起来了，这说明我在这方面就是天才，真的，只要稍微培养一下，就是个侦探学家，就跟福尔摩斯似的……)

Liu Xing was talking about what happened in the school, while his parents were paid their attention to the peach. Although in a same dialogue, they talk about their own topics and without relation. It is precisely this kind of irrelevant and the ignorance of Liu Xing's boast causes the humorous effect production.

3. Conclusion

A great number of samples selected from Home with Kids are used here to illustrate how verbal humor can be interpreted from pragmatic points of view. Based on the analysis and discussion, the major findings can be summarized as follows:

First, the pragmatic analysis of Home with Kids reveals that the intentional flouting of Grice’s CP can lead to humor generation.The humorous effect occurs when the speaker intentionally or unintentionally flouts one or more of CP maxims, it provide us with mechanisms of humor comprehension.

Second, pragmatic strategies applied in Chinese verbal humors are discussed from the micro- and macro-pragmatic levels. At micro-pragmatic level, humor is often generated by use of phonetic, lexical and rhetorical strategies. At macro-pragmatic level, solidarity, aggression and self-defense are often the motivations for the use of humour.

Third, from the study of the sitcom, it can be found that humor makes great contribution to our everyday communication and everyday life. Humour helps to create a relaxing conversational environment and a light and harmonious atmosphere in which both the speakers and addressees can get great enjoyment and relaxation. It makes our life colorful and more pleasant to live.