Title:

Wit and Humor in Chinese Characters - A Socio-Cultural and Historical Perspective

Creator:

Chen, Li-Chi ; Sroka-Grądziel, Anna ; Lee, Fu-Lan ; Hajndrych, Eryk

Publisher:

Instytut Języka Polskiego Polskiej Akademii Nauk

Place of publishing:

Kraków

Date issued/created:

2021

Subject and Keywords:

Chinese characters ; Chinese ligatures ; homophonic puns ; human behavior ; humor

Abstract:

Building on Bergson’s ([1911] 2014) account of laughter, as well as two recognized functions of Chinese humor – 寓教於樂 ‘wrapping instructions in entertainment/amusement’ (Liao 2001) and 會心微笑 ‘a hearty laugh or a knowing smile’ (Chen 2017) – this study intends to analyze the wit and humor found in Chinese characters from a socio-cultural and historical perspective. The data used in this analysis come from internet resources and books, as well as from the authors’ linguistic repertoire. We have observed six sources of humor in Chinese characters. These are: (a) the visual form of a Chinese character; (b) decomposing a Chinese character; (c) Chinese ligatures; (d) Chinese homophonic puns; (e) misreading of similar Chinese characters; and (f) the borrowing of Japanese kanji. Our findings suggest that funny Chinese characters should contain human behavioral attributes and wrapped instructions and will evoke a hearty laugh or knowing smile from the in-group members of a Chinese-speaking community.

Relation:

Socjolingwistyka

Volume:

35

Start page:

41

End page:

54

Resource type:

Text

Detailed Resource Type:

Article

Format:

PDF

Resource Identifier:

click here to follow the link

Language:

eng

Rights:

Rights Reserved - Free Access

Terms of use:

Copyright-protected material. May be used within the limits of statutory user freedoms

Access:

Open