THEORETICAL ASPECTS IN THE FORMATION OF
PEDAGOGICAL SCIENCES
International scientific-online conference
36
TYPES OF PUNS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Askarova Iroda
aayzek888@gmail.com
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13911087
Abstract.
This article focuses on the analysis of pun as one of the
categories of wordplay. The author discusses the meaning of the term “pun” and
analyzes different types of puns. On the basis of various classifications created
by different scholars and according to the research material, a new classification
of pun as one of the types of wordplay is introduced and defined.
Keywords:
word play, pun, linguistic features, classification, typology.
Аннотация.
В данной статье рассматривается анализ каламбура как
одной из категорий игры слов. Автор рассматривает значение термина «
каламбур» и анализирует различные виды каламбура. На основе
различных классификаций, созданных разными учёными, и на основе
материала исследования вводится и определяется новая классификация
каламбура как одного из видов игры слов.
Ключевые слова.
игра слов, каламбур, языковые особенности,
классификация, типология.
One kind of word play is English language puns, which we might
humorously dub “pun play.” The pun is a widely used vehicle for English
language humor. Puns hinge on a double meaning of some kind. They arise from
the multiple spellings, pronunciations, and meanings that can occur within and
across English words [7]. Pun humor is language specific, unlike more visual
humor based on actions, such as sight gags or pratfalls found on TV or in the
movies.
As it is known, there is not a consensus among scholars on the difference
between a wordplay and a pun. Some scholars consider these two terms mostly
interchangeable and synonymous elements [2], [4].
I do not follow their opinions and consider pun as one of the types of
wordplay, whereas wordplay is classed as an umbrella term denoting all the
subclasses, such as spoonerism, malapropism, wellerism, onomatopoeia,
palindrome and other linguistic units.
As a result of the different perceptions of the pun there are also various
approaches as to how it should be classified. Regarding to the various
classifications created by different scholars and discussed in our research, I
formulate and introduce my own classification of pun as well as discuss its
THEORETICAL ASPECTS IN THE FORMATION OF
PEDAGOGICAL SCIENCES
International scientific-online conference
37
linguistic ambiguity and characteristic features on the basis of research material.
Delabastita defines wordplay (a term which he uses interchangeably with pun)
as: “Wordplay is the general name for the various textual phenomenon in which
structural features of the language(s) used are exploited in order to bring about
a communicatively significant confrontation of two (or more) linguistics
structures with more or less similar forms and more or less different meanings.”
[6].
According to Delabastita pun is divided into four categories [2]:
1. Homonymy (identical sounds and spelling);
2. Homophony (identical sounds but different spellings);
3. Homography (different sounds but identical spelling);
4. Paronymy (there are slight differences in both spelling and sound).
Gottlieb considers wordplay and pun as synonymous linguistic units. His
classification of a pun is the similar to Delabastita’s one. He only adds and
singles out three subcategories of homonymy:
1. Lexical homonymy (the central feature is single-word ambiguity);
2. Collocational homonymy ( the word-in-context ambiguity is the central
feature);
3. Phrasal homonymy (the clause ambiguity is the central feature).
The classification of pun worked out by the Chinese scholar Yuan
Chuandao is different. He claims that the creation of pun is connected not only to
the meaning and the homophony of a word, but also to the context, manner of
speech and logic. So he singles out the following types of pun:
1. Homonymic pun (identical sounds and spelling);
2. Lexical meaning pun (polysemantic words);
3. Understanding pun (through the particular context implied meaning of a
sentence is revealed.
4. Figurative pun (a simile or a metaphor as its surface meaning and the
figurative meaning as its deep meaning).
5. Logic pun (a rhetorical device, a kind of implication in a particular context).
As research revealed a pun is one of the most important types of wordplay.
There are several subcategories of pun and consequently its various
classifications and types are formulated by different scholars. On the basis of the
mentioned types and various classifications of pun and the analysis of the
empirical material examples in the article, a new classification form of pun
including all the main types of pun is introduced below:
1. Lexical-Semantic Pun;
THEORETICAL ASPECTS IN THE FORMATION OF
PEDAGOGICAL SCIENCES
International scientific-online conference
38
2. Structural-Syntactic Pun;
3. Structural-Semantic Pun.
As pointed out by Raskin, pun (one of the forms of wordplay) could be
considered as one of the varieties of a joke (anecdote), as its semantic structure
is characterized by juxtaposition of two similar but opposite scripts. [8]. As a
feature of language, ambiguity occurs when a word or phrase has more than one
meaning and accordingly one linguistic expression allows more than one
understandings or interpretations. So ambiguity is a convention of punning, but
as
Attardo points out, not every ambiguous word constitutes a pun [1].
Mostly ambiguity focuses on its resourceful applications in the creation of jokes.
Such ambiguity is therefore regarded as something to be exploited in language
rather than avoided. I consider that linguistic vagueness is mostly created by
means of ambiguous “elements”, such as lexical, grammatical or syntactic ones.
The lexical ambiguity of a word or phrase pertains to its having more than
one тmeaning in the language to which the word belongs. Semantic ambiguity
happens when a sentence contains an ambiguous word or phrase - a word or
phrase that has more than one meaning.
Syntactic ambiguity arises when a sentence can have two (or more)
different meanings because of the structure of the sentence - its syntax. That is
why, understanding “pun” involves multiple cognitive processes, which are still
to be studied from both theoritical and experimental perspectives.
According to O.Yu. Konovalova, "pun" includes a variety of species and
types. Among the well-known sources of puns are omophones and omographs
(such puns in English are classified as homophonic puns and homographic
puns). This phenomenon is also referred to as polyptonon [5] .
For example, in the following joke, the meanings of homophone words are
played, where both words sound similar, but have completely different
meanings and spelling (verse - стихи, and worse - хуже (a comparative form of
adjective bad), and words bad and bed):
Did you hear about the sick poet who went from bed to verse? (Don
Wagner)" [5] .
Here it is necessary to pay attention that in terms of homophonic puns and
homographic puns the contradiction is observed, as "pun" in the majority of
sources is defined as game by meanings within one invariable lexical unit and
here this term enters into the category of game of word-paronyms, i.e. different
on writing and sounding units though, without doubt, similar.
THEORETICAL ASPECTS IN THE FORMATION OF
PEDAGOGICAL SCIENCES
International scientific-online conference
39
In linguistics the tendencies of both expansion and contraction of these
concepts are traced. Identifying the play of words with a pun, M.P. Brandes
expands the reference boundaries of this figure of speech, including linguistic
paradoxes, the contamination of parts of different words, the transformation of
winged expressions [9]. The extended interpretation also refers to "play with
words" the play with terms, speaking names, phraseological units, oxymoron,
violation of compatibility, creation of occasional words.
In conclusion, the leading role in forming puns is played by structured words.
The basis of the word play is the mental operation of segmentation of the word
into its components. Ambiguity leads to the fact that each time as a result of
disassembly/assembling, analysis/synthesis in the output one or another
meaning is obtained. Words with repeating morpheme may enter into formal
semantic deducibility and derivative antonyms.
References:
1.
Attardo, S. Linguistic Theories of Humour. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter,
1994.
2.
Delabastita, D: Wordplay and Translation: Introduction. In The Translator.
Studies in Intercultural Communication. Volume 2, Number 2; special issue.
Manchester: St. Jerome.Publishing, 1996.
3.
Gottlieb, Henrik: “You Got the Picture?” On the Polysemiotics of Subtitling
Wordplay.
4.
Gottlieb, Henrik: Screen Translation. Eight Studies in Subtitling, Dubbing
and Voice-over.Copenhagen, 2005.
5.
Konovalova
O.Yu.
Omonimiya
i
kvaziomonimiya
v
raznykhfunktsional'nykh stilyakh rechi: Dis... kand. filol. nauk. M., 2001. S. 240.
6.
Koponen, This view is of the Hardcover edition (2003) from Oxford
University Press, USA, 2004.
7.
Lems, K., Miller, L.D., & Soro, T.M. (2010).Teaching reading to English
language learners:Insights from linguistics. New York: Guilford.
8.
Raskin,V. Semantic Mechanisms of Humor (Dordrecht: Reidel) Pub, 1985.
9.
Usmonova D.S. Rol' i osobennost' somaticheskikh frazeologizmov
razlichnykh yazykov. // "Mirovaya nauka". № 9 (30), 2019.
[ElectronicResource].URL:https://sciencej.com/domains_data/files/30/Usmono
va3.pdf/ (date of access: 11.02.2020).
