摘 要

幽默是我们日常生活中常听到的一个词语。本文总结了现有的幽默研究理论，利用关联理论来分析言语幽默并在理论基础上初步讨论及解释英语言语幽默。论文从幽默的起源到后人的总结来介绍其定义，并回顾了言语幽默的整体研究。随后将引用关联理论（简称RT）来分析言语幽默的修辞手法，结合具体实例重点从双关，比喻，夸张和讽刺四方面阐释了关联理论视角下的幽默言语运作机制。文中出现的例子都是从作者生活中改编而来。作者最后概要阐述了关联理论在解释言语幽默上的局限性。

关键词：幽默 关联理论 修辞手法 局限性
 
Abstract

Humor is a device we often apply in our daily life. This paper summarizes the existing theories of humor researches, using Relevance Theory to analyze verbal humor, discussing and explaining the inner mechanisms of English verbal humor on the theoretical basis. This paper introduces the definition of humor from its origin and summarizes later researches so as to review the general features of verbal humor. Then it cites the Relevant Theory (shortened as RT) to analyze the rhetorical devices of verbal humor, using concrete examples adopted from life to explain the operating mechanism of verbal humor from the perspective of Relevance Theory, mainly from four respects: pun, metaphor, hyperbole and irony. Finally, the author presents the limitation of Relevance Theory in explaining verbal humor.

Key Words: humor  Relevance Theory  rhetorical devices  limitation

1 Introduction
As a specific language phenomenon, humor exists in everywhere of human life and can be found in all nations, races and cultures. It is employed in literature, movies, TV programs etc, especially in daily communication. As Berger presents it “there is no escaping humor and there is no subject, whether it be marriage, sex, politics, religion, work, sports—you name it—that has not been ridiculed, joked about, and used or abused one or another, as grist for someone’s comic militancy.” Amusing words of humor just like lubricant relieve contractions and animate atmosphere so that people psychologically feel relieved, and its wiggery can promote interpersonal relationship. Humor is a kind of living capacity and tactics as well as an attitude toward life . As a composition of social communication, humor penetrates people’s life and plays an indispensible role. With the development of globalization and its far-reaching influence, there are increasing chances for Chinese to contact and communicate with English natives. It is necessary and pragmatic to carry out a research on English verbal humor.