Abstract and Key Words

Abstract: This thesis does a research follow the linguistic tradition of humor representation and attempts to discover the leading factors to humor and highlights ambiguity as a source of humor. The ambiguity is analyzed by four levels: phonological ambiguity, lexical ambiguity, syntactic ambiguity and pragmatic ambiguity and made comparison with pun in leading to humor. The study is aimed at the better understanding of the generation of humor, improving the ability of understanding and appreciating English humor, achieving a special humorous communicative effect.

Key words: humor; ambiguity; pun

摘要：本文从语言学角度分析了幽默的定义及其产生的原因，并着重讨论歧义产生的幽默,通过从语音(完全同音同形异义、部分同音同形异义和谐音),词汇(词义的多义和词组的多义),句法(句法结构和表层、深层结构),语用(人称指示和地点指示)四种歧义对幽默产生进行探讨，并且对歧义与双关产生幽默的不同进行了对比，旨在更好的了解幽默的形成，有助于提高对英语幽默的理解力和欣赏力，加深对英语语言的认识，从而能提高理解和运用英语的能力，达到利用歧义达到幽默的效果。

关键词: 幽默；歧义；双关

1. Introduction
As a kind of special language phenomenon, humor is of great significance and plays an important role in daily life. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines humor as “(1) temperament; (2) mood; (3) whim; (4) a quality that appeals to a sense of the ludicrous or absurdly incongruous; also a keen perception of the ludicrous or incongruous; (5) comical or amusing entertainment”. From different perspectives, humor can be divided into different subdivisions and thus those subdivisions may sometimes overlap. According to means of expression, humor can be classified into Language of humor, Music of humor, Behavior of humor, and Picture of humor. As for sensors of organ, humor is grouped into aural-humor and visual humor. Dumb show and cartoons are regarded as visual humor and humor of music is thought to be aural-humor. Language of humor may be either aural or visual.
Humor can eliminate embarrassment, improve personal relations and amuse people. It is a phenomenon worthy of research and explanation. In this thesis, more attention has been paid to studying humor from the perspective of ambiguity. The study is worth undertaking in terms of practical as well as theoretical importance. The study is said to have theoretical value because it enriches our understanding of the phenomenon - ambiguity can cause humor. The practical value in the field of applied linguistics might be shown in improving the ability of understanding and appreciating English verbal humor, achieving a special humorous communicative effect.