Role of Ambiguity in Producing Humor in Jokes Taken From The Internet.

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ii Maranatha Christian University

ABSTRACT

Dalam menggunakan bahasa, termasuk Bahasa Inggris, terdapat kemungkinan munculnya ketaksaan yang berpotensi menimbulkan perbedaan pemahaman antara penerima pesan dengan penyampai pesan. Akan tetapi ketaksaan tidak hanya mengarah pada hal yang negatif karena di dalam lelucon, ketaksaan dapat dipergunakan dengan sengaja untuk menghasilkan kelucuan. Dalam penelitian ini saya menganalisis lelucon yang memanfaatkan ketaksaan untuk menghasilkan humor, dengan menggunakan teori humor dan beberapa teori ketaksaan. Humor di dalam lelucon didasarkan pada teori incongruity dan resolution, sedangkan teori ketaksaan utama yang digunakan dalam analisis ini adalah teori yang diutarakan oleh Kreidler dalam bukunya yang berjudul Introduction English Semantics. Kreidler membagi ketaksaan ke dalam tiga jenis, yaitu lexical ambiguity, referential ambiguity, dan syntactic ambiguity. Teori pendukung diambil dari buku James R. Hurford dan Brendan Heasley serta David Crystal. Mereka membagi ketaksaan ke dalam dua jenis, yaitu lexical ambiguity dan grammatical ambiguity.

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iii Maranatha Christian University yang paling banyak ditemukan adalah lexical ambiguity yang disebabkan oleh homonymy. Dari seluruh hasil penelitian ini dapat disimpulkan bahwa ketaksaan berperan besar dalam munculnya perbedaan interpretasi yang berujung pada kelucuan di dalam lelucon-lelucon.

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i

APPENDICES

Appendix A: Table of the Source of Data

No Website Data

1. http://www.musicalenglishlessons.org/jokes-exduo.htm#key

 Data 1

2. http://www.jokebuddha.com/  Data 2

 Data 3

 Data 4

 Data 5

3. http://www.ling.upenn.edu/~beatrice/humor/  Data 6  Data 7

 Data 8

4. http://jilljuck.com/teacher-student-jokes  Data 9

Appendix B: Data

Data 1

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Second man : You could have had some from my loo for nothing.

Data 2

A married couple was asleep when the telephone rang at two in the morning. The wife (undoubtedly blonde), picked up the telephone, listened a moment, and said, “How should I know, that‟s 200 miles from here!” and hung up. The husband said, “Who was that?” The wife said, “I don‟t know; some woman wanting to know „if the coast is clear‟.”

Data 3

A panda enters a restaurant, sits down, and order a sandwich. He eats the sandwich, then pulls a gun and shoots the waiter dead.

As he stands up to go, the manager yells, “Hey! Where do you think you‟re going? You just shot my waiter and you haven‟t paid for your sandwich!”

The panda yells back at the manager, “Hey, man, I‟m a PANDA! Look it up!”

The manager opens the dictionary and sees the following definition for panda: A tree-dwelling marsupial of Asia origin, characterized by distinct black and white coloring. Eats shoots and leaves.

Data 4

Little Johnny greeted his grandmother with a big hug and said, “I‟m so happy you‟re visiting us again, Grandma. Now maybe Daddy will do the trick he‟s been promising us.”

“What trick is that, Johnny?” his confused grandmother asked.

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Data 5

A woman goes into an antique shop and says to the owner, “When I was

in here last week, I saw a big mug with a flat head that holds a lot of beer. I‟d like to buy it.”

“Sorry,” replied the owner, “but I can‟t sell you that.” “Why not?” asked the customer

“Because that‟s my husband.”

Data 6

Teacher : How can you prevent diseases caused by biting insects? Jose : Do not bite any.

Data 7

I clicked the tongue. "My new man. At nine tomorrow morning he will bring me tea."

"Well, you'll like that."

"He will bring it to this room. He will approach the bed. He will place it on the table."

"What on earth for?"

"To facilitate my getting at the cup and sipping."

"Oh, you mean he will put the tea on the table. You said he would put the bed on the table."

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Data 8

A highway patrolman pulled alongside a speeding car on the freeway. Glancing at the car, he was astounded to see that the blonde behind the wheel was knitting!

The trooper cranked down his window and yelled to the driver, "Pull over!" "No!" the blonde yelled back, "Scarf!"

Data 9

Teacher : Tomorrow there will be a lecture on Pluto and Neptune. Everyone must attend it.

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1 _{Maranatha Christian University}

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Language is an important part of a human’s life. Humans use language almost every moment in their lives. Language primarily functions as an essential tool for communication because it facilitates people to express their ideas. When ideas are expressed, both orally and in writing, there is a possibility that the receiver will get a message that the sender does not really mean.

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2 _{Maranatha Christian University} Secondly, a word may have numerous meanings. This can happen in Bahasa Indonesia, but such possibilities are more often found in the English language. The word old, for instance, according to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary has more than two different meanings. If someone says or writes, “My old friend will visit me this afternoon,” the word old in the sentence can mean (1) having lived a long time; advanced in age; no longer young (“Old,” def. 2) or (2)

known for a long time (“Old,” def. 4). Thus, this word is likely to cause a

misunderstanding between the sender and the receiver, particularly if the context is unclear to the receiver. I borrow the terms “sender” and “receiver” from a linguist named John Lyons (33).

Thirdly, in written communication, misunderstandings may happen when the readers are confused with some expressions which are unclear in the text. In such cases, most of the time they cannot ask the writer of the text to clarify such expressions, which means that they have to determine the meaning of the unclear expressions by using their own understanding, which is not always the same as the writer’s intention.

Lewis Carroll, in his book entitled Through the Looking-Glass, also suggests that there are possibilities of different meanings generated between the sender and the receiver in communication based on the sender’s element of

choice about the meaning which he attaches to certain expressions. This element of personal choice can cause the sender to even be unaware that he has used ambiguous language. In one dialogue, we read, "When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean— neither more nor less” (168).

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3 _{Maranatha Christian University} variance of word meanings can sometimes pose problems in communication because ambiguity is likely to occur.

A word or a sentence that is said to be ambiguous has more than one sense (Hurford and Heasley 121). In using language, we often find that certain expressions which are used by the sender can be confusing. This is due to the fact that language has a tendency to be ambiguous.

Ambiguities can occur both in oral and written language. Ambiguities in oral language are found in people’s utterances or speeches, while ambiguities in

written language can occur in any kind of writing, such as newspapers, novels and letters.

In this thesis, I would like to discuss ambiguities in some written jokes which are taken from the Internet. Jokes are, in fact, part of language; therefore, they can also be analyzed by using the theory of language. Language serves many important functions in people’s life. It does not only function as a means of expressing people’s ideas, but it also has several other important functions, one

of which is to give pleasure, both to the speakers and the receivers. The use of language for our enjoyment is based on our ability to manipulate language in a creative way (Wiśniewski). A good example of this is a joke. Jean Paul states that

“joking is merely playing with ideas” (qtd. in Freud 41).

Ambiguity plays a significant role as a technique which is usually used to create humor. According to Robert Lew, “. . . the presence of two interpretations

makes it possible for the joke to produce a humorous effect, arguably the most essential property of a joke” (24). Furthermore, ambiguity can cause

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4 _{Maranatha Christian University} The title of my thesis is “Role of Ambiguity in Producing Humor in Jokes

Taken from the Internet.” I choose this topic because, first of all, the use of

Internet has increased in this era of technology. People tend to choose the Internet rather than other sources because it is easier to find information on the Internet. For my thesis also, Internet has provided jokes from many kinds of genre, such as school jokes, blonde jokes, animal jokes, and lawyer jokes. Secondly, ambiguity abounds in the English language. It is not always easy for us to avoid ambiguity, and when it occurs, misunderstandings and humorous effects are likely to be produced. Thirdly, humor is generally a part of a person’s daily

life. People are fond of making jokes and hearing them. Based on these reasons, I find it interesting to analyze jokes and the ambiguities which make the jokes funny. By analyzing ambiguity in jokes, people may improve their vocabulary, learn more about English syntax and grammar in a fun way, and learn about ambiguity as well. The study of ambiguity is important for people to have good communication. On the one hand, it reminds us not to use ambiguous language, in order to avoid miscommunication, whereas on the other hand, it teaches us to acknowledge the positive, or humorous, side of ambiguity in playful communication. The study of jokes is also important because it may bring learners of English to a perspective of humor of those whose mother tongue is English.

In doing the analysis, I will use some theories of ambiguity, especially that which is espoused by Charles W. Kreidler in his book entitled Introduction English Semantics. According to him, ambiguity is divided into three types. I will discuss each of these types further in the following chapter.

The field of my thesis belongs to semantics. According to John Lyons, semantics is “generally defined as the study of meaning” (1). In semantics, we

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5 _{Maranatha Christian University} includes the study of how meaning is constructed and interpreted. Besides ambiguity, it has also many other branches, such as synonym, antonym, hyponym, hyperbole, and tautology.

I hope this analysis can benefit future researchers, especially for those who are interested in analyzing jokes by using theories of ambiguity.

1.169 words

Statement of the Problem

The problems to be analyzed in this thesis are as follows:

1. What kind of ambiguities is found in each sample of jokes taken from the Internet?

2. What are the different possibilities of meaning that can be interpreted from each ambiguous expression?

3. How do the ambiguities in the jokes contribute to the production of humor?

Purpose of the Study

This study has the following purposes:

1. to show the kind of ambiguities found in each sample of jokes taken from the Internet.

2. to show the different possibilities of meaning that can be interpreted from each ambiguous expression.

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6 _{Maranatha Christian University} Method of Research

Firstly, I decide the main topic of this thesis, namely, ambiguity in jokes. Then I begin to do some library research by reading some books and other materials related to the theories of ambiguity, humor, and jokes.

Secondly, I search on different websites on the Internet for some jokes which can be analyzed by using some theories of ambiguity. Then, from four websites, I gather nine jokes and read them several times to identify the kinds of ambiguity used in the jokes and to perceive different possibilities of meaning that can be interpreted from each ambiguous expression. Lastly, I analyze the data and draw a conclusion based on the analysis.

Organization of the Thesis

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44 Maranatha Christian University

CHAPTER FOUR

CONCLUSION

After investigating the role of ambiguities in producing humor in nine written jokes which are taken from the Internet, I finally come to the conclusion which is drawn from the findings of the analysis concerned with the purposes of this study. I find that each of the nine jokes, which are taken from four different websites, contains ambiguity. The types of ambiguity which are espoused by Kreidler, Hurford and Heasley, and also by Crystal have been identified in the jokes.

From the entire data, I found that the type of ambiguity that is most frequently identified is lexical ambiguity, and the major cause of this type of ambiguity is homonymy. Referential ambiguity and syntactic ambiguity, on the other hand, are the two types of ambiguity that are less identified in the data.

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45 Maranatha Christian University matter of fact, the word on has more than two denotative meanings. This circumstance makes the tendency to misinterpret words increase and facilitates the creators of the jokes to use words as their objects of manipulation. Manipulation of words is the way we employ words that have tendencies to be interpreted in more than one way in sentences to create possibilities of misinterpreting the ambiguous words by making them interchangeable in the sentence. Thus, it is easier for the creators of the jokes to create possibilities of misinterpreting expressions by using ambiguous words and phrases than by playing with the structure of a sentence or with reference. This statement also gives an obvious reason for referential ambiguity and syntactic ambiguity being identified less in the data.

I also find that in the analysis findings, each ambiguous word, phrase, clause or sentence has an alternative meaning or an unintended meaning which arises from the receiver’s misinterpretation of the ambiguous expression. It is proved that the alternative meaning which emerges from one’s misinterpreting an

ambiguous expression always leads to the response, which in most cases becomes the humor of the jokes. In data 1, for example, the ambiguous words are toilet water which can refer to either perfume or water from a toilet. The receiver of the conversation in the joke misinterprets perfume as water from a toilet. His reply “You could have had some from my loo for nothing,” which

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46 Maranatha Christian University panda in the dictionary. The ambiguous definition that states “A tree-dwelling marsupial of Asia origin, . . . . Eats shoots and leaves,” is in fact the source of the panda’s misunderstanding. Without knowing this definition, the readers will not

know that the panda has misinterpreted the words shoots and leaves. A similar explanation also applies to data 2 and 4.

These findings of the research have led me to the conclusion that ambiguities play a significant role in causing misinterpretations that lead to humor. Lexical ambiguity appears to be by far the type of ambiguity that is most frequently used in jokes. Humor mostly lies in the inappropriate reply or response towards the ambiguous expressions. Therefore, ambiguity triggers a wrong interpretation, which then results in humor.

In relation to the theory of humor that has been mentioned in Chapter Two, humor can be perceived through two stages, which are the identification of incongruity and the resolution of the incongruity. In the nine jokes that I have analyzed, the incongruity lies in the reply or response resulting from one’s

misinterpretation of an ambiguous expression, while the resolution is provided by firstly identifying the ambiguity and secondly by acknowledging the possible meanings of the ambiguous expression. In data 2, for instance, the student’s reply “Do not bite any” indicates incongruity. At first this reply may not make

sense to the readers if they judge it only from the teacher’s question “How can

you prevent diseases caused by biting insects?” However, this reply makes sense and becomes funny when the readers realize that the construction biting insects is ambiguous and it can also mean “to bite insects.” Thus, based on this theory, whether a joke is considered humorous or not depends on each reader’s

ability to detect and resolve incongruity.

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47 Maranatha Christian University jokes such as the jokes in data 2 or data 4, not humorous because the ambiguous expressions in the jokes are in the figurative language, which are probably rather difficult to be understood by children. Therefore, age factor also influences the ability of a reader to detect and resolve incongruity. Secondly, the readers, who are not familiar with Western culture, might find that the sample of jokes in the analysis are not humorous because there are cross-cultural differences in what is considered funny for Westerners. In view of that, the study of joke is important so that learners of English can share the native speakers’ perspective of humor. Thirdly, ambiguity is not always easy to recognize, especially by those whose mother tongue is not English. This makes the study of ambiguity important for them so that they can have sufficient knowledge of ambiguity, not only to avoid miscommunication, but also to acknowledge its positive use in playful communication.

Finally, considering the significance of the study of joke and ambiguity, I hope that in the future, there will be other studies that discuss ambiguity in jokes that use theories espoused by other linguists. Seeing that lexical ambiguity can be explored more for analyzing jokes, I suggest that studies which simply focus on lexical ambiguity in jokes be conducted. The findings of my analysis, however, may not represent jokes in general; therefore, a further research on ambiguity in jokes by using the same theories may also be worth doing to verify the finding of this research analysis that lexical ambiguity is the type of ambiguity that is most frequently identified in English language jokes.

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48 Maranatha Christian University

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Data Sources

“English Humour: Free Joke Dialogues.” Musical English Lesson. N.p. n.d. Web.

3 October 2011.

“Linguistic Humor.” Linguistic Humor, Wodehouse. N.p. n.d. Web. 3 October

2011.

“Linguistic Humor, School Days.” Linguistic Humor. N.p. n.d. Web. 3 October

2011.

“Linguistic Humor, Speeding Car.” Linguistic Humor. N.p. n.d. Web. 3 October

2011.

“Recent Panda Jokes.” Joke Buddha. Panda in a Restaurant. N.p. n.d. Web. 3

October 2011.

“Teacher Student Jokes.” Jilljuck. Dumb Student Joke. N.p. n.d. Web. 3 October

2011.

“Telephone Jokes.” Joke Buddha. N.p. n.d. Web. 3 October 2011.

“Trick Jokes/Recent Jokes.” Joke Buddha. N.p. n.d. Web. 3 October 2011.

“A Woman Goes into an Antique Shop and Says to the... Joke.” Joke Buddha.

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49 Maranatha Christian University Works Cited

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50 Maranatha Christian University Kreidler, Charles W. Introduction English Semantics. London: Routledge 11 New

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51 Maranatha Christian University “Pull (sth) Over.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford

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Role of Ambiguity in Producing Humor in Jokes Taken From The Internet.

ABSTRACT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

APPENDICES

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER FOUR

CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY