Linguistic Analysis of Humor in Classical Arabic: An Application of the Isotopy Disjunction Model

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Ministry of Higher Education King Abdul Aziz University Faculty of Arts and Humanities Department of European Languages and Literature Linguistic Analysis of Humor in Classical Arabic: An Application of the Isotopy Disjunction Model جحه م نغىي نهفكاهة ف انهغة انعرب ة انفصحى : جطب ك نن ىرج االنفصال ف ان عنى By Amal Abdullah Aljarid B. A. English, 1998 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Linguistics 1429/2008 iii

iv صلختسم نإ فديلا يسيئرلا اذيل ثحبلا وى ميدقت ليمحت لماش ةىاكفمل ةغملا ةيبرعلا ىحصفلا و سردي بيكرت ةىاكفلا ةيملاكلا ةيبرعلا اقفو جذومنل لاصفنلاا ىنعملا امك وتمصف نيروم )١٩٦٦( ودراتأو )١٩٩٤( ةفرعمل اذإ ناك ناكملإاب ررا كت ةبرجت ودراتأ يتلا تقبط ىمع تاىاكفلا ةيكيرملأا ةيلاطيلإاو ىمع ةغملا رعلا ةيب.ىحصفلا دقو تمسق تاىاكفلا يتلا قمعتت ةغملاب ىلإ نيعون :نيسيئر امىدحأ دمتعي ىمع ضومغلا رخلآاو ريغ.ضماغ دقو تسرد ةرىاظ ضومغلا تفنصو تاىاكفلا ةضماغلا ى إ ل ةثلاث عاونأ : ةيروتلا تاىاكفلاو ةيتادرفملا تاىاكفلاو.ةيوحنلا نأ امك تفنص ةيروتلا ىمع ءوض فينصت كساشتود )١٩٧٠( ا دبم رهاوظلا ة لاتلا : دوجو ظافلأ ةمثامتم مسرلا ةفمتخمو ىنعملا, دوجوو ظافلأ ةيباشتم ظفملا ةفمتخمو ىنعملا, دوجوو ظافلأ ةمثامتم ظفملا ةفمتخمو.ىنعملا ةفاضلإابو ىلإ م دقت ف نصت تاهاكفلل ة وحنلا. ة سانجلاو فدهت ةساردلا ىلإ م دقت ت ل لح كاردإ فئارطل ةغللا ة برعلا ىحصفلا مادختساب جذومن لح ضراعتلا جذومنو ةداعإ ريسفتلا يرسقلا يتلا اىروط زلوس )١٩٧۲( يشترو )۲۰۰٤( ىمع يلاوتلا و ترهظأ جئاتن ثحبلا نأ فئرا طلا ةقمعتملا نومضملاب قوفت ددع فئرا طلا ةقمعتملا ةغملاب نأو بمغأ طلا فئرا نوكي عضوملا لا يىاكف اي ةياين.ةفرطلا نمكتو ة مهأ ةساردلا ف ةلق ثاحبلأا ىلع ةهاكفلا ة برعلا نم روظنم ئانب يلاتلابو نإف ةسرا دلا ةيلاحلا فديت ىلإ دس هذى ةوجفلا ثوحبلا نع قيرط ميدقت ليمحت يتادرفم يوحن ةىاكفمل ةقمعتملا ةغملاب ةغللا ةيبرعلا ىحصفلا. فدهتو ةساردلا ا ض أ ةمهاسملل ف لاجم تا وغلل ا ة كاردلإا نع ق رط ةسارد موهفم ضراعتلا لماعك مهم ف ة لمعلا ة هاكفلا لمأتو جئاتن ثحبلا ةمهاسملاب ف لاجم ملع ةهاكفلا نع ق رط م دقت جذومن كاردإ ئانب ةهاكفلل ة برعلا يذلاو مل نك ا رفوتم ىتح هذه.ةظحللا

Abstract The basic aim of this study is to provide a comprehensive analysis of Classical Arabic jokes. It investigates the structure of Arabic verbalized humor according to the Isotopy Disjunction Model as elaborated by Morin (1966) and Attardo (1994) to see if results on American and Italian jokes can be replicated on Classical Arabic. Verbal jokes are classified into two major classes; ambiguity based and non-ambiguity based. The phenomenon of ambiguity is investigated and three types of ambiguous jokes are analyzed; puns, lexical jokes and syntactic jokes. Puns are classified according to Duchacek s taxonomy (1970) revealing the following features: homonymy, paronymy and homophony. In addition to providing a taxonomy of syntactic and alliterative jokes, the study also offers a cognitive analysis of CA jokes by using the Incongruity Resolution Model and the Forced Reinterpretation Model developed by Suls (1972) and Ritchie (2004) respectively. Results of the study revealed that referential jokes exceed verbal jokes and that the majority of jokes have the disjunctor in final position. The significance of this study lies in the fact that very little work has been done on Arabic humor from structural perspectives. This study fills a gap in research by providing a lexico-syntactic analysis of verbal humor in Classical Arabic. It also hopes to contribute to Cognitive Linguistics by examining the concept of incongruity as a major factor in the processing of humor. It is hoped that the results of this study will contribute to humor scholarship by providing a structural-cognitive model of humor, which has not been available in Classical Arabic humor up to this time. iii

Table of Contents Examination Committee Approval i Acknowledgement ii Abstract iii Table of Contents v List of Tables viii List of Charts ix Transliteration Key x 1- Introduction 1 1.1 Linguistic Models of Humor 2 1.2 Significance of the Study 5 1.3 Specific Objectives of the Study 5 1.4 Research Hypotheses 6 1.5 Research Methodology 6 1.5.1 Data Collection 6 1.5.2 Sources of Data 7 1.5.3 Methods of Analysis 8 1.6 Proposed Chapters 9 2- Literature Review 11 2.0 Introduction 11 2.1 Definitions of Humor 11 2.2 Types and Classifications of Humor 12 2.3 Translation Test 14 2.4 The Concept of Incongruity in Humor 15 2.5 Models of Humor 17 2.5.1 Incongruity Resolution Model 17 2.5.2 The Isotopy Disjunction Model 18 a. The Notion of Isotopy 18 b- The Structure of the IDM 19 c- Connection Mechanism 21 d- Position of the Disjunctor 22 e- Functional Sentence Perspective Theory 22 2.5.3 The Forced Reinterpretation Model 24 2.6 Ambiguity and Verbal Play 25 2.6.1 The Study of Pun 27 2.7 Arabic Studies on Humor 29 3- Application of the IDM & IRM 31 3.0 Introduction 31 v

a. Disjunctor 31 b. Theme 31 c. Rheme 32 d. Incongruity Resolution Model 32 e.translation Test 32 3.1 Application of the IDM 32 3.1.1 Juha 33 Example Joke 1 33 3.1.2 The Grammarian al-nahwi 35 Example Joke 2 35 3.1.3 The Arab Bedwin al-a'rabi 37 Example Joke 3 38 3.1.4 The Uninvited Glutton al-tufayli 39 Example Joke 4 39 3.2 Validity of Hypothesis A and B 40 3.2.1 Hypothesis A: The Frequency of Referential vs. Verbal Jokes... 41 3.2.2 Hypothesis B: The Position of the Disjunctor 42 3.2.3 Examples Supporting Hypothesis A & B 43 Example joke 5: Final Position of the Disjunctor 43 Example Joke 6: Non-final Position of the Disjunctor 45 3.3 Type of Materials Occurring after the Disjunctor 46 3.3.1 Examples of Non-rhematic Materials after the Disjunctor 48 Example Joke 7 48 Example Joke 8: Non-rhematic Materials 50 4- Application of the FRM: Ambiguity and Verbal Jokes 53 4.0 Introduction 53 4.1 Classification of Verbal Jokes 53 4.2 Ambiguous Jokes 56 4.2.1 Puns 56 a. Homonymy 56 Example Joke 9 57 b. Paronymy 58 Example Joke 10 59 Example Joke 11 61 Example Joke 12 62 c. Homophony 64 Example Joke 13 65 Example Joke 14 67 4.2.2 Lexical Jokes (Metaphor) 68 Example Joke 15 69 vi

Example Joke 16 70 Example Joke 17 71 Example Joke 18 73 4.2.3 Syntactic Jokes 74 a. Ellipsis 75 Example Joke 19 75 Example Joke 20 76 b. Referential Ambiguity 78 Example Joke 21 78 Example Joke 22 80 4.3 Configuration of Connector and Disjunctor 81 Example Joke 23: Distinct Pairing 83 Example Joke 24: Distinct Pairing 85 Example Joke 25: Non-distinct Pairing 86 4.4 Unambiguous Verbal Jokes 88 4.4.1 Alliterative Jokes 88 a. Repetitions of Phonemes 90 Example Joke 26 90 Example Joke 27 91 b. Repetitions of Morphemes 93 Example Joke 28 93 c. Repetitions of Morphological Pattern 94 Example Joke 29 94 4.4.2 Lexical Archaic Jokes 96 Example Joke 30 96 Example Joke 31 98 5- Conclusion 101 5.0 Introduction 101 5.1 Language Universals 101 5.2 Specific Findings of the Application of the IDM on CA 102 5.3 Morin's Divisions of Joke Structure 103 5.4 Translation of Jokes 103 References 106 Arabic References 114 Appendix (Humorous Examples) 117 vii

List of Tables Table 1: Referential & verbal jokes in each collection 41 Table 2: Referential & verbal jokes in all collections 41 Table 3: Position of referential disjunctors in collection1 42 Table 4: Position of verbal disjunctors in collection 1 42 Table 5: Position of referential disjunctors in collection2 42 Table 6: Position of verbal disjunctors in collection 2 42 Table 7: Position of referential disjunctors in collection3 43 Table 8: Position of verbal disjunctors in collection 3 43 Table 9: Type of materials after the disj. in collection 1 47 Table 10: Type of materials after the disj. in collection 2 47 Table 11: Type of materials after the disj. in collection 3 47 Table 12: Frequency of ambiguous & unambiguous jokes 54 Table 13: Classifications of verbal jokes 54 Table 14: Percentage of jokes in each verbal category in CA 55 Table 15: Percentage of jokes in each verbal category in Attardo's study 55 Table 16: Percentage of lexica relations observed in CA puns 56 Table 17: Percentage of grammatical aspects in CA jokes 75 Table 18: Percentage of distinct and non-distinct pairing in each category 83 Table19:Percentage of distinct and non-distinct pairing in all verbal categories 83 Table 20: Types of unambiguous jokes in CA 88 Table 21: Types of alliterative jokes 89 viii

List of Charts Chart I: Classifications of ambiguous jokes 88 Chart II: Classifications of unambiguous jokes 100 ix

Chapter One Introduction Humor is a universally acknowledged aspect of human behavior. As Chiaro explains, (1992:1) throughout the ages from Plato and Aristotle to Freud, many scholars have tried to define humor and to specify the characteristics of humorous texts. In recent years, humor has been given various classifications and categories. A general classification can be found in Fatt (1998:1) who categorized humor into three basic types: verbal, visual, and physical; verbal humor relies on words such as jokes and puns, visual humor uses images such as cartoons, and physical humor relies on actions such as the scenes of pie fighting in slapstick comedy. When dealing with verbally expressed humor (humor conveyed by means of language), numerous scholars have acknowledged a further classification which divides humor into two types: referential, related to the meaning, the events and the characters involved in the joke and verbal, related to the manipulation of the language to amuse. Attardo (1994:95) adopts the referential vs. verbal distinction. He defines referential jokes as those based exclusively on the meanings of the text and do not make any reference to the phonological realization of the lexical items or other units in the text; verbal jokes, on the other hand, in addition to being based on the meaning of the text s elements, make reference to the phonological realization of the text. One factor common to most humor studies is that humor involves incongruity (Ritchie 2004:46). Many scholars have provided various definitions of the concept of incongruity following the lead of Beattie (1776), who is credited to be the first to link humor and incongruity:" laughter arises from the view of two or more inconsistent, unsuitable, or incongruous parts or circumstances, considered as united in one complex object or assemblage, or as acquiring a sort of mutual relation from the 1

peculiar manner in which the mind takes notice of them (quoted in Ritchie 2004: 46). Binsted & Ritchie (2001:278) offer further classification of incongruity into ambiguity and violated expectation. In violated expectation, the audience's expectations that have been built earlier are violated at the end as a result of a clash between the punchline, the humorous incident, and the expectations established by the set up. 1.1 Linguistic Models of Humor Three of the popular models of humor advocated by linguists are: the psychological model of incongruity resolution (IR) developed by Suls (1972), the Isotopy Disjunction Model (IDM) developed by Morin (1966) and Attardo (1994), and the Forced Reinterpretation Model (FR) proposed by Shultz (1976) and developed by Ritchie (2004). The (IR) developed by Suls (1972) proposed that incongruity alone is not sufficient to create humor, but this incongruity must be resolved (i.e. seen to be not as incongruous as first thought). This is done by a multi-stage process in which an initial incongruity is created, and then some further information causes the resolution of that incongruity. The main thesis of the IR model is that there is a process of prediction in which an expectation of the ending of the joke is formed. The perceiver finds his expectations disconfirmed by the punchline i.e. it creates incongruity; then a cognitive process occurs which enables the perceiver to find coherence between the punchline and the information in the setup (the element of resolution). Based on the IR model is the semantic model called the Isotopy Disjunction Model. Greimas (1966) is credited with proposing some of the early ideas of the model when he described the structure of jokes in his book Semantique Structurale. According to him, there are two parts that must be present in jokes: the narration/ presentation and the dialogue. The narration/presentation part establishes the first isotopy (sense) of the text. The dialogue part has the function of breaking 2

this isotopy, suddenly opposing the first isotopy to a second one. The two isotopies, which are in collision with one another, are drawn together by a connecting term. Morin (1966) and Attardo (1994) further developed the IDM and established it as a major model of humor. Morin introduced the idea of analyzing texts of jokes in terms of three functions: normalization (F1), interlocking (F2) and disjunction (F3). Normalization has the function of putting the characters in their situation and in general establishes the background of the text, interlocking establishes the problem to be solved, or questions and disjunction solves the problem humorously. Morin thus, introduced the disjunction mechanism in jokes and defined the term connector, presupposed in verbal humor, as any segment of text that can be given two distinct readings. Attardo (1994) proposed two semantic mechanisms in jokes: disjunction and connection and assumed that the joke text is made up of a linear sequence of elements. In his view, in ambiguous jokes, there are two isotopies in a joke text: a first isotopy/sense (S1) is established, then an element is encountered that changes the passage to a second sense (S2) antagonistic to the first. The passage from S1 to S2 must be unexpected and immediate and this is the instance of incongruity in which the humor lies. He refers to the term disjunctor (punchline) as the element that causes the passage from S1 to S2. The disjunctor must occur in the final position of the text of joke and that it is regarded as the rheme of the last sentence of the joke text, for any element that comes after the disjunctor can be elliptic without affecting the interpretation of the text. In addition to the IDM, another variant of the IR model that is seen as an embodiment of it is the Forced Reinterpretation model (FR), proposed by Shultz 1976 and developed by Ritchie 2004. The FR proposes that the setup of the joke has two different interpretations, but one is much more obvious to the audience, who are not aware of the other meaning. The meaning of the punchline conflicts with this obvious interpretation, but is compatible with, and even evokes, 3

the other, hitherto hidden, meaning. According to Ritchie (2004: 67), though the FR is based on the same thesis of the IR approach, they differ in that the FR model requires an ambiguous setup to account for the reinterpretation process, whereas the IR model makes no mention of ambiguity, and may even be unable to handle it. The basic aim of this study is to provide a comprehensive study of CA jokes. To achieve this aim, the study attempts to: Analyze the structure of Arabic verbalized humor according to the IDM as elaborated by Morin (1966) and Attardo (1994) to see if Attardo's results on American and Italian jokes can be replicated on Classical Arabic, thus leading us to recognize a universality in joke structuring. Apply Duchacek's (1970) taxonomy of puns to CA, thus bridging a gap in Arabic classification of humor. Provide a cognitive analysis of CA jokes using the IR and the FR models developed by Suls (1972) and Ritchie (2004) respectively with the aim of interpreting jokes and the incongruity that appears in the relation between the disjunctor and the setup of the jokes. In addition to the above aims, the study will also develop Morin and Attardo s model to include the following: a) A fourth division "a closure" which appears in CA jokes and functions as a finalizing part to close the joke text. b) An additional category, the lexical unambiguous category, which is distinct from the lexical and syntactic ambiguous jokes and the alliterative unambiguous jokes classified by Attardo. c) A taxonomy of syntactic and alliterative jokes which has not been available in Arabic research. 4

1.2 Significance of the Study Research on humor is countless. However, most have dealt with the physiology, psychology, or sociology of humor. Even the majority of scholars who linguistically investigated the phenomenon have tackled it from a psycholinguistics or applied linguistics point of view. Very little work has been done on humor from structural perspectives. Therefore, the present study aims at filling in this gap in research by providing a lexico-syntactic analysis of verbalized humor in the Arabic language. It also hopes to contribute to the cognitive field by attempting to examine the concept of incongruity as a major factor in the processing of humor. Furthermore, the study hopes to provide more insights into the area of humor translation by trying to investigate the applicability of the translation test when translating referential and verbal jokes. 1.3 Specific Objectives of the Study The study aims at contributing to humor research in Arabic by providing more insights into the structure of Arabic jokes in the CA period. The basic aims are as follows: To investigate the structure of verbalized humor in CA. To apply the IDM to Arabic jokes. To interpret humor and incongruity apparent in jokes using the concepts of the IR and FR models. To delineate the major themes and characters that are prominent in CA such as Juha, the grammarian (al-nahwi), the Arab Bedouin (ala rabi) and the uninvited glutton (al-tufayli). To investigate ambiguity in puns, lexical jokes and syntactic jokes. To describe unambiguous jokes such as the alliterative jokes and the archaic 5

jokes. To apply Attado s translation test in an attempt to differentiate between referential and verbal jokes. 1.4 Research Hypotheses The study hopes to investigate the following hypotheses: A- Referential jokes outnumber verbal jokes in CA. B- The position of the disjunctor is always final. C- Jokes that depend on lexical ambiguity outnumber jokes that depend on syntactic ambiguity and alliteration. D- Jokes in which the disjunctor follows the connector outnumber the jokes in which the disjunctor and connector coincide. Moreover, the study hopes to delineate the structure of Arabic jokes patterning by attempting to answer the following questions: 1- Is the translation test valid to differentiate between referential vs. verbal jokes? 2- How the concept of incongruity is analyzed using the IR and the FR models? 3- Is there any difference in the structure of jokes when the IDM is applied to CA? 4- Can Morin's narrative division of joke structure be applied to CA data? 5- What are the linguistic aspects employed to achieve ambiguity in CA jokes? 1.5 Research Methodology The study is descriptive and analytical. It describes and analyzes the structure of jokes in CA. The type of humor to be investigated is verbalized humor, i.e., humor conveyed by language. 1.5.1 Data Collection Selected jokes are categorized according to the two types of jokes classified by Attardo as referential and verbal. However, the study depends more on verbal jokes rather than referential for the former is more linguistically complex since it involves 6

manipulation of structural aspects of language to create humor, whereas the latter focuses more on humorous situations or unexpected events. Collecting the data has gone through two stages. The first stage was to select jokes on a continuum in order to avoid bias in testing hypotheses A & B which are related to counting the frequency of the occurrence of referential vs. verbal jokes and the position of the disjunctor respectively. The process yielded 297 jokes from CA. The second stage was to concentrate only on verbal jokes since they are more complex in that they involve different types and techniques of ambiguity to achieve humor ; thus, any verbal joke that came across the researcher was recorded for the sake of testing hypotheses C & D. The process yielded 118 verbal jokes from CA. Out of this corpus, 31 jokes were selected for further investigation in the study. The selection was based on the fact that they were the most applicable to the IDM. The appendix will include examples of the most prominent characters in CA such as Juha, the grammarian, the Arab Bedouin and the uninvited glutton. Two examples each of these characters will be stated in Arabic. Due to the constraint of this study, no translation is provided since many of them would need extended explication. 1.5.2 Sources of Data For testing hypotheses A & B in CA, three printed collections of jokes were selected as the source of the data. They were chosen on the basis of the number of jokes they contain, which is very large compared to other books that are not devoted to humor but present some humorous incidents within a section in a book. The first collection contains the first 100 jokes taken from a book called Alkhizanah fi Adab Alfukaha by Al-Shareef, (2000). The second collection also contains the first 100 jokes taken from a book called Nawadir Aladab Alfukahi by the office of literary researches and studies, (2000). The third collection comprises the first 97 jokes taken from a book 7

called Mawsu at Aladab Al-dahik by Marwah, (1987). All three books present jokes of classical times. To test hypotheses C & D, which depend exclusively on verbal jokes, a wide range of humor books containing CA jokes were surveyed and verbal jokes were recorded (see the references for more of Arabic sources). 1.5.3 Methods of Analysis Data is analyzed using the IDM to investigate the structure of jokes. In illustrating the results, tables are provided to show statistical information related to the percentage of the occurrence of certain linguistic aspects. When analyzing unambiguous jokes, the IR model is applied to explain the incongruity apparent in these jokes. When analyzing ambiguous jokes, however, the FR model is used to explain the incongruity apparent in ambiguous setups that need reinterpretation of the connector. In the analysis, examples of English jokes are provided to explain how the phenomenon is described in English and the examples are taken from Attardo (1994) and Ritchie (2004). Jokes taken from the data are stated in the original Arabic then translated into English. A transliterated form of each joke is also provided. One of the difficulties that came across the researcher while testing the validity of translating humor was keeping the translation as literal as possible and at the same time preserving the sense of humor expressed in the language of the original. Another major difficulty facing the researcher is the fact that the original text of the joke is provided only in consonantal form i.e. the vowels are not included, nor are the case endings of words. The researcher, therefore, had to provide these vowels and to make sure that case endings are grammatically correct. This was not an easy task, but it was deemed necessary since the text is in Classical Arabic and would have been impossible to exclude an integral part of its feature. 8

It is important to note that all expletives in the text are removed and replaced by ( expletive). This is basically because of the inappropriateness of the words. However, these jokes cannot be overlooked since they are part of the language of humor and essential to the disjunctor. 1.6 Proposed Chapters The study is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1 introduces the phenomenon of humor and provides some brief background information related to the main thesis of the study such as the IDM, IR & FR models and incongruity and ambiguity in humor. It also includes the statement of the problem and the methodology followed in the research. Chapter 2 provides a review of related past work on humor. It explores in some detail previous studies on humor in the areas of incongruity, ambiguity and related models. The review also explores some Arabic studies that were done in the field of humor. Chapter 3 highlights the most important themes and characters that appear in CA. The appendix will include two additional examples from each of them in Arabic. This chapter also examines hypotheses A & B related to the number of referential vs. verbal jokes and the position of the disjunctor respectively. It also aims to apply Morin's (1966) three divisions of joke structure on CA data. It explains incongruity in humor using concepts of the IR model. Examples from the data are provided and translated to English and the translation test is applied on each example. Chapter 4 deals exclusively with verbal jokes. It tackles the phenomenon of ambiguity in humor and the various aspects used to achieve this phenomenon. It aims to test hypotheses C and D related to the number of lexical ambiguous jokes and the configuration of the connector disjunctor pairing respectively. It also introduces puns and the linguistic phenomena involved in punning according to Duchacek's taxonomy of puns, in addition to describing other syntactic and alliterative jokes. Moreover, it explains incongruity in ambiguous 9

humor using the FR model. Examples from the data are provided and translated to English and the translation test is applied on each example. Chapter 5 is a conclusion of the research. It summarizes the main results and findings of the research related to the universality of joke structuring as well as other implications of the study. 10