The Application of Pragmatic Presupposition Theory in the Sitcom Friends

◆Abstract：Presupposition refers to the assumption made by the speaker when he is saying an utterance or sentence.As the development of the Pragmatics，more and more scholars analyze the verbal humor from the perspective of the Pragmatics.This paper analyze the verbal humor in the sitcom from the pragmatic presupposition.After the study，the result is applying the pragmatic presupposition in the sitcom can reveal the real reason of producing effect of humor.

◆Key words：Pragmatic Presupposition Theory；Verbal Humor；Friends

1 Introduction

Verbal Humor is the reflection of intelligence，and also the combination of verbal art.The result of psychology research indicates that people always like the person with sense of humor.Many linguists make the research of verbal humor relate to the psychology，sociology，philosophy.The history of research of verbal humor with pragmatics is a little short.This paper takes the sitcom Friends as an example to analyze the effect of verbal humor in common communications.The verbal humor is a simplified and unconventional ways of verbal communication.So it uses the pragmatic presupposition strategy a lot.Many effects of verbal humor is the results of the pragmatic presupposition strategy.So the relationship between the verbal humor and the pragmatic presupposition is closed.This paper applies the pragmatic presupposition theory to analyze the verbal humor in the sitcom Friends.

2 Analysis of Pragmatic Presupposition in Friends

2.1 Misinterpretation of Pragmatic Presupposition

When the speaker communicate with the hearer，he will use the pragmatic presuppositions to explain his actual meaning of his speeches.It can be inferred through their common knowledge，context or special expressions.So the hearer can understand the information which the speaker offers by his own way.

For example：

Monica：What is this？

Phoebe：Isnt cool？

Monica：That is not the bed I ordered.

Phoebe：I know！You must have won like a contest or something.

In this situation，when Monica asked Phoebe why the store sent her a bed which was not the one she ordered.This was a pragmatic presupposition in her sentence.But Phoebe pretended not to understand the pragmatic presupposition of Monica and tried to change the topic of the conversation.Because she knew she had made a big mistake.This example of misinterpretation of pragmatic presupposition in this situation creates a verbal humor.

2.2 Cancel of Pragmatic Presupposition

Pragmatic presupposition will fade away according to the change of speech or the disappear of context.It makes the relationship between the pragmatic presupposition mentioned before and the speeches or phrases said later is contradictory logically，and then the pragmatic presupposition mentioned before will fade away.

For example：

Phoebe：Now，what is Febutech？

Monica：Okay，don not judge me too much，okay？I saw this infomercial，and I swear to you I have never，ever bought anything on TV before.Except for this map.But there was this stuff on leg-waxing.It looked so amazing.

Phoebe：It is incredible！I so want to be a Waxine Girl！

In this situation，Monica was afraid of being laughed at，so she just told Phoebe that she had never，ever bought anything from TV.There was a pragmatic presupposition here.But after Monica said she had never ever bought anything on TV，then she added some phrases which was contradictory logically with the pragmatic presupposition mentioned before.That meant what she said before was not true，so the pragmatic presupposition of Monica faded away.It produced the verbal humor and gave the audience a deep impression.

3 Conclusion

This paper analyze the verbal humor in the sitcom from the perspective of pragmatic presupposition.The pragmatic mechanism of verbal humor in Friends are misinterpretation of pragmatic presupposition，cancel of pragmatic presupposition，misunderstanding of pragmatic presupposition and replacement of pragmatic presupposition.So，applying the pragmatic presupposition in the sitcom can enhance the effect of humor.And analyzing the sitcom by pragmatic presupposition can reveal the real reason of producing effect of humor.

References

[1]Yule，G.Pragmatics[M].New York： Oxford University Press，1996.

[2]Stalnaker，R.C.Pragmatic Presuppositions[A].In Davis，S.Pragmatics：A Reader[C].New York：Oxford University Press，1991.

[3]何自然，冉永平.新編語用學概論[M].北京：北京大學出版社，2009.

[4]何自然，陳新仁.當代語用學[M].北京：外語教學與研究出版社，2004.

[5]陳瑾，徐穎穎.論《老友記》的語用幽默[J].華南農業大學學報：社會科學版，2006（1）：86-90.

作者簡介

杜雪（1989.12—），女，漢族，吉林人，碩士研究生，單位：長春理工大學；研究方向：英美文學、亞裔文學。